'Ashes to Ashes' debuts to 7m viewers

Ashes to Ashes began with an impressive audience of 7m last night.

The Life on Mars sequel earned a 29.1% share for BBC One at 9pm - compared with last year's slot average of 5m (22.3%). It also attracted about a third of ABC1s.

Its predecessor's first series made 7.1m (27.5%) on its opening night and a season average of 6.5m (25.5%).

ITV1's Trial and Retribution, at the same time last night, was about 1m viewers down on last week at 5.1m (21.1%). Channel 4's Cutting Edge was down nearly 2m on last week's installment with 1.4m.

On BBC Two at 9pm Never Mind the Buzzcocks took 2.3m (9.4%) though Little Miss Jocelyn, at 9.30pm, continued to hemorrhage viewers with 968,000 (4%).

Five's Make Your Child Brilliant also attracted just 521,000 (2.1%) at 9pm.

> Click here for an interview with the stars of Ashes to Ashes