Sydney – Aiming to arrest its year-long slide in the ratings, Australia’s Nine Network is betting that a newly-acquired slate of British series will propel it to greater heights in 2008. The package is headed by a slew of programs from BBC Worldwide including Life in Cold Blood, the final chapter in David Attenborough’s wildlife anthology Life on Earth; Extraordinary Animals, which focuses on animals with unique abilities; and Heroes and Villains, an action drama based on the real lives of six men who shaped the world around them, either by sheer force of will, genius, courage or greed. Also in that bundle are Primeval series 2, featuring more battles between Professor Nick Cutter and his team with savage dinosaurs and other deadly foes from the past, present and future; and dramas Hotel Babylon (series 3) and Waking the Dead (series 7). Among other new programs for the 2008 season are the controversial ITV series Secret Diary of a Call Girl, starring Billie Piper (Doctor Who) as a beautiful prostitute who leads the ultimate double life; and Rock Rivals, a drama based around an Australian Idol-style TV show and the marriage breakdown of a husband and wife who are judges on it; in a twist, for the first time in a TV drama the audience can vote for the ending they want to see. Nine’s slate also includes US series Pushing Daisies and Cashmere Mafia, and local dramas Underbelly and Canal Road.