TELEVISION / Statistics

Of five prime-time sitcoms recently showing on BBC1, four were repeats, yet the public seemed not to notice. On the Up (no longer running) received the highest ratings (with an audience of 8.2 million) and was a repeat; two of the other three repeats, Birds of a Feather (8.11m) and Keeping Up Appearances (7.66m), were both not far off the audience achieved by the new series Every Silver Lining (8.18m), though the fact that it is new may have contributed to its poor following.

ITV is low on sitcoms at present. Watching, a repeat, received 7.42m; the new sitcom Up the Garden Path didn't even register in the ITV Top 30.

(All figures for week ending 30 May)