ITV1's 'Harley Street' still struggling

Published Friday, Aug 1 2008, 11:06 BST | By Neil Wilkes

Harley Street logged another unimpressive audience last night, according to early figures.

The ITV1 medical drama, starring Paul Nicholls and Suranne Jones, averaged just 3.11m - a 14.9% audience share - for the channel in the 9pm hour. The figure is down 800,000 on the first episode a fortnight ago but a rise of 200,000 on last week.

The surprise exit of Maysoon from Big Brother helped Channel 4 to narrowly win the slot, with an average of 3.11m (14.9%) at 9pm. A further 299,000 watched an hour later on the timeshift service. BBC One had a disappointing performance with 2.8m (13.4%) for Colin Jackson: The Making Of Me, a documentary following the athlete as he sought a genetic explanation for his hurdling talents.

BBC Two drew 2.9m (13.8%) for Mock The Week at 9pm, but then the audience fell to 1.35m (6.5%) for scientific comedy Lab Rats at 9.30pm. Five's The Hotel Inspector improved by almost 400,000 to 1.57m (7.5%).

At 8pm, The Bill delivered 4.59m (22.5%) for ITV1 while BBC One enjoyed success with new investigative documentary Rogue Restaurants, which averaged 4.98m (25.1%) over 30 minutes. Sky Cops had 3.93m (18.8%) at 8.30pm. BBC Two's Top Gear repeat interested 2.08m (10.2%) and on Channel 4, Gok's Fashion Fix drew 1.91m (9.4%). Five documentary repeat Myra Hindley: The Prison Years interested 1.05m (5.2%).

A repeat of Never Mind The Buzzcocks held 1.55m (8.5%) for BBC Two at 10pm, enough to topple Channel 4's The Charlotte Church Show, seen by 1.45m (8.3%) over 45 minutes.

EastEnders won the soaps battle, rallying to 7.43m (39.1%) at 7.30pm. Emmerdale had second place with 6.35m (35.1%) at 7pm.

EastEnders also dominated the multichannel arena, with 685,000 (4.2%) tuning in for the 10pm repeat on BBC Three. First-look Hollyoaks had 651,000 (4.2%) for E4 at 7pm, and Home & Away drew 534,000 (3.6%) to Fiver.

ITV4 enjoyed a good night thanks to coverage of the UEFA Cup game between Manchester City and Faroe Islands team EB/Streymur, which averaged 534,000 (3%) from 7.30pm to 10pm.