Episode Two

Desperate Romantics' drops 500,000

Friday, July 31 2009, 11:41 BST

By Neil Wilkes, Editor
'Desperate Romantics' drops 500,000

BBC Two drama Desperate Romantics dropped around 500k on Tuesday, according to early figures.

The second episode of the series, about the steamy world of the pre-Raphaelites, took 1.99m (9.2%) in the 9pm hour, putting the channel in last place for the period.

ITV1 won the slot with 3.81m (17.5%) for Car Crime UK, while BBC One's The Truth About Crime had 2.76m (12.7%). Five's CSI: Miami was close behind with 2.7m (12.4%) and on Channel 4, the latest visit to Big Brother drew 2.13m (9.8%).

At 8pm, Holby City put in a slot-winning 5.1m (22.7%) for BBC One. ITV1's Send In The Dogs averaged 3.87m (17.2%) and on BBC Two, Coast appealed to 3.22m (14.4%). Channel 4's Property Snakes and Ladders interested 2.1m (9.3%) and Five's Big: Bigger: Biggest claimed 981k (4.4%).

Overall, BBC One won primetime with an average share of 20.8% to ITV1's 17.7%. BBC Two was third with 9.7%, followed by Channel 4 with 7.4% (+1: 1%) and Five with 7.1%.

Ratings data supplied by Attentional

Original article here.