Broadcast: Voltage’s plague doc for C5 takes lead on viewing figures

November 18, 2020

The Great Plague: Outbreak (C5) 9pm-10pm

1.7m (7.8%)

Voltage TV/Motion Content Group’s opener became the second-most-watched doc of the year so far, bettered only by Fergie & Andrew: The Duke & Duchess of Disaster (1.8m / 11.7%) on a Saturday 9.15pm slot in July.

The Dr Xand van Tulleken-fronted doc, which examined the outbreak and subsequent epidemic of the bubonic plague, comfortably outperformed the 1.4m (7.9%) slot average, with incremental share increases in 55-64 and over-65 viewing.

Male profile was up 5pp on benchmark to 47.5% (800,000), according to Barb data from overnights.tv

The Great Plague hammered the third episode of C4’s Educating Greater Manchester, which schooled 800,000 (3.6%).

Twofour’s delayed second run lost 500,000 from last week and has shed more than half its audience since the opener at the start of the month.

It was well behind the 1.7m (9.4%) slot benchmark.

ITV’s I’m a Celebrity pulled in 9.4m (45.8%) for its third episode from 9.15pm-10.30pm and may have impacted BBC1’s MasterChef: The Professionals, which lost 1.7m from the previous week to return 2.6m (11.9%).

On BBC2, Bad Wolf drama Industry mustered just 370,000 (1.7%), losing around one-third of its audience from last week’s opener and well shy of the 1.4m (7.5%) slot average. The first part has consolidated to 1m (4.5%) after seven days.

ITV three-parter How to Spend It Well at Christmas with Phillip Schofield (RDF Television) returned from 8.15pm-9.15pm with 2.4m (11.1%), down around 500,000 from last year’s opener, which ended with a similar average.

The ep clashed with C4’s Great British Bake Off, which lost 100,000 from the previous week’s high to entertain 7.3m (34.2%).

At 10pm-11pm, Sky Arts’ Offended By Irvine Welsh (Lion Television) interested 40,000 (0.3%), doubling slot average.

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