Overnights: Midsomer Murders returns with 6.2m viewers

ITV1’s new Wednesday evening line-up proved to be a hit last night with Midsomer Murders attracting a high of 6.2 million viewers during the prime-time slot.

The first of two new cases for detective DCI Tom Barnaby, played by John Nettles, pulled in more than six million average viewers and a 27.5% audience share between 8pm and 10pm.

ITV1’s early evening programmes also banked the peak audience prior to Midsomer Murders. Emmerdale picked up over 5.8 million viewers between 7pm and 7.30pm, while the channel’s new 24-part Grimefighters series attracted 4.5 million viewers.

Earlier this month, ITV announced plans to move Coronation Street from its usual Wednesday night slot after 50 years to make way for the broadcaster’s new football coverage, which will kick in next month (see ITV unveils new drama line-up).

Coronation Street will now air on Thursday evenings, alongside its ITV sister soap Emmerdale and a revamped version of The Bill as part of the channel’s major overhaul of its popular drama schedule.

Over on BBC One last night, the second episode in the latest Who Do You Think You Are? series, which traced Radio 1 DJ Chris Moyles’ Irish roots, attracted a respectable 4.9 million peak viewers and a 20.1% average share between 9pm and 10pm.

At the same time, BBC Two’s Dragon’s Den pulled in a high of 3.5 million viewers and a 13% share, while 2 million viewers tuned in to Channel 4 to see the latest goings-on in the Big Brother house.

Five’s Gridiron Gang film premiere, meanwhile, only secured 874,000 average viewers and a 4.8% share from 9pm onwards.

Looking at tonight’s line-up, ITV1’s new flagship drama schedule faces competition from BBC1’s new six-part series The Rat Pack and the ratings-winning drama New Tricks, with Amanda Redman and Alun Armstrong.

Channel 4’s new heavily-publicised The World’s Oldest Mum documentary could also steal some of the peak-hour audience share, as could BBC Two’s Mock the Week and Five’s The Mentalist.

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.