Viewers line up for ITV's 'Spelling Bee'

A peak of over 6 million viewers tuned in for ITV1's celebrity spelling competition on Thursday night.

According to early figures, an average of 5.33 million (27.2%) watched the Chris Tarrant-fronted Spelling Bee between 9pm and 10.30pm. The show, which ranked fourth for the day, entertained a peak of 6.2 million just before 10pm.

Topping the chart was EastEnders with just 7.76 million (45.3%) at 7.30pm. Emmerdale finished second with 7.21 million (44.1%), followed by the Bill with 5.34 million (30.3%) in the 8pm hour.

BBC Two's top show of the day was a betting-themed Horizon, which had 1.72 million (9.1%) from 9pm. Five hit a high of 1.78 million (9.3%) for US import House in the 10pm hour.

ITV3 topped the multichannel rankings with an average of 546,000 (4.1%) for the Burt Reynolds comedy Smokey and the Bandit while on ITV2, 407,000 (3%) opted for a Bad Girls repeat.

Other highlights included 383,000 (3.1%) for spinoff drama Footballers' Wives: Extra Time and an unusually impressive 308,000 (2.3%) for BBC Three's current affairs documentary Conflicts.

Ratings data supplied by ViewingFigures.com