C4 happy with Fern's 'promising' start

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C4 happy with Fern's 'promising' start
C4 happy with Fern's 'promising' start

Fern Britton attracted more than one million viewers to her debut Channel 4 teatime show - less than the slot average. The former This Morning host's new show, Fern, now occupies the 5pm slot held by Paul O'Grady before he left for ITV. The first show in the series was watched by an average of 1,076,000, with an 8.4 per cent share, on Channel 4 and the broadcaster's catch-up channel on Monday. The show rated over the 900,000 average for The 5 O'Clock Show, the short-lived replacement to Paul's chat show. But it was a third down on the slot average for the channel, which has broadcast the popular culinary programme Come Dine With Me at 5pm. A Channel 4 spokesperson said: "Fern has made a really promising start and we're delighted with the programme."

Patrick McLennan
Patrick McLennan

Patrick McLennan is a London-based journalist and documentary maker who has worked as a writer, sub-editor, digital editor and TV producer in the UK and New Zealand. His CV includes spells as a news producer at the BBC and TVNZ, as well as web editor for Time Inc UK. He has produced TV news and entertainment features on personalities as diverse as Nick Cave, Tom Hardy, Clive James, Jodie Marsh and Kevin Bacon and he co-produced and directed The Ponds, which has screened in UK cinemas, BBC Four and is currently available on Netflix. 

An entertainment writer with a diverse taste in TV and film, he lists Seinfeld, The Sopranos, The Chase, The Thick of It and Detectorists among his favourite shows, but steers well clear of most sci-fi.