Strong BAFTAs fail to defeat 'Foyle'

The BAFTAs notched up their largest audience in four years last night - but were still beaten by Foyle's War in the ratings.

BBC One's two-hour coverage of the ceremony - where Gavin & Stacey led the winners - attracted 5.6m, or 21.6% of the viewing audience, from 8pm.

That figure was last exceeded in 2004 when 6.6m (28.8%) tuned in for the Awards on ITV1. Last year 5m (21.1%) watched on BBC One.

The BAFTAs were still easily beaten by Foyle's War, however. The ITV1 drama interested 7.3m (28.1%) in the same slot.

The channel's new gameshow, Beat the Star, also put in a reasonable performance at 6.45pm. Some 5.1m (23.1%) tuned in over 75 minutes - 1.9m fewer than the channel's average for the slot, though ahead of the competition.

BBC One's Seaside Rescue, on at 6.30pm, drew 4.2m (20.9%), then a My Family repeat reached 4.2m (19.6%) from 7pm. I'd Do Anything was watched by 5.4m (22.8%) from 7.30pm.

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