The Stage

Ratings Watch

Published Tuesday 8 November 2005 at 10:40 by Liz Thomas

Anyone tuning into Channel 4 on weekday evenings would be forgiven for adjusting their television sets in confusion. Fear not readers, it is not BBC1 back in 1980 but it sure as hell feels like it - except that everyone is just that little bit greyer and fatter.

Let’s start with Des Lynam, who took over fronting Channel 4’s star daytime vehicle Countdown from the late Richard Whiteley. Lynam, with his matching clothes and slick style, looked a little out of place on the set but Ratings Watch suspects that within a few months he’ll have settled in and brought his own brand of charm to the show.

The broadcaster’s afternoon ratings have suffered since the show was taken off air in July following Whiteley’s death but last Monday’s comeback programme attracted nearly 2 million viewers.

After Countdown, he of Crinkley Bottom fame returned to screens for the first time in five years. Deal or No Deal, presented by Noel Edmonds, came after Countdown and was watched by an audience of 1.9 million - well above the average of 1.5 million in that time slot.

Later that same evening ITV1 detective drama Vincent, starring Ray Winstone, drew to a close. The show’s ratings, no doubt boosted by the absence of the brilliant Waking the Dead over on BBC1, jumped up almost a million to 6.2 million. Winstone fans need not worry as the star is popping up in all sorts of roles in the coming year but watch out for him in the BBC’s take on Sweeney Todd this Christmas.

Finally on to Rome, BBC2’s much-publicised epic drama, which pulled in a huge 6.6 million viewers on Wednesday night. The figures place it as the channel’s best performing drama in the last few years - the nearest rival was Band of Brothers, another big-budget collaboration between the BBC and HBO, which in 2001 was watched by 5.2 million.

While the figures will be difficult to maintain over the course of the 12-part series, they provide a much needed boost for BBC2, which has suffered from dwindling ratings in recent months.

The drama beat ITV1’s terrestrial premiere of Star Wars II - Attack of the Clones which attracted 3.5 million viewers.