Lorraine Heggessey: Took over in November 2000

The turnaround in the ratings, which are compiled by the audience research group Barb, comes a year after BBC Director General Greg Dyke ordered a series of changes.

Ms Heggessey was brought in to replace Peter Salmon and with her at the helm the main evening news was moved forward by one hour and special emphasis was placed on drama and entertainment.

Triumph

A BBC spokeswoman hailed the figures as evidence of a "very strong performance", noting that the corporation had "massively closed the gap in peak time" with ITV1.

She said a number of factors had contributed to the ratings triumph.

The sitcom My Family, starring Robert Lindsay and Zo� Wanamaker, had been a huge success for BBC One, she said.

Sitcom My Family is one of BBC One's top shows

A second series of My Family was commissioned last year after it became the highest-rating BBC One sitcom for five years.

Also mentioned were the new fourth episode of the soap EastEnders, which goes out on Friday nights, and Blue Planet, the latest series from veteran TV naturalist Sir David Attenborough.

A poor performance from ITV1, especially during the daytime, had also helped BBC One, she said.

She said that BBC One now has some very popular daytime shows, such as Doctors.

Dramas based in the north of England, such as Mersey Beat and Linda Green were also felt to have redressed a perceived southern bias on the channel.