★★★★★ 0/5

Another week, another 2m.

Packed to the Rafters scores another 2m viewers, set to end the year as our most successful new drama.

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Packed to the Rafters shows no sign of letting up, last night passing the magical 2m mark.

In its second last week, the show grabbed 2.016m viewers, Tuesday’s #1 most-watched programme for total viewers, 16-39s, 18-49s and 25-54s.

Together with Seven’s other formidable Tuesday line-up the network romped home with a 37.2% share over Nine’s 23.7% and TEN’s 21.3%. By the barest of margins, TEN finished the night first in the 16-39yo demographic with 30.5% to Seven’s 30.2%.

Mark Priestley’s final All Saints appearance also scored with 1.4m viewers.

Rafters will see the year out as the most successful new drama of 2008 (blame an Underbelly ban for that?). Rafters concludes next week with a non-cliffhanger episode that returns to romantic character arcs. While fans of Hey Dad will see Chris Truswell make a guest appearance, there are two regular cast members who won’t even make it into the finale.

It will be bolstered by a special one-hour Find My Family which revisits families since they first met on the show and reunites even more relatives who have been found since the series began.

Get out the Kleenex.

19 Responses

  1. There’s not really much you can make a show about. Hospitals, police, criminal organisations, family. How about we take a leaf out of the American books and go for something original or something different?

  2. @lowie, i was thinking that too, about the christmas ep. being the last. I guess this weeks was not the best and they didn’t want to start 2009 with it. it would make more sense to have a 12/10 episode split than a 14/8 split.

    i think the main things that PTTR has going for it are:
    – the characters: very likeable and relatable making it hard to leave the show once you have started.
    – terrific actors: unlike other ausie shows (strip) where you cannot go without cringing at the actors, gibney, caton and mairas are realy good. logie much?
    -great quality scripts and camera work
    – its something different, not a police show

    however i can understand if people tuned in on tues and weren’t impressed, you just don’t understand the characters yet. give it another chance.

  3. EMQ, Alex, Timmy: I am , as many would already know, the first to criticise on-the-cheap Australian TV drama. That horrible” “video look” (yes, I’m talking to you, All Saints), that afterthought lighting (All Saints again) and the stilted, almost theatrical acting (All… oh, you get it already!)

    However, Packed To The Rafters, despite its dreadful title, is quality. Shot on video by a crew that actually knows how to use the medium. Acted by a really, really competent cast that viewers relate to. And (aside from the limp Christmas episode) written beautifully throughout.

    No, it’s not at all hard to see why this show’s getting 2 million (alleged!) viewers. It’s got a humanity that all the others lack, and it’s got a real sense of quality in everything from photography to direction to acting to writing.

    In other words, like the underrated “Rush”, it’s made by people who know exactly what they’re doing. Rare in this country, that.

  6. I don’t think there’s anything particularly great about this show, but perhaps the masses feel like I do: Most Aussie dramas don’t engage me enough to bother with, but this one keeps me interested enough to keep watching, for some reason.

  7. I agree with Alex, I don’t understand also why this show rates so well; maybe viewers really are stupid or is it because of the lead in? I wonder if shown on a different time slot, it will still get the same numbers.

  9. To me it felt like the Christmas episode was supposed to be the last for 2008, returning with the rest of series 1 in early 2009. But I guess 7 wanted it to begin immediately after The Olympics, running straight through to the end of the ratings season.

    Tai, Packed to the Rafters does kill both NCIS and 2.5 Men in all demos, 16-39’s, 18-49’s, 25-54’s and the over 55’s.

    You are referring to 7’s nightly demos, for which 7 lost the 16-39 demo by .2%. Considering that is Ten’s target demo that isn’t surprising.

  10. I’m actually curious why last week’s episode – which was effectively a Christmas episode, sentimentality and all – was put to air so early.

    It was arguably the weakest of the series story-wise, too.

  11. @ tai, i don’t get what ur saying Packed did win 16-39

    i said they should be proud because 7 struggle with demos and this is a winner. i wasn’t talking about demos for the whole night.
    and anyway coming 2nd by 0.3% isnt that bad considering the older-skewing shows that are in the line up.

    PS. do people think that underbelly would have done better if it was played out normally. surely it would have started above 2mil but it dropped off a bit. wheras packed has varied in rating but overall has grown since its premier

  13. jerome says:

    ‘this show is fantastic!

    definitely worth 2 mil. 7 should be very proud especially with the demos’

    hah, seven’s 15.9% higher than TEN’s and yet they still can’t manage to win in the under 40s demographic

  14. they do just say “last episode of the year”. as i understand it the first season is 22 eps and they are holding the rest over till next year, it will give them a massive kick start to 2009 too. then they will have the second season start later in the year. they are also releasing a sound track which will no doubt do bumper numbers over christmas and keep the promotion going.

  15. Yes when this comes to DVD will season one be 13 or 22 eps? Will the remainder go towards a 30 eps season two? Why not just say “End of year final” or “Last ep of the year”?

    Given the ratings I guess they don’t need a cliff hanger ep to bring the viewers back.

  18. this show is fantastic!

    definitely worth 2 mil. 7 should be very proud especially with the demos, and i’m sure with all the promotion that 7 usually does during the Aus open it will continiue with those numbers.

    will this be the top rating show of the year? can’t think of any other shows apart from events that have rated anywhere near this.

  19. Given that it is not a cliff-hanger finale was the episode they’re showing next week the actual last episode of the first season or are Seven holding back episodes for next year.

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