'Vital Signs' shaky as 'Street' tops Thursday

Jimmy McGovern's The Street managed to see off competition from a new Tamzin Outhwaite drama on Thursday night, early figures suggest.

The second episode of The Street, focusing on Jim Broadbent's character, drew an average of 5.22 million viewers - a 22.9% share of the available audience - to BBC One in the 9pm hour. The numbers were down 200,000 on last week's opener but comfortably ahead of Outhwaite's Vital Signs, which managed 4.8m (21%) for ITV1 over the same period.

Channel 4 placed third in the 9pm hour with 2.73m (12.7%) for the documentary Ten Days That Made The Queen (running through 10.35pm), although Five ran a close race with House (2.45m, 10.7%). BBC Two was miles apart with just 0.59m (2.6%) for This World.

At 8pm, ITV1 had been ahead with The Bill (5.62m, 25%), although school drama Waterloo Road (4.6m, 20.5%) continued to deliver solid numbers for BBC One. Channel 4's lineup of A Place In The Sun (2.26m, 10.4%) and No Going Back: A New Life In France (2.76m, 11.9%) topped BBC Two's The Curious House Guest (1.84m, 8.9%) and Mastermind (2.32m, 10%). Five put in 1.97m (8.8%) for How Not To Decorate.

On the edge of prime, ITV1's Murder Squad appealed to 3.45m (17.7%) while on Five, Grey's Anatomy held onto 1.4m (8%).

EastEnders (8.96m, 43.1%) and Emmerdale (7.54m, 39.3%) took the top two spots for the day overall.

Sky One enjoyed a strong night in multichannel homes, beginning with 348,000 for Vorderman's Big Brain Game. Cold Case kept 347,000 in the 9pm hour before Bones closed off prime with a spiffy 545,000.

E4 picked up a healthy 554,000 with the ever-reliable ER in the 9pm hour, with an additional 189,000 tuning in through timeshift.

On ITV2, Thursday night movie The 'Burbs (226,000) and Footballers Wives' Extra Time ran a close race with BBC Three's Real Hustle (228,000) and Spendaholics (283,000).