'George' beats 'Elizabeth' to ratings crown

Rik Mayall's new comedy drama All About George got off to a flying start in the ratings last night, according to early figures.

The first episode, shown on ITV1 in the 9pm hour, averaged a strong 5.31 million (23.5%) and a fifth place ranking for the day.

It managed to top the first half of Channel 4's new big-budget drama Elizabeth I, which managed an albeit impressive 2.86 million (14.7%) over two hours.

BBC One's continuing Spooks had 5 million (22.2%), down by more than a million on last week.

EastEnders was the day's top performer with 9.38 million (45.3%), followed by Emmerdale on 8.46 million (44.1%) and The Bill with an impressive 6.78 million (30.3%).

Live coverage of the game between Everton and Dinamo Bucharest was the top performer amongst the multichannels, averaging 944,000 (6.3%) for ITV2 between 7.30pm and 10.30pm.

BBC Three's Honey We're Killing the Kids had a respectable 363,000 (2.3%) in the 9pm hour, trumping Sky One's Road Wars: USA, which averaged 160,000 (1%).