Final 'Heroes' grapples with tough competition

The second season of Heroes closed to a lacklustre audience last night, according to early viewing figures.

The finale, which was up against strong competition from all the other terrestrials, drew 2.3m (10.1%) to BBC Two from 9pm until 9.45pm. The episode sees the Heroes battle to prevent the release of the Shanti virus while Sylar manages to restore his powers.

The figure is up from 2m last week and still a decent performance for the channel, but the season has generally hovered around 2.5m and the first episode was watched by 3.7m (16.5%).

BBC One led the 9pm hour with the penultimate episode of stripped crime drama Criminal Justice drawing 4.6m (20.3%), down from 5m (23%) on Wednesday.

ITV1 also had a strong offering in a one-off documentary to coincide with the release of a new Hollywood version of Mamma Mia! The programme, Abba: The Mamma Mia! Story, including interviews with band members and stars of the film, attracted 4.4m (19.2%) from 9pm to 10pm.

Channel 4 had a decent 3.5m (15.5%) for Big Brother in the 9pm slot then new drama Fallout - part of the 'Disarming Britain' season - drew a respectable 1.3m (8.8%) from 10pm.

On Five, popular US drama House interested 1.8m (8%) in the 9pm slot.

> Catch up with the Heroes season two finale