Grand Return For Grand Designs

The return of Grand Designs to Channel 4 last night saw the broadcaster beat the four other terrestrial broadcasters on a rare and wonderful night.

The series, fronted by the dashing Kevin McCloud, began with a 90-minute special following a couple as they battled to save a romantic 14th-century castle from ruin.

The first show in the series, on at 9pm, had a peak audience of 5.7 million adults (a 28.3% audience share) and managed an average of five million adults across its entire running time.

ITV1’s 9pm offering, Confessions Of A Diary Secretary, which had been heavily promoted by the broadcaster, took a saucy look at the affair between deputy Prime Minister John Prescott and his diary secretary Tracey Temple.

Although Prescott might have found the affair a turn on, the viewers did not, with the show managing an average audience of 3.9 million adults.

Over on BBC One, the second episode of the new series of New Street Law brought in an average of 2.9 million adult viewers, with its heady mix of style and pulsating legal drama.

Meanwhile, Five’s drama Kitchen, starring Eddie Izzard, only attracted an average of 645,000 across its two-hour running time.

Overnight data is available each morning in mediatel.co.uk’s TV Database, with all BARB registered subscribers able to view reports for terrestrial networks, ITV2 and Sky One.

ITV: 020 7843 8000 www.itv.com BBC: 020 8743 8000 www.bbc.co.uk