Merlin logged its second best audience last night (Saturday) despite going up against the first live edition of The X Factor.
Episode four of the Arthurian drama pulled in 5.92m (25.6%) for BBC One over 45 minutes from 7.05pm, a rise of 160,000 on last week. Merlin followed on from Strictly Come Dancing, which suffered from being scheduled at the earlier time of 5.50pm. This week the ballroom show averaged 7.42m (34.6%), a week-on-week fall of 1.8m. The audience grew throughout its 75-minute run-time, however, reaching a peak of 8.88m (37.5%) at 6.55pm.
The X Factor's first live show of the year pulled in a strong 10.36m (44.1%) over two hours from 7.15pm, with a peak of 11.25m (48.5%) at 7.50pm. The figure is up considerably from the equivalent episode last year, which had 6.17m (30.5%) in an earlier, 5.30pm timeslot.
Tom Chambers has announced that he is quitting Holby City after a two-year stint as a doctor on the show.
According to a source, bosses on the programme have not decided whether his character Sam Strachan will be killed off, but his departure will be "tearful".
The actor commented that he feels it is the right time to leave the show, especially with his current appearance on Strictly Come Dancing.
"I was worried about telling the bosses, but I wrote a long letter to the producers explaining my decision and they were incredibly nice about it," he said.
"Sam Strachan has gone through so much in the past year with his cancer - it seemed like the perfect time to make the break."
BBC 3 Develops "Hollyoaks" Rival
Good Ratings For BBC's Merlin
Tom Chambers Quits Holby City
BBC Three is developing a "glossy and fast-paced" teen soap which it hopes will rival Hollyoaks, according to a report.
The Manchester-based drama, with a working title of Mirror Mirror, is set in a hair and beauty academy and is said to draw its inspiration from US teen dramas. The broadcaster hopes it will lure viewers from Channel 4's teen soap Hollyoaks.
Speaking to Broadcast, BBC Three controller Danny Cohen said: "If we feel they have made the [script] improvements we hope they will, we should get something green-lit over the next few weeks. It will grow over two to three years, which is partly financial but more about creative issues."
The show's producer Ellen Taylor continued: "Mirror, Mirror tells familiar stories about growing up, finding your identity, and love, sex and relationships, but in a very distinctive, visual way.
"Tonally, it is influenced by American teen drama. It is glossier and faster paced [than traditional UK rivals] and we are taking risks with the structure with lots of jumpcuts, flashbacks and fantasy sequences."
A BBC spokesman added: "Mirror, Mirror is one of several teen-focused dramas that we are developing for the BBC Three and Switch audiences. If commissioned it is planned as a 12-part series but it would be wrong to say it is being developed as a soap at this stage."
One source, meanwhile, described the programme as a "soap on speed".
A group of young writers, headed up by EastEnders and Casualty writer Daisy Coulam, will deliver an initial 12x30-minute scripts, with the order expected to increase to 24 episodes by 2012. Production is expected to commence later this year.
