Strong ratings return for Paul O'Grady

Paul O'Grady made a strong return to the teatime slot last night (Monday), according to overnight ratings figures.

The new run of his daily talkshow averaged an impressive 2.2 million viewers - a 16% share of the available audience - in the 5pm hour, easily beating Channel 4's Richard & Judy, which had 1.53 million (11.2%).

During his first run last year, O'Grady eventually managed to topple BBC Two's The Weakest Link, but yesterday the quiz show was significantly ahead with 3.26 million (22.4%). BBC One's Neighbours continued to dominate the slot, however, with 3.6 million (22.7%) from 5.35pm.

Two episodes of Coronation Street topped the ratings chart as usual with averages of 12.76 million (54.4%) and 11.62 million (45.9%) at 7.30pm and 8.30pm respectively. EastEnders took 11.33 million (47%) for third, followed by Emmerdale with 9.87 million (46%).

The concluding part of BBC One's Supervolcano was a hit in the 9pm hour, with an average of 7.31 million (30.4%). Once again the ratings translated to success for BBC Two immediately afterwards, with 4.14 million (19.4%) tuning in for spinoff Supervolcano: The Truth About Yellowstone.

Despite the Beeb's popularity, ITV1's competing drama Wire in the Blood still managed an admirable performance with 6.48 million (28%) between 9pm and 10.30pm.

Elsewhere, Five's new reality series Make Me A Supermodel got off to a poor start at 10pm with just 934,000 viewers (5.2%).

It was a lacklustre night for multichannel, meanwhile, with the top seven places all going to repeats. The 7pm Simpsons ranked highest with 620,000 viewers (4.4%), while BBC Three's Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps averaged 423,000 (3.9%). Also faring well was ITV3's Poirot with 350,000 (2.1%) in the 8pm hour.

The highest-rated first-run show of the day was ITV2's The Contender. Despite its huge cross-channel promotional campaign, however, the boxing reality series could only manage a debut of 313,000 viewers (2%).

Ratings data supplied by ViewingFigures.com