Wild at Heart returns to ITV with 7.2m viewers

by Nikki Sandison and Daniel Farey-Jones, Brand Republic 12-Jan-09, 11:20

LONDON - 'Wild at Heart' returned to ITV1 for a fourth series last night pulling in 7.2m viewers and beating BBC One's 'Swarm: Nature's Incredible Invasions', according to unofficial overnight figures.

The first episode of the new series of the vet drama, starring Stephen Tompkinson and Lucy-Jo Hudson, attracted a 27.4% share of the 8.30pm-9.30pm audience and won the primetime slot.

The episode revealed the new animal hospital rebuilt after the fire which killed Amanda Holden's character Sarah Trevanion at the end of the previous series.

The second and final part of BBC One's 'Swarm: Nature's Incredible Invasions' documentary, featuring a super swarm of bees smothering a motorbike, drew 2.8m viewers and a 10.7% share of the 9pm-10pm audience.

BBC Two's 'The Real Sir Alan', in which Fiona Bruce told the story of Sir Alan Sugar's journey from selling beetroot in the east end of London to building a fortune estimated at £800m from electronics and property, netted 2.8m viewers and a 10.7% share of the 9pm-10pm audience.

'Celebrity Big Brother' pulled in 2.2m viewers and an 8.6% share in the same slot as viewers tuned in to see Terry Christian accusing Ulrika Jonsson of thinking she was better than everyone else in the house. Including Channel 4+1 figures it reached 2.6m viewers.

Five's airing of Will Smith sci-fi comedy 'Men in Black 2' attracted 1.3m viewers and a 5.6% share of the 9pm to 10.45pm audience.

Earlier in the evening a new series of celebrity ice skating competition 'Dancing on Ice' kicked off on ITV1 with 8.4m viewers and a 32.2% share of the 7pm-8.30pm audience.

The contestants include 'GMTV's' Michael Underwood, 'The Bill' actor Todd Carty, rugby coach Ellery Hanley, investigative journalist Donal MacIntyre, 'EastEnders' actress Gemma Bissix and singer Ray Quinn.

The results show pulled in 6.7m and a 26% share of the 9.30pm-10pm audience.

On Saturday, new shows from the BBC and ITV both lost viewers from their debut outings last week.

At 5.45pm-6.45pm BBC One gameshow 'Total Wipeout', fronted by Richard Hammond, registered 4.7m viewers and a 22.4% share, down 1.8m viewers from last week.

ITV1's 'Demons', a supernatural drama about the last descendant of vampire hunter Van Helsing, was down by 900,000 viewers to 4.8m this week, with a 20.3% share.

It was beaten in the 7.45pm-8.30pm slot by 'The National Lottery: In It To Win It', which drew 6.8m viewers and gave BBC One a 28.7% share of the audience.

Following this at 8.30pm-9.30pm 'Casualty' managed 6.8m and a 28.5% share of viewing.

ITV1's strongest performance came at 7pm-8pm, with 'New You've Been Framed' gathering 6.4m in the first half hour and 'Harry Hill's TV Burp' 6.6m in the second half hour.

BBC One lagged behind with 5m tuning in for 'Eurovision: Your Country Needs You', the competition for the public to pick one of six musical acts as the UK's entry to the contest.

'Celebrity Big Brother' earned Channel 4 its best ratings on Saturday -- 2.2m and a 9.5% share at 9pm-10pm.

The night before, 3.5m (14%) watched the first eviction programme, with the public deciding glamour model Lucy Pinder had to leave and Ulrika Jonsson would stay in. Another 300,000 viewers watched the show on Channel 4+1.

The 9pm-10pm slot was won by some distance by ITV1 drama 'Trial and Retribution', with 5.8m viewers (23.5%).

BBC One's comedy panel quiz 'QI' earned 4.3m viewers and a 17.1% share at 9pm-9.30pm, followed by an episode of Dawn French comedy 'The Vicar of Dibley' that managed 3.1m (12.6%).