2.8 million visit C4's 'Strangest Village'

Channel 4's documentary about a small village with special needs residents was a ratings success on Thursday night, according to early figures.

Strangest Village, broadcast in the 9pm hour, averaged 2.77 million viewers (13.1%). It ranked third among the terrestrials, beaten by BBC One's Murphy's Law (4.98 million, 23.5%) and ITV1's continuing Ladette To Lady (4.04 million, 19%).

EastEnders was the day's most-watched show with 8.53 million (45.1%) at 7.30pm. Emmerdale took second with 7.74 million (44.8%), while The Bill managed third place with 5.21 million (25.1%).

In the 10pm reality battle, Big Brother climbed back ahead with 4.01 million (21.1%) over Celebrity Love Island's 3.67 million (18.4%).

Footballers' Wives: Extra Time was the most-watched original show in multichannel homes, averaging 543,000 (4.5%) for ITV2 between 10.30pm and 11pm.

Sky One's Cold Case put in a strong showing with 339,000 (2.3%) but was almost beaten by E4's repeat of Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares, which had 337,000 (2.3%) over the same period.

Ratings data supplied by ViewingFigures.com