Sunday 04th November 2007 If Saturday night was the battle of Light Entertainment, then Sunday evening was the showdown of the heavyweight Dramas. In the red corner (BBC1) was Joe’s Palace, the latest creation of acclaimed dramatist Stephen Poliakoff. Joe’s Palace was about relationships rather than plot, and in this aspect it was helped by a star-studded cast that includes Michael Gambon and Rupert Penry-Jones (the latter perhaps on an undercover mission from Spooks), although the title role was taken by newcomer Danny Lee Wynter (not a bad way to start your career). Joe’s Palace was produced by Talkback Thames for BBC and HBO under the guidance of Lorraine Heggessey. It averaged 4.1m (18.5%) between 9 – 10:50pm, however it won the ratings battle for most of its duration.

Saturday 03rd November 2007 BBC1 and ITV1 slugged it out in a battle of the heavyweights on Saturday evening, which was bad news for all other channels as they held a combined peaktime (7-11pm) share of 56.8%. Round 1 went to the BBC as Strictly Come Dancing averaged 8.7m (41.6%) between 5:50pm and 7:15pm, making it the highest-rating programme of the day. The X Factor started at 6:45pm over on ITV1, but it didn’t start winning its slot until Strictly Come Dancing came to an end (ITV1’s share increased from 29.1% at 7pm to 39.9% fifteen minutes later). The X Factor finished with an average of 7.8m (36.5%) between 6:45 – 8:25pm – a good performance, which was not as good as Strictly Come Dancing.

Thursday 01st November 2007 Soap fans were treated to an hour-long special of EastEnders on BBC1 at 7.30pm, as Bradley and Stacey’s big day arrived – just one day after Sarah and David’s wedding in Coronation Street. Up against the second half of an hour-long edition of Emmerdale, EastEnders still managed to draw an audience just a fraction under 10m (9.97m) and a share of 43.45%, winning its timeslot throughout. Emmerdale’s share dropped from 37.2% in the quarter-hour before the start of EastEnders, to 24.9% when the BBC1 soap began. This EastEnders audience compares well with the three previous hour-long specials this year, which have on average been viewed by 8.2m. In the year to date, the EastEnders audience hit its peak on 1st January, when 10.9m tuned in, but the average has been a respectable 8.7m for the first-run episodes.

For a more detailed summary of the week’s television, please visit http://www.attentional.com/blog.php