Life In Cold Blood Leaves Competition For Dead

David Attenborough’s Life In Cold Blood continued to perform well for BBC One last night, luring almost 5.2 million adult viewers to the channel between 9pm and 10pm.

The programme this week looked at the intricate lives of lizards, with some surprisingly touching insights into their complex and often overlooked worlds.

By far the most watched show in the timeslot, Life In Cold Blood took a 23.3% viewing share, whilst ITV1’s royal drama, The Palace, gained over 2.8 million adults, or a 12.6% share.

Over on Channel 4, a documentary charting the story of the world’s first suicide bombers, the Day of the Kamikaze, was watched by 2.1 million adults. Using archives and interviews, the programme explored how during the battle for Okinawa, thousands of young Japanese men were persuaded to sacrifice their lives, giving C4 a 9.9% share.

Jet Li kung fu film, Kiss of the Dragon, on Five, was enjoyed by over 1.4 million adults (7%) on average, whilst BBC Two’s Paradise or Bust drew around two million (5.3%).

Earlier, the soaps proved successful, with a Coronation Street double bill pulling in over 9.8 million adults (44.1%) and almost 9.1 million (38.4%) respectively for ITV1, whilst the ever-depressing dramas of Albert Square in EastEnders were seen by more than 9.6 million (42.1%) on BBC One between 8pm and 8.30pm.

Five’s new early evening line-up was a winner, with Natasha Kaplinsky’s debut on the News at 5pm drawing in around 900,000 adult viewers on average. Neighbours followed, with well over 1.9 million – a 14.3% share.

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