Phil’s Shooting Blows ITV’s Millionaire Out Of The Water

BBC1’s heavily trailed EastEnders Night appears to have delivered the goods for the channel, which achieved its best viewing figures in over a year last night, according to unofficial overnights. The evening kicked off with a celebrity Weakest Link, in which contestants from the EastEnders cast competed to raise money for Comic Relief. It achieved the highest ratings yet recorded for the programme, with 10m viewers.

The main event of the evening, featuring the wedding of characters Steve and Melanie and climaxing with the much-hyped shooting of Phil Mitchell, managed an average of 15.4m viewers or a 58% share, rising to 17m in the closing minutes.

The evening’s episode of the soap kicked off ten minutes later than usual, at 7.40pm, and was extended to 40 minutes. It is unlikely that this scheduling was entirely coincidental, given that ITV ratings winner Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? began at 8pm, 20 minutes before EastEnders finished, and only managed 8.6m viewers or a 33% share. Earlier in the evening Emmerdale was believed to have recorded its worst ever audience figure, just 7.3m, representing a 29% share.

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