Saturday 09th February 2008




Somebody call the medics – ER is in need of urgent resuscitation! The fourteenth series is currently premiering on More 4 on Thursdays and C4 on Saturdays, but what was once a jewel in Channel 4’s crown now looks like a candidate for euthanasia. This Saturday’s showing on Channel 4 could only muster 786,580 (3.4%) in the 8-9pm slot to give a lowly TI™ score of 38, having picked up 555,240 (3.7%) on More 4 last Thursday. Whilst that may be a good showing for More 4, this gives a combined audience of 1.3m across the two transmissions for a show that was attracting in excess of 3m viewers to Channel 4 back in 2004.





Thursday 07th February 2008




The eagerly anticipated sequel to Kudos’ hit BBC1 drama Life on Mars started last night, with Philip Glenister reprising his role as the politically incorrect DCI Gene Hunt. This time the action is set in 1981, and Hunt is joined by female detective DI Alex Drake, who find herself stranded in time after being shot in 2008. Drake is played by actress Keeley Hawes, best known for her role in Kudos’ spy drama Spooks. The other star of the show is a bright red Audi Quattro, the car that was every schoolboy’s dream in the early 1980’s. The first episode in the eight-part series attracted a timeslot-winning 7m (29.2%) between 9-10pm, giving an above-average TI™ score of 120. This was on a par with the first ever episode of Life on Mars, which attracted 7.1m (27.5%) when it debuted in January 2006. The launch of Ashes to Ashes spelt trouble for the fourth episode of Trial and Retribution – the ITV1 drama attracted 5.1m (21.1%) last night, a fall of 1m on last week’s episode.





Wednesday 06th February 2008




With the bitter pill of England’s failure to reach the finals of the European Championship now swallowed, all eyes were on new manager Fabio Capello last night as England took on Switzerland in a friendly fixture at Wembley. BBC1 had live coverage of the game between 7:30 – 10pm, attracting 9.1 m (36.1%). This was a strong performance for a ‘friendly’ match, although some way short of the last international football on BBC1 (when 11.2m tuned in to watch England’s fateful defeat against Croatia in November). At least England fans had something to smile about this time as they came out on top with a 2-1 victory.



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