TV Overnights: New Tricks ends on a high of 7.8 million

The last in the series of BBC One’s ever-popular New Tricks secured the highest prime-time ratings last night.

The long-running drama, starring Alun Armstrong and Amanda Redman, attracted over 7.7 million average viewers and a 32.4% share during the all-important 9pm to 10pm slot – more than double the amount of viewers as its closest terrestrial rival.

Over on ITV1, The Bill pulled in 3.5 million viewers and a 15% average audience share – a slight improvement on ITV1’s share during the same slot last week.

Elsewhere, BBC Two’s Mock the Week picked up a respectable 2.5 million viewers and a 10.8% share, while Channel 4’s final Benefit Busters ended on a high of 2 million viewers and a 8.6% share.

Five’s penultimate You’re Nicked, meanwhile, only attracted 653,000 viewers and a 2.7% average share during the 9pm to 10pm peak hour.

Earlier on in the evening, ITV1’s new Thursday-night soap line-up secured the top spot, with the exception of BBC One’s 30-minute Eastenders slot.

Emmerdale‘s double-bill peaked with 6.7 million viewers, followed by Coronation Street‘s high of 8.1 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.