Lonely end for 'Saddam' drama

BBC Two's drama about the rise and fall of Saddam Hussein ended on a low note last night (Wednesday).

The final episode of the four-part House Of Saddam drew just 1.49m (6.2%) to BBC Two in the 9pm hour, putting the channel in fourth place for the time period. The drama began strongly three weeks ago, with 2.72m (13.2%), but has steadily lost viewers over the course of its run.

Confidently winning the slot was BBC One's celebrity genealogy series Who Do You Think You Are?. This week's episode, featuring London mayor Boris Johnson, delivered 6.86m (28.6%), on par with the 6.85m (29.9%) audience last week. ITV1 was a distant second place, drawing 3.1m (12.9%) for a Taggart repeat, and on Channel 4, Big Brother managed 2.79m (11.6%), with a further 428,000 (2.6%) on Channel 4+1. Five entertained 1.29m (5.4%) with Rory and Paddy's Great British Adventure.

ITV1 was ahead earlier in primetime thanks its dependable lineup of soaps and drama. Emmerdale and Coronation Street brought in audiences of 6.38m (32.1%) and 7.97m (37.9%) respectively in the 7pm hour, then The Bill had 5.08m (23%) from 8pm. BBC One's Olympics highlights show Games Today put up a strong fight at 7pm, with an average of 5.14m (25.1%) for the hour, then at 8pm, observational documentaries Sky Cops and Trawlermen interested 4.97m (23.2%) and 4.55m (20%).

Meanwhile, viewers continued to demonstrate an appetite for Channel 4's Embarrassing Illnesses. The latest episode, which included treatment of both a damaged penis and a woman nicknamed 'Sweaty Betty', engaged 1.69m (7.9%) at 8pm. The following episode of How Clean Is Your House? had 2.3m (10.1%). BBC Two managed 1.55m (7%) for a repeat of BBC One documentary Jimmy and the Wild Honey Hunters.

At 10pm, the final episode of Channel 4's Dangerous Jobs For Girls appealed to 1.3m (7.2%), while 1.36m (6.6%) preferred a repeat of Fern Britton's Room 101 grievances on BBC Two. Five had 784,000 (4.3%) with Banged Up Abroad.

Another screening of Lara Croft, Tomb Raider: The Cradle Of Life brought in the highest multichannel audience of the day, with an average of 724,000 (3.8%) for BBC Three between 9pm and 10.45pm.

The following Family Guy double bill brought in impressive audiences of 570,000 (4.5%) and 535,000 (5.7%).

BBC Four's Blood and Guts: A History of Surgery - an explicit five-part documentary series - began with a strong 473,000 (2.3%) in the 9pm hour.

ITV3's Poirot repeat had 543,000 (2.8%) from 8pm, and on ITV2 at the same time, Kids Do The Funniest Things appealed to 418,000 (2.2%).