The prospect of hearing moans from Germaine Greer, Janet Street-Porter and Maureen Lipman proved tempting for viewers on Friday, according to early figures.

Grumpy Old Women debuted with an average of 3.71 million viewers - an 18.1% share of the available audience - at 10pm on BBC Two, beating out most competition in its slot.

Only ITV1's movie premiere of Die Another Day, which began at 8.30pm, could fare better with an average of 6.33 million (29.1%) over two hours.

Top programme of the night went to Coronation Street, which had 11.72 million (52.4%), but EastEnders was not far behind on 11.16 million (47.8%). Emmerdale was the third placer with 9.15 million (43.3%).

BBC One's Friday night comedy lineup had a mixed reception, beginning admirably at 8.30pm with 5.48 million (24.5%) for My Hero but dropping off in the 9pm hour with audiences of 3.21 million (14.5%) and 3.05 million (14%) for According To Bex and 29 Minutes Of Fame respectively.

Surprisingly, Channel 4's 6pm Simpsons repeat - which had 2.83 million (14.9%) - performed better than a double-bill of new episodes in the 9pm hour with 2.04 million (9.2%) and 1.88 million (8.6%). Later in the evening, The Friday Night Project continued with an average of 1.59 million (10.5%).

Over on multichannel, top draw went to ITV2's American Idol, which averaged 571,000 viewers (4.1%) between 8.30pm and 11pm.

A repeat of WWII drama Foyle's War attracted 424,000 (2.9%) to ITV3 from 8.30pm, while on BBC Three, a Two Pints repeat proved popular with 391,000 (3.3%). A new CSI: Miami brought in 295,000 (2%) to LivingTV at 9pm.

Movie premieres also fared reasonably, with an average of 219,000 (1.5%) for Jeepers Creepers 2 on Sky Movies 2 and 133,000 (1%) for The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen on Sky Movies 3.

Ratings data supplied by ViewingFigures.com