Charlotte Church Show returns with 2.2m viewers on C4

by Darren Davidson, Brand Republic 11-Jul-08, 10:55

LONDON - The third series of Channel 4's 'The Charlotte Church Show' got off to a strong start last night, with 2.2m viewers tuning in, according to unofficial overnight figures.

The first episode of an eight-part series, in which Church interviewed 'Doctor Who's' Catherine Tate, stand-up comedian Lee Mack and singer Beverley Knight, captured an 11.8% share of the audience between 10pm-10.45pm. Including Channel 4+1 ratings, it had 2.4m viewers and a 13% share of the audience.

This compares well with previous runs of the show, which ran before the launch of Channel 4+1 in August 2007.

The first series launched in September 2006 with 2m viewers and averaged 1.5m while the second series debuted with 2.2m viewers in February 2007 and averaged 2m viewers.

In the one-hour 9pm primetime slot, the latest instalment of 'Big Brother' pulled in 3.1m viewers and a 14.5% share. Channel 4+1 took the ratings up to 3.5m viewers and a 16.4% share.

The slot was won by BBC One documentary about fraud investigators on the trail of people who defraud the benefits system. 'On the Fiddle? From Need to Greed' drew 5.1m viewers and a 24.1% share.

ITV1 documentary 'Life and Death on the NHS', which celebrates 60 years of the national health service, could only manage a lowly 2.4m viewers and an 11.3% share between 9pm-10pm.

Earlier in the evening, ITV1's long running police drama 'The Bill' won the one-hour 8pm slot with 4.9m viewers and a 24.3% share.

The fifth episode of 'Celebrity MasterChef' brought BBC One 4.2m viewers and a 20.9% share between 8pm-9pm.

Channel 4 fashion series 'Gok's Fashion Fix' netted 1.8m viewers and an 8.9% share in the same slot. Including Channel 4+1 ratings, it had 1.9m viewers and a 9.6% share.