BBC One’s new documentary pulls in the highest peak-time ratings

BBC One’s new documentary series exploring the Danakil desert in Northern Ethiopia kick-started with more than 3.7 million peak viewers last night.

The Hottest Place on Earth attracted 3.6 million average viewers and a 16.7% audience share during the 9pm to 10pm slot, securing BBC One with the highest overall ratings in the peak-hour.

However, ITV1’s last in the series of Cops with Cameras came a close second with the same number of peak viewers, but fell down slightly on audience share – with an average of 16.1%.

Football on Five proved to be a winner for the channel – the AaB Aalborg Vs Manchester City Live UEFA Cup game scored over 2.4 million peak viewers and a 9% average audience share between 7.30pm and 10pm.

Elsewhere, the two-hour finale of Channel 4’s Red Riding – a crime drama set in 1983, starring David Morrissey and Sean Bean – attracted 1.6 million average viewers and a 8.5% share, while BBC Two’s peak-time Darwin’s Dangerous Idea pulled in 1.4 million viewers and a 6.6% share.

However, BBC One’s Eastenders secured the highest overall ratings of the evening, with an impressive 8.5 million viewers and a 38.9% share between 7.30pm and 8pm.

Overnight data is available each morning in mediatel.co.uk’s TV Database, with all BARB registered subscribers able to view reports for terrestrial networks and key multi-channel stations.