TV Overnights: Doc Martin wins a high of 8.3m viewers

ITV1’s Doc Martin attracted a high of 8.3 million viewers during the all-important peak-hour last night.

The second episode of the latest series banked a consistent 8.2 million average viewers and a 32.9% audience share during the 9pm to 10pm slot, well ahead of its rival terrestrial channels.

On BBC One, The Queen’s Palaces – a documentary fronted by Fiona Bruce – secured 3.1 million average viewers and a 12.6% share during the hour, while BBC Two’s Dragon’s Den continued with more than 2.2 million peak viewers and a 8% average share.

Embarrassing Bodies secured 1.8 million peak viewers for Channel 4 during the 9pm to 10pm peak-hour, however, the channel’s Dispatches special – Gypsy Eviction: The Fight for Dale Farm – won the highest viewings of the evening, peaking with over two million viewers in the 8pm to 9pm pre-watershed slot.

Over on Channel 5, Jack the Ripper – The Definitive Story, a two part documentary re-creating the original police investigation, settled on a low 817,000 viewers during the 9pm to 10pm slot. However, the channel’s ratings peaked during the 10pm to 11pm slot with Big Brother, which secured a high of 1.5 million viewers.

The Monday night soap line-up dominated the pre-watershed ratings. Over 8.6 million peak viewers tuned in to see BBC One’s Eastenders – the first in a big week for the soap with Jodie and Darren’s wedding approaching.

Meanwhile, ITV1’s double-Corrie attracted a peak audience of 8.5 million viewers as the Carla and Frank storyline came to a head.

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.