Criminal Justice continues to score for BBC One

by Nikki Sandison, Brand Republic 04-Jul-08, 11:10

LONDON - BBC One's five-part thriller 'Criminal Justice' is still going strong with the penultimate part pulling in 4.6m viewers on BBC One last night, according to unofficial overnight figures, beating ITV1's story of 'Abba: Mama Mia the musical'.

The hard-hitting drama written by Peter Moffat and starring Ben Whishaw, David Harewood and Pete Postlethwaite netted a 20.2% share of the 9pm-10pm audience, winning the primetime slot for BBC One.

However, it was down on the previous night when it managed to attract 5m viewers and Tuesday night when it pulled in 4.8m.

ITV also had a strong night, drawing in 4.4m viewers and a 19.2% share of the 9pm audience for 'Abba: Mama Mia the musical', the story of the musical and the soon-to-be-released film version starring Meryl Streep.

'Big Brother' attracted 3.1m viewers for Channel 4 and a 13.6% share of the audience between 9pm-10pm. Including Channel 4+1, it managed 3.5m, its series average, and a 15.4% share. Channel 4 will be pleased with the ratings, which are likely to be boosted as three new female housemates enter the Big Brother house tonight.

BBC Two's 'Heroes' pulled in 2.3m viewers and a 10% share of the 9pm audience, beating the final part of Five's 'House' which attracted 1.8m and a 7.8% share, which ended on a dark note leaving one character dead and showing House coming out of a coma.

Earlier in the night, ITV's 'The Bill' won the 8pm slot with 4.7m viewers and a 23.1% share, narrowly beating BBC One's 'Celebrity Masterchef' which attracted 4.3m viewers and a 21% share.

Channel 4's 'Gok's Fashion Fix' netted 2.2m viewers and a 10.8% share of the 8pm audience. Including Channel 4+1, it managed 2.4m and an 11.5% share.