Ratings boost for Survivor

Some six million viewers tuned into ITV's Survivor on Friday, marking an upturn in the show's fortunes.

Friday night's 30-minute episode of Survivor came after audiences had slumped to 4.4m on Thursday.

The episode, in which John Leslie interviewed model Sarah Odell about her eviction from the island had an audience of 6m viewers, 29% of the total audience.

It was Survivor's best audience since its opening night on Monday 21 May, when the first eviction show drew 6.6 million.

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DiMaggio biopic planned

The Pulitzer Prize-winning biography of baseball legend Joe DiMaggio - who was married to Marilyn Monroe - is to be turned into a film.

The book, written by Richard Ben Cramer, will be adapted by Christopher Wilkinson and Stephen J Rivele - the writing duo behind recent biopics of Richard Nixon and Muhammad Ali.

DiMaggio became an American sporting hero when he played for the New York Yankees.

But Rivele said that DiMaggio's unhappy marriage to Marilyn Monroe was "the lens through which we see him".

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Touring deadline for Clapton

Rock guitarist Eric Clapton has said his decision to quit touring is due in part to the fact he is about to become a father for the third time.

The star's 25-year-old girlfriend Melia McEnery is due to give birth this month.

He is currently in the middle of an American tour, which is due to end on 18 August in Los Angeles.

"It's hard," he said. "It's doesn't work for me anymore. I will leave the door open for a couple of projects, to play the odd theatre, but I'd say this is near the end."

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Soap actress becomes poster model

Brookside star Claire Sweeney will model a new range of bras for ailing high street retailer Marks and Spencer.

Sweeney, who took part in Celebrity Big Brother, will appear on in-store posters wearing three designs called Cheeky, Naughty and Wicked.

The actress, who plays Lindsey Corkhill in the Liverpool-based soap, is said to be earning £300,000 for appearing in the posters - but she will not star in TV adverts.

Marks and Spencer recently announced another dip in profits, branding them "unacceptable".

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Ullman's Panty Lines visible on cable

British comedienne Tracey Ullman has sold her spoof fashion series Tracey Ullman's Visible Panty Lines to American cable channel Oxygen Media.

Celebrity guests including Cindy Crawford, Jackie Collins or Dame Edna Everage are seen ransacking their wardrobes before Hollywood stylists perform an on-air makeover of volunteers.

"This show will be an irreverent look at fashion," said Debbie Beece, president of programming at Oxygen.

It will be screened from September, with 11 shows in the first series.

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Priestley's Dope deal

Actor Jason Priestley is to star in the pilot of a drug drama TV show, called Dope, for American cable channel FX.

It will be the 31-year-old star's first series commitment since quitting his role as Brandon Walsh in the cult teen hit Beverly Hills 90210 in 1998.

The drama follows the path of a kilo of heroin that brings together a disparate group of characters.

The choice of what gets turned into a full series will be between Dope and The Barn, about a battle between good and evil inside a police precinct and on the streets.