'The Apprentice' trounces 'Agatha Christie's Marple'

BBC One's The Apprentice stayed well above 7m viewers on Wednesday evening, soundly beating Marple on ITV1, the latest audience data has revealed.

The sacking of Glenn Ward after the freemium magazine challenge was seen by 7.22m (29.7%) on BBC One in the 9pm hour. Spinoff show The Apprentice: You're Fired! appealed to 2.92m (14.7%) on BBC Two from 10pm and 158k (0.8%) on the BBC HD channel.

Crime drama Agatha Christie's Marple returned with just 3.68m (16%) on ITV1 between 8pm and 10pm, along with 311k (1.5%) on ITV1+1.

Waterloo Road took 5.06m (24.3%) on BBC One from 7.30pm, while Poms In Paradise mustered 3.46m (17.3%) on ITV1. In With The Flynns, starring Will Mellor and Warren Clarke, continued with 3.98m (18.2%) on BBC One from 8.30pm and Not Going Out amused 1.96m (14.8%) from 10.45pm.

On BBC Two, Escape to the Country mustered 1.17m (6.2%) between 7pm and 7.30pm. Springwatch captivated 2.51m (12%) from 7.30pm, while 136k (0.7%) watched on BBC HD. Springwatch Unsprung grabbed 2.04m (9.3%) from 8.30pm and 110k (0.5%) in HD, before Wonderland entertained 780k (3.2%) in the 9pm hour.

Channel 4's Embarrassing Bodies educated 1.72m (7.9%) in the 8pm hour and 235k (1%) on +1. 24 Hours in A&A healed 2.19m (9%) from 9pm and 392k (2.2%) on timeshift. Desperate Housewives grabbed 830k (4.7%) from 10pm and 161k (1.7%) an hour later.

Pawn Stars entertained 443k (2.2%) on Channel 5 from 7.30pm, before Giant Animal Moves was seen by 619k (2.8%) in the 8pm hour. NCIS and Law & Order: Criminal Intent mustered 1.7m (7%) and 1.03m (5.8%) respectively from 9pm.

Overall, BBC One owned primetime with 23.6% against ITV1's 16.7% (+1: 0.9%). BBC Two came in third with 8.3%, followed by Channel 4 with 6.4% (+1: 1.3%) and Channel 5 with 4.4%.

Elsewhere, the auditions for America's Got Talent mustered 524k (2.4%) and 478k (2%) on ITV2 from 8pm.

BARB ratings data supplied by Attentional