Tess charms 5.7m
- Published: 15 September 2008 12:04
- Author: Jon Rogers
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- Last Updated: 16 September 2008 10:02
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BBC1's latest literary adaptation Tess of the D'Urbervilles pulled in the Sunday night viewers with a strong average audience of 5.7m (23.6%) at 9pm.
The first hour-long episode held a rock steady audience and only dropped by 100,000 at the end.
It was comfortably ahead of its commercial rival ITV1 which launched a new trilogy of Poirot murder-mysteries.
The opening instalment, titled Mrs McGinty's Dead, pulled in a steady 5m (23.5%) over two hours from 9pm. The drama, starring David Suchet as the famous Agatha Christie detective, began with 5.4m (22.3%) and declined to 4.7m (27.4%) in the final quarter of an hour.
BBC1 was in pole position earlier in peaktime at 8pm with a rare Sunday outing of the corporation's hospital drama Casualty on 5.4m (22.2%). Breathing down its neck though in the same slot was ITV1's Heartbeat on 5.2m (21.2%).
ITV's attempt at reviving the variety format looks to have stumbled at the first hurdle as For One Night Only could only manage 3.6m (16.8%) over an hour at 7pm. The first in a four-part run was soundly beaten by BBC1's long-running Antiques Roadshow which was the most-watched TV show yesterday on 6.2m (29.1%).
BBC2 eased into the fast lane at 8pm with the second outing of its travelogue featuring Charley Boorman, Ireland to Sydney by Any Means, securing 2.6m (10.5%) for an hour.
Channel 4 couldn't match that as Wife Swap, at the same time, had 1.8m (7.5%) with an additional 266,000 watching on C4+1. The 1969 film Where Eagles Dare got another airing on Five at 6.05pm with 1.4m (6.6%) for just under three hours.
Presenter Justin Lee Collins revived C4's Bring Back… format with a feature-length edition on Star Wars. The 100-minute programme drew a solid 1.9m (8.4%), gaining the edge over its nearest competitors.
BBC2's Earth: the Climate Wars grabbed 1.6m (6.8%) for an hour at 9pm while Five's action movie Ronin appealed to 1m (5.3%).
All hours shares for Sunday 14 September 2008: ITV1 – 18.7%, BBC1 – 18.2%, BBC2 – 8.1%, C4 – 6.2% (C4+1 – 0.8%), Five – 4.9%, multichannel – 43.1%.
