TV Overnights: Aftermath of Heather’s murder secures 8.7m for BBC One

After kicking off the week in truly dramatic fashion EastEnders captured 39% of the available audience last night for BBC One.

Phil confronted his little boy about sending him to prison only to discover Ben might have other things on his mind. Namely, the cold, dead, Heather-shaped husk lying on the bed-sit floor. 8.7 million viewers tuned in to see the Mitchells deal with the aftermath of her murder.

Tuesday was a relatively quiet night for ITV1 – Emmerdale (7pm) won the biggest audience of the day but the channel failed to attract similar attention throughout the night. 6.8 million people watched as Aaron tried to deal with the psychological horror of being stood up. The Dales-set drama bagged an audience share of 33%.

None of the programmes that followed on ITV’s schedule managed to attract similarly high viewing figures. The late-evening audience peaked at 7:30pm with Countrywise Kitchen securing an audience of 2.2 million.

Holby City followed EastEnders on BBC One – the medical drama pulled in 5.2 million viewers. Over on BBC Two the second episode of Hairy Bikers’ Bakenation saw the rotund duo cook their way through Holland and Belgium. The programme proved to be BBC Two’s biggest attraction of the day, securing an audience of 2.6 million viewers (an 11% share).

Big Fat Gypsy Weddings at 9pm once again proved to be a ratings hit for Channel 4. As the series edges to a close, last night’s episode featured a woman reintegrating into the traveller community and a tension brewing at York Racecourse, which ended in a bloody fight in a nightclub. The penultimate episode of the current series was watched by 4.2 million viewers.

This was followed immediately by new comedy show Hit The Road Jack at 10pm. The programme, which seems to be a concept built around the title, saw Jack Whitehall take his posh boy schtick on a road trip around the UK, insulting locals as he goes. Only one million people watched as Jack ticked through every Welsh stereotype in under half an hour.

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.