Extra viewers
Gervais comedy a ratings hit
More viewers watched Ricky Gervais's Extras last Thursday than any other show at the time.
The opening episode to his Office follow-up, featuring Ben Stiller as a guest star, attracted an average audience of 4.6 million viewers.
That represents around a quarter of all TV viewers at the time, and a very high figure for BBC Two.
Catherine Tate, whose sketch show returned for a second series immediately afterwards, benefited from inheriting such a strong audience.
Her show drew a strong 3.4 million viewers, or 17 per cent of the audience.
But more switched off for the return of spin-doctor sitcom Absolute Power, starring Stephen Fry and John Bird, which recorded 1.9 million viewers, or 9 per cent.
The overnight figures are normally released to broadcasters by 11am the next day, but a ‘mechanical hiccup’ meant Barb’s ratings were not available on Friday.
Published: 1 Jul 2005
