5.3m held captive by Louis Theroux

The latest documentary by Louis Theroux was a big hit for BBC2 at 9pm last night, attracting an impressive audience of 5.3m viewers (19.9%).

The 60-minute programme, Louis Theroux: Behind Bars, saw its audience grow from 4.9m (17.3%) to 6m (23.8%) in the final quarter of an hour.

The size of the audience was above the channel's slot average of 2.4m (9.7%) for 2007.

Louis Theroux: Behind Bars examined life in the infamous San Quentin prison in the USA.

The most watched programme featuring Louis Theroux last year was The Most Hated Family in America which attracted 4.3m (18.5%) in a 9pm slot on 1 April.

BBC2's performance was particularly impressive as both of the two main terrestrial channels had popular shows on at the time.

Just slightly ahead of BBC2 was the return of ITV1's comedy-drama Kingdom, starring Stephen Fry. The hour-long episode at 9.20pm gained 5.4m (21.2%), just breaking the slot average of 5.3m (22.7%).

The final part of BBC1's Sense and Sensibility at 8.40pm broke the 6m mark. The 60-minute show pulled in 6.1m (22%).

The channel's audience fell at 9.40pm as a repeat of The Vicar of Dibley appealed to just 4m (15.8%).

BBC2 motors in peak

It was, overall, a strong peaktime performance from BBC2 with a share of 14.3% and no show between 8pm and 10.45pm dropping below the 3m viewers mark.

The Best of Top Gear at 8pm gained 3.3m (12%). After the Louis Theroux documentary Match of the Day 2 at 10pm had 3.4m (16.7%).

Neither Five nor Channel could really put up any serious competition.

C4 filled a large chunk of its peaktime line-up with an movie adaptation of the musical The Phantom of the Opera which pulled in 1.3m (5.2%) from 8pm for over two and a half hours.

Five's first peaktime film of the day, Men in Black 2, at 7.25pm had 2.2m (8.1%) which was followed by another movie, Planet of the Apes, at 9pm on 1.4m (6.8%).

ITV1 is as cool as ice

Making its Sunday night debut was the return of ITV1's mega-hit show Dancing on Ice. The celebrity ice skating show kicked off at 5.50pm with an impressive 8.9m (36.1%) for two hours.

The show grew its audience from an initial 7.4m (32%) to a strong 9.9m (37.1%). Unsurprisingly, the audience for the show was well above the slot average for last year of 5.1m (23.5%).

The opening show of last year's series gained 8.6m (38.8%) on Saturday 20 January in a 6.40pm slot.

The entire series averaged 8.1m (36.1%).

The results show of the talent contest was also on form with the Skate Off at 8.50pm bringing in 7.7m (27.9%) for half an hour, well above the slot average of 6.4m (25.7%).

Last night's results show had more viewers than any previous Skate Off edition apart from the final last year which was seen by 8.4m (35.6%) on 17 March.

Dramatic high

In between the two editions of Dancing on Ice, Heartbeat at 7.50pm drew 7.7m (27.9%).

BBC1 also made a strong impression at 7.40pm with its latest literary adaptation Lark Rise to Candleford taking 6.7m (24.4%).

The 10-part drama, starring Julia Sawalha and Dawn French, managed to hit a high of 7.1m (25.8%) at 8.15pm.

All hours shares for Sunday 13 January 2008: ITV1 – 20.9%, BBC1 – 18%, BBC2 – 11.6%, C4 – 6.2%, Five – 4.9%, multichannel – 38.4%.

Peaktime (6pm to 10.30pm) shares: ITV1 – 29.5%, BBC1 – 20.7%, BBC2 – 14.3%, Five – 6%, C4 – 5.4%, multichannel – 24%.

Source: Broadcast Now