TV Overnights: ITV1’s new Wormwood Scrubs secures the peak-hour top spot

ITV1’s new two-part documentary series about life in Wormwood Scrubs secured the highest ratings during the 9pm to 10pm peak-hour last night.

The first episode, which captured a day in the life of prisoners and guards at the London category B prison, pulled in more than 5.1 million peak viewers and a 20.9% average audience share, which put it well ahead of its rival terrestrial channels during the peak-hour.

BBC Two’s Grumpy Guide to the Eighties, which saw celebrities Bobby Davro, Penny Smith and Al Murray looking back at their most annoying memories of the 1980s, was ITV1’s closest competition with 3 million peak viewers.

However, the hour-long programme settled on an average of 2.8 million viewers and a 11.7% audience share throughout the full 9pm to 10pm slot.

BBC One’s new series High Street Dreams, meanwhile, attracted 2.4 million average viewers and a 10.3% share.  The real-life show sees businesswoman Jo Malone and property tycoon Nick Leslau mentor up-and-coming entrepreneurs with ideas for unique products that they hope to get onto the high street.

At the same time, Channel 4 and Five both pulled in an equal 1.4 million viewers each.  However, Five’s FlashForward picked up a slightly higher average audience share of 6%, while Channel 4’s Blitz Street banked a 5.9% share between 9pm and 10pm.

Earlier on in the evening, the soaps dominated the pre-watershed ratings.  BBC One’s Eastenders secured more than 8.1 million peak viewers and a 34.7% share, while ITV1’s double bill of Coronation Street peaked with a high of 9.2 million viewers.

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.