Emmerdale beats EastEnders in ratings war as Meena and Gray were on screen
Soaps

Emmerdale beats EastEnders in the battle of the soap schedule change

EastEnders has come out on top with the viewers

EastEnders’ schedule change took effect last night and although Emmerdale won the ratings battle, fans are actually backing EastEnders.

Monday night saw EastEnders and Emmerdale both air in their new 7.30pm timeslot.

Initial overnight ratings show Emmerdale won 4.2million viewers, while EastEnders lagged behind on 2.6million.

Coronation Street was the huge winner on the night, though, as it gained 4.4million viewers.

All figures don’t include those who have watched on catch-up services such as iPlayer.

EastEnders DCI Arthurs interviews Gray
DCI Arthurs interviews Gray (Credit: BBC)

Read more: Is Gray leaving EastEnders? 

What happened in EastEnders last night?

EastEnders has marked its big new schedule change by airing a huge week involving Gray Atkins.

He was hauled to the station for questioning over Tina Carter’s death and gave his DNA. But he soon realised the police had no evidence and refused to answer any further questions.

Meanwhile, Mick and Shirley got wind of Gray being taken in and rushed over to his house to find out what was going on.

Gray faked grief over Tina’s death, but began planning his escape.

Elsewhere Detective Whitney Dean put the pieces together and revealed to Mick that she thinks Gray killed Tina.

What will Mick do with the information?

Emmerdale Meena and Manpreet in the prison visiting room as tensions are running high
Meena had a visit from her sister (Credit: ITV)

What happened in Emmerdale last night?

Although EastEnders has pulled out the big guns for its new schedule, Emmerdale is keeping it a bit more classic.

They are playing out a good old-fashioned Dingle war with Chas and Charity pitted against each other.

Chas has accepted a job at the B&B and planned Liv and Vinny’s engagement party there knowing it would directly clash with the grand relaunch of the pub.

Meanwhile, we did get some Meena action as Manpreet visited her sister in prison in exchange for her confession.

Meena told her that they both have to take responsibility for their actions; meaning that Manpreet will have to reveal that she lied to the police in her testimony to protect Liam.

Manpreet lost it at Meena’s audacity and slapped her across the face.

Meena later lied to the police that Manpreet was the one who killed Andrea.

She’s determined to take Manpreet down with her. Could Manpreet end up in prison for Meena’s crime?

Elsewhere, Rhona’s mum arrived in the middle of her romantic proposal to Marlon.

The end is coming for Gray (Credit: BBC)

Read more: Who is leaving Emmerdale this year?

What did fans say about EastEnders’ schedule change?

Fans were pretty unhappy about the whole idea of the schedule change.

“Really not a fan of this new schedule which means EastEnders and Emmerdale clash,” wrote one on Twitter.

“Who said this was a good idea to put Emmerdale and EastEnders on at the same time?!?!” added another.

A third said: “Whose idea was it to clash Emmerdale with EastEnders on such a big week in soap?! [sic]”

However, despite the figures, fans backed EastEnders as the better soap on the night.

“EastEnders have their first decent week of storylines in quite some time plus a new set to promote at a time when Emmerdale is dominated by one of its most unpopular characters and worst actresses. ITV couldn’t have timed this worse,” shared one viewer.

Another added: “On the new soaps schedule I watched LIVE EastEnders and sadly it means I missed Emmerdale but that’s what catch up is for!”

Someone else actually switched Emmerdale off! “Had to switch to EastEnders… can’t take much more of bloody Meena storyline.”

“Dear Emmerdale, just to let you know [I’m] gonna watch EastEnders now. Things are happening there, while you’re dragging on with that pantomime Meena serial killer bull twaddle,” said another.

A fifth agreed: “Ok so I have decided to ditch Emmerdale in favour of EastEnders.”

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Want more spoilers from EastEnders? Entertainment Daily has a dedicated EastEnders spoilers section for you to get your fix before the latest episodes air.

EastEnders usually airs Monday to Thursday at 7.30pm on BBC One.

Which soap did you watch? Leave us a comment on our Facebook page @EntertainmentDailyFix and let us know what you think.


Carena Crawford
Associate Editor (Soaps)