New Ardal O'Hanlon comedy Blessed is failing to pull in the viewers for BBC One.

The sitcom, penned by Ben Elton, drew just 3.17 million (14.4%) at 9pm on Friday night - around half the typical audience managed by the slot's previous occupants.

The ratings picked up in the latter half of the hour, with 4.35 million (19.6%) tuning in for Have I Got News for You.

ITV1's Taggart had 5.69 million (26.3%) between 9pm and 10.30pm while on BBC Two, a Guy Fawkes-themed Timewatch interested 2.75 million (12.4%). Channel 4 peaked with 1.77 million (8%) for The Simpsons at 9pm, retaining 1.7 million (7.6%) for Rock School half an hour later. Five had 1.35 million (6.4%) for Chow Yun-Fat thriller The Replacement Killers.

Earlier, EastEnders beat Coronation Street to the top of the terrestrial chart, drawing an average of 10.82 million (48.2%) over 10.53 million (49.5%) respectively. Emmerdale had 8.31 million (42.3%) for third, with Bleak House taking 5.89 million (26.1%) for fourth.

A new episode of QI: Quite Interesting ranked as the most-watched original show amongst the multichannels, pulling in 432,000 (3.6%) for BBC Four at 10.30pm.

A new CSI drew in 432,000 (2.8%) to Living TV in the 9pm hour, with an extra 131,000 (1%) via timeshift. Sky One enjoyed success with football, averaging 421,000 (2.7%) for the first half of Man Utd's Greatest Goals between 8pm and 10pm.

ITV2 hit a high of 421,000 (2.7%) with The Xtra Factor: Xcess All Areas at 8.30pm, while on Sky Movies 5, disaster flick The Day After Tomorrow attracted 216,000(2.1%).