Time Lord Triumphs With More Than 7.4 Million

Despite concerns from writer Russell T Davies, the return of Doctor Who in an earlier Saturday night timeslot did the programme no harm, with an average adult audience of over 7.4 million.

The Time Lord, with new travelling companion in the shape of Catherine Tate in tow, gave BBC One a 38.8% audience share, before Graham Norton and the Nancies lured over 6.2 million (30.7%) to the channel for I’d Do Anything.

Medical drama, Casualty, followed, taking in an average adult audience of just over 6.8 million, equating to a 32% share.

Other ratings winners on Saturday night were the irreverent Harry Hill’s TV Burp with over 4.8 million and The Big Fight Live with over 4.1 million for ITV1. Meanwhile, Five’s most successful show was CSI: NY with over 2.4 million adult viewers giving the station a 12% share between 9.30pm and 10.30pm.

Earlier, coverage of the Grand National horse race was watched by an average of more than 4.9 million (41.2%) on BBC One, with a peak of 9.4 million tuning in for the action.

On Sunday evening, I’d Do Anything‘s results show, which saw Cleo leave the competition before her time, attracted over 5.9 million adults, whilst over 5.3 million stuck with BBC One for the dramatic goings on of Tiger – Spy In The Jungle.

Over on ITV1, sentimental cop drama, Heartbeat, proved popular in the 8pm to 9pm timeslot, with over 6.4 million (26.9%) preferring the programme over the David Attenborough narrated series.

In the 9pm to 10pm timeslot, however, BBC One was the most watched channel, with almost 5.1 million preferring Casualty 1907 to ITV1’s He Kills Coppers, which had an average adult audience of over 2.4 million.

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 Five: 020 7550 5555 www.five.tv