Updated: BBC's 'Egypt' loses a million

More than a million viewers abandoned BBC One's Egypt on its second outing, early overnights indicate.

The big budget drama-documentary began strongly with 7.05 million (29.2%) last week but dropped to 5.98 million (23.9%) yesterday.

With a seventh place ranking overall, it still managed to top the last episode of ITV1's Jericho, which had 5.14 million (22.7%) between 9pm and 11pm.

Coronation Street was the day's top performer with 11.17 million (43.9%) at 7.30pm. Emmerdale had to settle for fourth with 7.9 million (33.3%), beaten by Heartbeat (8.84 million, 34.6%) and Creature Comforts (8.46 million, 33.7%).

A new Rocket Man put in an admirable 5.55 million (21.7%) for BBC One in the 8pm hour while on BBC Two, Battlefield Britain commanded 1.38 million (5.4%). At 9pm, Girls and Boys - Sex and British Pop had 1.81 million (7.3%) and an hour later, spinoff show Egyptian Journeys with Dan Cruickshank averaged 2.44 million (11.1%).

Channel 4 blanketed primetime with a countdown of the Biggest Selling Artists of the 21st Century, fronted by Dermot O'Leary. The show averaged 1.69 million (7.7%) between 8pm and 11.30pm.

Five had a strong night, beginning with 1.1 million (4.3%) for Britain's Worst Chef at 8pm before rising to 2.98 million (13.3%) for the premiere of Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines.

Sky Sports 1's coverage of the clash between Manchester United and Chelsea romped to victory in multichannel homes, averaging 2.19 million (18.4%) between 3pm and 6.30pm.

As usual, ITV2 enjoyed Sunday night success with its X Factor repeats. The performance and results episodes pulled in respective audiences of 751,000 (4.2%) and 607,000 (3.4%) from 8pm.

A double bill of BBC Three's Funland averaged 390,000 (2.7%) in the 10pm hour, outperforming Sky One's Nip/Tuck (308,000, 2.2%) and E4's Hollyoaks: Let Loose (86,000, 0.6%).

Movies also fared well, with ITV2's Jurassic Park III drawing 751,000 (7.5%) at 3pm and BBC Three's Deep Impact drawing 427,000 (2.4%) at 8.10pm.

Other strong multichannel performers included Sky One's new Simpsons (1.18 million, 7.6%), E4's Lost repeat (823,000 + 177,000), Sky One's Football Icon (360,000, 2.1%) and UKTV Gold's Doctor Who (347,000, 2%).