'Emmerdale', 'Bill Live' sink 'Enders

Ratings for EastEnders fell to the third lowest ever last night in the face of a strong ITV1 lineup.

The BBC soap pulled in just 6.58 million viewers, a 30.9% share of the TV audience, at 7.30pm. The lowest - 6.2 million - was recorded last October.

EastEnders was up against yet another hour-long Emmerdale, which finished a clear first with 8.34 million (41.9%) in the 7pm hour.

At 8pm, a special live episode of The Bill pulled in 7.92 million (35.9%) - good enough for second, but around 20% down on the first live episode, broadcast in 2003. The BBC put up an admirable defence with Rogue Traders (5.6 million, 25.9%) and Trauma (4.93 million, 22%).

ITV1's audience began to drop off an hour later for the final part of 49 Up, which managed an albeit respectable 4.86 million (23.2%) over 90 minutes. BBC One's Spooks won the slot with 6.22 million (28.7%).

Channel 4 had a largely lacklustre night, peaking with 1.37 million (6.2%) for Risking It All in the 8pm hour. Five's House put in 1.82 million (10.4%) at 10pm while BBC Two drew top numbers of 2.1 million (9.6%) for a hobbit-themed Horizon.

BBC Three's EastEnders encore topped the multichannel chart with an average of 1.06 million (7.7%) from 10pm while ITV2's movie presentation of Gone in 60 Seconds put in a strong 689,000 (5.2%) average from 9pm to take second place.

Other strong performers included Sky One's Brainiac: Science Abuse (499,000, 3.3%), Living TV's The Biggest Loser (291,000, 1.9%) and BBC Three's Honey We're Killing the Kids (502,000, 3.3%).