Miss Marple outwits Miss Potter

Miss Marple

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ITV1 detective Miss Marple got the better of BBC1 film Miss Potter at 8pm last night with 5.5m viewers (23.8%).

Absolute Zero, the commercial network's whodunnit murder mystery, held a largely stable audience throughout, peaking with 5.7m (24.2%) at 9.30pm.

But the two-hour drama, starring Geraldine McEwan as the eponymous detective,was some way below the channel's 2008  slot average of 6.4m (25.7%). Last Sunday (27 July), 6.6m (29.6%) tuned in for Midsomer Murders.

ITV1 managed to claim the top spot at the time as BBC1's film Miss Potter, a biopic of author Beatrix Potter, drew 5.1m (22.1%) for 90-minutes. At 9.30pm, the results show of Last Choir Standing too 3.3m (14.1%).

Top Gear topped 3m (13.1%) at 8pm for BBC2, despite being a repeat. The channel's audience dropped at 9pm with 1.8m (7.6%) watching Long Way Round.

Channel 4 was out of the running at 8pm, with a rerun of its Bodyshock documentary I Am the Elephant Man attracting just 922,000 (4%) plus 79,000 on C4+1.

Five's epic war film A Bridge Too Far gained 1.2m (6.3%) between 8pm and 11.20pm.

ITV1 was also in pole position at 7pm yesterday, with Heartbeat on 6m (29.9%). It comfortably outperformed Jonathan Ross Salutes Dad's Army which conscripted 3.9m (19.5%) over the same 60-minute slot.

The conclusion of C4's two-part documentary Car Bomb saw an improvement from last week, with yesterday's finale grabbing 638,000 (3.1%) plus 123,000 on C4+1. Last week a total audience of 629,000 watched, including C4+1.

BBC2's 7pm repeat of Dragons' Den had 1.7m (8.2%) and Five's 45-minute cricket coverage at 7.15pm took 446,000 (2.1%).

All hours shares for Friday 1 August 2008: ITV1 – 14.7%, BBC1 – 19.7%, C4 – 4.9% (C4+1 – 0.5%), BBC2 – 9.5%, Five – 4.7%, multichannel – 46.1%.

Peaktime (6pm to 10.30pm) shares: ITV1 – 17.4%, BBC1 – 23.5%, C4 – 5.2% (C4+1 – 0.5%), BBC2 – 12.2%, Five – 5.1%, multichannel – 36.1%.