UK TV Charts - w/e 11th January 2009

A rundown of the Top 20 most popular UK TV programmes or series for the week ending Sunday 11th January 2009 collated from information compiled and presented by BARB. Note that figures for multi-episode TV broadcasts (ie soaps or other shows with more than one episode per week) are rounded up into an average figure for the series and are denoted in the chart by *

1 Coronation Street (ITV1).................10.64 *
2 EastEnders (BBC1)..................... 9.22 *
3 Dancing On Ice (ITV1).................... 8.01 *
4 Above Suspicion (ITV1).................... 8.00
5 Emmerdale (ITV1)......................... 7.72 *
6 Wild At Heart (ITV1)...................... 7.71
7 Harry Hill's TV Burp Compilation (ITV1)... 7.18
8 Casualty (BBC1).......................... 7.14
9 National Lottery: In It To Win It (BBC1).. 6.89
10 New You've Been Framed! (ITV1)........... 6.59
11 Antiques Roadshow (BBC1)................. 6.43
12 Trial and Retribution (ITV1).............. 6.29
13 Hustle (BBC1)............................ 6.27
14 Lark Rise To Candleford (BBC1)............ 6.13
15 The Bill (ITV1).......................... 5.85 *
16 Holby City (BBC1)......................... 5.84
17 Demons: The Whole Enchilada (ITV1)........ 5.58
18 The Life Of Riley (BBC1).................. 5.32
19 Your Country Needs You (BBC1)............. 5.14
20 Swarm: Nature's Incredible Invasion (BBC1) 5.12

Chart Comment: With no big 'event' TV shows dominating the schedules and the New Year doldrums stting in, the Top 20 reverts to its 'default' setting as Coronation Street and EastEnders reclaim their traditional top two positions. Coronation Street in particular had a good week with a couple of episodes rating over 11 million (but lower-rated episodes brought down the average). Elsewhere it's a ragtag bunch; ITV drama continues to thrive with the second episode of Above Suspicion rating higher than its first, the return of the dreary Wild At Heart pulling in a decent Sunday night tally and Trial and Retribution doing well on a Friday night. Despite losing over 600,000 viewers between episodes, even Demons manages to cling into a top 20 slot with its second episode. Episode three did worse again though and will be very lucky to squeeze into next week's chart. Good to see old ITV warhorse The Bill performing solidly and over on BBC1 the first episode of the new series of Hustle performed more than respectably and the show's figures, which look fairly stable for episode two, suggest its six episodes will remain a fixture in the middle reaches of the chart. BBC1's latest Saturday night vote-fest, Your Country Needs You, isn't needed by many but it's interested enough to elbow its way into the bottom of the chart and Dr Who fans can take heart from the fact that, although their (our) show is away for a few months, the David Tennant-narrated nature documentary Swarm did well to snatch a number 20 slot. Good on you, sir!