Benefits Street rises to 4.3m to top Monday ratigs

Channel 4's Benefits Street climbed to top the Monday night ratings outside of soaps, overnight data reveals.



The controversial documentary series jumped by around 700,000 viewers to 4.30 million (17.5%) at 9pm, with an added 805k (4.9%) on +1.

Earlier, Dogs: Their Secret Lives was seen by 1.43m (5.8%) at 8pm (190k/0.8% on +1), while Dave: Loan Ranger interested 1.34m (8.0%) at 10pm (263k/3.1%).

ITV's Bletchley Circle dipped by just over 100k to 3.97m (16.2%) at 9pm (197k/1.2%). A Great Welsh Adventure brought in 3.44m (14.2%) at 8pm (125k/0.5%).

On BBC One, Fake Britain appealed to 3.13m (12.5%) at 8.30pm, while Panorama special I Want My Baby Back attracted 2.17m (8.8%) at 9pm.

BBC Two's University Challenge quizzed 3.09m (12.7%) at 8pm. The Great Sport Relief Bake Off entertained 3.71m (14.8%) at 8.30pm, followed by Sacred Wonders of Britain with 1.53m (7.3%) at 9.30pm.

On Channel 5, Celebrity Big Brother continued with 1.92m (7.8%) at 9pm (371k/2.3%), while Baby Face Brides was seen by 926k (5.5%) at 10pm (139k/1.6%).

Frank Skinner: I turned down Benefits Street voiceover job



Comedian Frank Skinner turned down a narrating job on Channel 4 documentary Benefits Street because he did not want to criticise Birmingham on television.

The Room 101 host grew up just outside the city in Oldbury, and was wary of how the show planned to present local people.

Skinner was asked by the broadcaster to do the voice-over after being told that the series would explore “community spirit” in Winson Green’s impoverished James Turner Street.

But he told the Birmingham Mail that he had refused the offer as he did not want involve himself in “something where I’m derogatory about people from Birmingham”.

“I imagine there would be a lot of awkward moments in the recording studio when I said, ‘I’m not going to say that’,” he explained. “They only showed me a very small part of a five-episode series, and I wondered what the rest would be like.”

“I care what people from Birmingham think about me, which is why I didn’t want to do Benefits Street,” he added. “I haven’t seen the programme yet, but from what I’ve heard I think I made the right decision.”