Strong Start For New ITV1 Shows

Last night’s TV saw the launch of ITV1’s postmodern double-act, Moving Wallpaper and Echo Beach, the first a comedy about the making of a new soap opera, the second the soap itself.

Moving Wallpaper, despite getting some dodgy reviews in the press, managed to pick up a peak of 4.9 million adults (a 22.3% share of the audience) in its 9pm slot.

The half-hour show, starring Ben Miller and Rachel Cassidy, had an average audience of 4.7 million adults (a 21.6% share).

Straight after that on ITV1 at 9.30pm was Echo Beach, starring Martine McCutcheon and Jason Donovan.

The soap had a peak of five million adult viewers (a 22.8% share) and 4.8 million adults stayed tuned throughout its half-hour running time.

Over on BBC One at 9pm was Fairytales, the first of a new series of dramas updating classic fairytales for the 21st century.

Last night it was the turn of Rapunzel to get the once over, with the story now featuring an East-European cross-dressing tennis player.

The hour long show had a peak audience of 3.2 million adults (a 14.8% share) and an average audience of 2.9 million (a 13.4% 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.

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