'Call Girl' return draws 748,000

The second series of Secret Diary Of A Call Girl began with a strong - if slightly underwhelming - audience for ITV2 on Thursday night

The drama, which stars Billie Piper as a high class hooker, returned with a double-bill at 10pm as part of the channel's new-look "XXL Thursday" lineup. The first episode had 748,000 (4.4%) and the second held on to 715,000 (5.4%).

Last September the first series launched with 1.77m (11%) and went on to average 1.01m (6.5%) over its eight episodes. However, the ratings for the new series are roughly on par with the final episode of series one, which managed 762,000 (5.6%) on November 15 last year.

In the hour before Call Girl, a new series of Katie & Peter: The Next Chapter launched with 804,000 (4.2%). It drew a further 215,000 (1.4%) on ITV2+1, while the two episodes of Call Girl added 101,000 (1.1%) and 94,000 (1.4%).

The night was not a complete success for ITV2, however. At 8pm, new series The Fashion Show - fronted by Abi Clancy and George Lamb - drew just 137,000 (1.8%), well down on the slot average of 225,000 (1.3%). After Call Girl, a new run of US comedy Entourage premiered with 115,000 (1.2%).

BBC Three's top audience was 579,000 (3.4%) for a repeat of EastEnders at 10pm, while E4 peaked with 695,000 (4.5%) for Hollyoaks at 7pm.

Soaps aside, no other multichannel came close to ITV2 during primetime. The nearest competitor was Dave, which started with an all-day high of 401,000 (2.3%) for Top Gear at 8pm. An hour later, Louis Theroux's Weird Weekends had 255,000 (1.3%) then at 10pm, QI interested 392,000 (2.4%).

EastEnders was the day's overall top performer, gathering 7.23m (36.9%) for BBC One at 7.30pm. Emmerdale was second with 5.86m (32.3%).

The Bill won the 8pm hour, drawing 4.46m (21.8%) to ITV1, but BBC One managed a respectable 3.92m (19.6%) with The Planners Are Coming, a new fly-on-the-wall series about local planning authorities. It was followed by Accidental Heroes, which brought in 3.1m (14.7%).

Episode two of The Restaurant pulled in 2.55m (12.4%) to BBC Two at the same time, while on Channel 4, food-and-drink themed series The Great Italian Escape and Chateau Monty managed 1.24m (6.2%) and 1.38m (6.6%) respectively. Five had just 862,000 (4.2%) for week two of I Own Britain's Best Home and Garden.

Crimewatch brought in 3.71m (17.1%) to BBC One at 9pm, while on ITV1, the similarly-themed Fiddles, Cheats & Scams ended its three-episode run with 3.03m (14%). BBC Two's Mock The Week hit a new high of 3.5m (15.9%) at 9pm, then at 9.30pm, more than two million switched off to leave 1.41m (6.6%) watching The Cup.

Channel 4's anniversary documentary The 9/11 Faker, about a supposed 9/11 survivor exposed as a fraud, interested 2.82m (13%) and 298,000 (2%) on Channel 4+1. Five put in 1.39m (6.4%) for Extraordinary People: The World's Smallest Muscleman.

8 Out Of 10 Cats delivered 1.54m (8.1%) for Channel 4 at 10pm, but the subsequent Steve Jones reality show When Women Rule The World was less of a hit with just 570,000 (4.8%). BBC Two had 1.5m (7.8%) for a repeat of Never Mind The Buzzcocks and on Five, Mira Sorvino actioner Replacement Killers drew 630,000 (4.5%).