It was a world away from Top Gear’s high octane car chases, but James May’s latest TV project – in which he spent 10 hours putting together the 331 component parts of a petrol engined lawnmower – was watched by more than 400,000 viewers.
Even May himself expressed fears that no one would watch the show, the first of a three-part series on BBC4 called James May: The Reassembler.
The 30-minute programme, which will air on three consecutive nights on BBC4, drew 444,000 viewers, a 2% share of the audience, from 9pm last night.
A close relative of the “slow TV” phenomenon that won BBC4 two Royal Television Society awards last month, it is May’s last BBC project before he reunites with his former Top Gear colleagues Jeremy Clarkson and Richard Hammond on Amazon.
The next two episodes see May reassembles a phone and an electric guitar.
Take it to The Bridge
ITV’s Nordic-style drama Marcella starring Anna Friel and written by the creator of The Bridge began with more than 6 million viewers.
Marcella, a new eight-part thriller co-created by Hans Rosenfeldt, had 6.1 million viewers, a 27.6% share from 9pm.
It easily had the better of BBC1’s The Vikings Uncovered - also Nordic, but the comparisons end there - which had 3.1 million viewers (14.3%) from 8.30pm.
No flipping
Also last night, Sex Box returned to Channel 4, with Steve Jones replacing Mariella Frostrup in the presenter’s chair.
The controversial series, in which couples have sex in a box and then emerge into the studio lights for a post-coital natter, was back with 1 million viewers, a 6.6% share.
