Virgin 1 gets on the road with Riches

The Riches - Eddie Izzard and Minnie Driver
The Riches: stars British actors Eddie Izzard and Minnie Driver as scam artists in the US South

Digital channel Virgin 1 last night made a solid start with flagship drama The Riches pulling in an average of 323,000 viewers at 10pm.

The Virgin Media channel, which went live at 9pm, was the subject of a big publicity push, with Virgin founder Richard Branson hosting a glitzy launch party at his country house last week.

The Riches, which stars British actors Eddie Izzard and Minnie Driver as con artists, pulled in a multichannel share of 2.5% between 10pm and 11pm, according to unofficial overnights.

The drama meant Virgin 1 was the third most watched multichannel outlet at 10pm, beaten only by BBC3's EastEnders repeat, which pulled in 531,000 viewers and a 3.4% share over 30 minutes, and Sky One's Prison Break, which picked up 464,000 and 3.3% over an hour.

Over on terrestrial, the return of BBC1's police drama Murphy's Law was overwhelmed by ITV1's Doc Martin, which pulled in nearly double the number of viewers.

Murphy's Law, which stars James Nesbitt, attracted 4.1 million viewers and an 18% share between 9pm and 10pm, while the second instalment of Doc Martin, which features Martin Clunes as a rural doctor, drew 8.1 million and 35% in the same slot.

Also in the 9pm hour, BBC2's Inside a Sharia Court: This World attracted 1 million viewers and a 4% share, while Channel Five's Extraordinary People: Living with Half a Brain pulled in 1.1 million and 5%.

Channel 4's documentary The Great Wall of China attracted 1.8 million viewers and a 9% share between 9pm and 11.05pm.

The Ten O'Clock News on BBC1 pulled in 4.7 million viewers and a 25% share, while ITV1's Police, Camera, Action! picked up 3.9 million and a 21% share.

BBC2's Australian comedy Kath and Kim attracted 700,000 viewers and a 4% share at 10pm, while Five's MacIntyre's Underworld attracted 800,000 and 5% share between 10pm and 11.05pm.

