Sherlock, Game of Thrones and Great British Bake Off’s ‘bingate’ among 10 most talked about TV moments of 2014
Excitement, shock and anger were among the emotions that drove conversations about TV shows this year, with Sherlock Holmes’ return in 'The Empty Hearse' being the most talked about moment in TV.
Research from Telegraph Hill scrutinised Twitter conversations to identify specific moments within broadcasts that had real emotional impact and prompted viewers to share their feelings on social media.
Positive feelings were the most likely to be shared, with “love” the most tweeted emotional word in the study, followed by “good” and “happy”.
However, anger and shock also led to a lot of comments on social channel – such as in the case of Sherlock Holmes, after he appeared to die at the end of season two.
Chris Moon, head of insights and analytics, Telegraph Hill said: “The British stiff upper lip has long gone; we now love sharing our emotions on social media. Viewers don’t want to feel isolated when their hearts beat while watching great TV, they want to feel part of the drama and connected to others who feel the same. These big moments connect us as a nation and have become major events on sofas across the country."
The top 10 most shared moments on TV can be seen below (contains spoilers)
10: The triple firing in The Apprentice
Lord Sugar got rid of no-hopers Canadian born Steven Ugoalah, hypnotherapist Sarah Dales and business graduate Ella Jade Bitton in one fell swoop. The episode led to114,000 tweets to express surprise and shock over the multiple firings.
9: Alex forgetting he cheated on Binky in Made in Chelsea
This led to 168,000 tweets with viewers expressing mainly anger.
8: Peter Capaldi as the new Doctor Who
Over 178,000 tweets commented on the appearance of Peter Capaldi in all his glory as the twelfth Doctor Who in the programme’s history.
7: 'Bingate’ in Great British Bake Off
Ian Watters dumped his Baked Alaska in the bin after Diana Beard took it out the freezer and it melted.
Over 180,000 tweets turned to social media to express shock and anger.
6: Collabro’s first audition in Britain’s Got Talent
The group's rendition of Stars from Les Miserables led to 215,000 Twitter conversations.
5: The opening of the 13th series of Celebrity Big Brother
Contestants were handcuffed together to enter the house. 326,000 tweets occurred reporting amusement and entertainment value about the chaining together of the unlikely couples such as Jim Davidson and Linda Nolan and Dappy and Liz Jones.
4: Gemma Collins entering I'm a Celebrity
Gemma Collins from TOWIE’s anxiety when faced with parachuting into the jungle in I’m a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here was the fourth most emotionally resonant TV moment with 336,000 tweets recorded mostly expressing a malicious pleasure in her misfortune.
3: Cheryl Cole’s return to the X Factor
The return of Cheryl Cole three years after she was fired led to 372,000 Twitter conversations.
It received both the highest number of happy and hate tweets out of all the top 10.
2: Oberyn’s death in Game of Thrones
The grotesque death in the final minutes of an episode of Game of Thrones led to over 404,000 tweets expressing horror and sadness.
1: Sherlock Holmes return from the dead
Two years after his apparent suicide, Sherlock Holmes returned to save London from a terrorist threat.
Sherlock’s resurrection was the most discussed TV moment in 2014 with over 639,000 tweets about his return. Viewers expressed excitement and surprise about his return.