'Shameless' pulls a respectable 3.5 million

Channel 4 drama Shameless returned for its fourth series with an impressive 3.5 million viewers and a 18.5% share.

The show reached its highest audience and peaked at 3.8 million and a 22.4% share at 10.30pm, exceeding the channel's slot average for 2006 of 2.2 million.

The last series managed an average of 3 million and a 16.1% share over eight episodes last January.

Five's second 60-minute episode of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation in the same slot pulled in 1.9 million, with BBC Two's Children of Helen House managing 1.4 million over 30 minutes. BBC's news bulletin won in the slot with 4.7 million.

ITV1's Soapstar Superstar got 4.4 million and a 17.8% share at 9pm, with Celebrity Big Brother clawing back its audience to manage 3.9 million and a 14.9% share over an hour, adding 300,000 viewers since Monday.

Earlier in the evening, Fortune: Million Pound Giveaway pulled in 3.4 million at 8pm, but was beaten by BBC One's Holby City which attracted 7.1 million and a 29.1% share in the same 60-minute slot.