BBC One’s New Tricks drama secured the highest ratings during the all-important 9pm to 10pm peak hour last night with 5.5 million viewers and a 25% audience share.
The re-run of series five continued to bank the Thursday night top spot, pulling in well over a million more viewers than its ITV1 rival, The Bill.
ITV’s police drama, which now sits at the later time of 9pm, started on a high of 4.1 million viewers but slipped down to 3.8 million average viewers and a 17.7% share during the hour-long slot.
Elsewhere, the last in the series of Channel 4’s Alone in the Wild with Ed Wardle attracted 1.3 million average viewers and a 6% share.
Meanwhile, BBC Two’s The Love of Money, which examined politicians’ reactions to the economic crisis, managed to pip Five to fourth place in the peak-hour ratings war with 1.1 million average viewers and a 5.5% share.
Five’s new six-part series Vice Squad picked up an equal 1.1 million viewers between 9pm and 10pm but secured a slightly lower audience share of 5%.
Earlier on in the evening, BBC One’s Eastenders claimed the top soap spot with more than 8 million peak viewers. Unusually, ITV1’s Coronation Street attracted less viewers than it’s BBC One rival – pulling in 7.7 million peak viewers and a 33.7% share.
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.