Law & Order:UK holds the peak audience

ITV1’s Law & Order: UK retained the highest ratings during the all-important 9pm to 10pm peak hour last night.

The fifth episode in the seven-part crime drama, starring Bradley Walsh and Freema Agyeman, attracted more than 6.4 million peak viewers and a 26.1% average audience share – almost double the amount of BBC One’s ratings.

At the same time, BBC One’s new programme Cleopatra, Portrait of a Killer – which follows the discovery of a skeleton that archaeologists believe to be the sister of Cleopatra V11 – pulled in 3.2 million viewers and a 14% average audience share.

The three remaining terrestrial channels’ peak-hour viewing figures were all similar, however, BBC Two’s Heroes just managed to pip Channel 4 and Five to the third place.

Heroes picked up 1.6 million viewers and a 6.9% share, while Five’s Extreme Fishing with Robson Green attracted 1.5 million viewers and Channel 4’s one-off documentary The Great Sperm Race pulled in 1.3 million.

Earlier on in the evening, BBC One’s Eastenders managed to beat its rival soap Coronation Street to the top spot, banking an impressive 9.8 million peak viewers and a 38.6% average audience share between 8pm and 8.30pm.

However, ITV1’s soap run didn’t do badly, with Emmerdale attracting 7.3 million average viewers and Coronation Street attracting 9.6 million in the first episode and a further 9.3 million in the second.

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.