Martin Clunes and his dogs pulls in 5.5m for ITV

by Nikki Sandison, Brand Republic 01-Sep-08, 11:00

LONDON - 'Martin Clunes: A Man and his Dogs' attracted 5.5m viewers to ITV1 last night beating the BBC One drama 'Fiona's Story', according to unofficial overnight figures.

The second and final part of the 'Martin Clunes: A Man and his Dogs' documentary, which filmed the 'Men Behaving Badly' star being pulled out of a snow hole by a mountain rescue dog, netted a 22.6% share of the 9pm-10pm audience to win the slot for ITV.

It beat BBC One's drama 'Fiona's Story', starring Gina McKee as a woman whose husband is arrested for downloading child pornography, which pulled in 4.3m viewers and an 18.3% share of the 9pm-10.30pm audience.

'Big Brother' drew 2.7m viewers for Channel 4 and a 10.9% share of the 9pm-10pm audience. Including Channel 4+1 figures it managed 3m and a 12.2% share.

BBC Two's documentary 'The Conspiracy Files' netted 2m viewers and an 8.3% share of the 9pm-10pm audience, beating Five's airing of the film 'A Perfect Murder', starring Michael Douglas and Gwyneth Paltrow, which attracted just 916,000 viewers and a 4.4% share of the 9pm-11.15pm audience.

On Saturday night 'X Factor' put in another strong performance for ITV with 8.2m viewers tuning in to see further auditions including a frightening "holistic vocal coach" who tore off the number she had been given and threw it at the judges saying "I am a person not a number". It netted a 43.3% share of the 7.15pm-8.15pm audience.

'The National Lottery - Big 7', hosted by Ben Shephard, won the prime-time slot for the BBC on Saturday night attracting 3.8m viewers and an 18.5% share of the 9.15pm-10pm audience.

It beat ITV's airing of sci-fi film 'The Time Machine', starring Guy Pearce and Samantha Mumba, which pulled in 3m viewers and a 16.2% share of the 9.15pm-11pm audience.

On Friday night, ITV1's coverage of the UEFA Super Cup, which saw Zenit St Petersburg beat Manchester United 2-1, pulled in 3.8m viewers and an 18.7% share of the 7.30pm-10pm audience.

BBC One's panel game show 'Would I Lie to You?', presented by Angus Deayton with team captains David Mitchell and Lee Mack, attracted 3.3m viewers and a 15.5% share of the 9pm-9.30pm audience.

'Big Brother' drew 3.3m viewers and a 15.4% share of the 9pm-10pm audience for Channel 4 as people tuned in to see Lisa evicted. Including Channel 4+1 it reached 3.4m and a 16% share.

The second show, featuring Davina McCall's interview with Lisa, pulled in 2.6m viewers and a 16.7% share of the 10.30pm-11pm audience. Including Channel 4+1 it managed 2.8m and a 17.6% share.