Corrie leads new Thursday soap lineup

ITV's Coronation Street led yesterday's revamped Thursday soap lineup as it assumed its new place in the schedules for the first time in its 49-year history.

Last night's instalment of the Weatherfield soap, which saw Ashley attempting to coax Claire down from the edge of the hospital roof, drew 7.69m (36%) at 8.30pm. ITV2's repeat two hours later at 11.30pm added 258k (1.8%).

BBC One's screening of EastEnders, which saw Ryan frantically searching for the offending knife, was watched by 7.24m (38.1%) in its traditional 7.30pm slot.

BBC Three's 10pm repeat was the most-watched multichannel programme of the day, adding a further 745k (4.1%).

Emmerdale's newly-established Thursday double bill at 7pm and 8pm logged 5.48m (31.4%) and 6.62m (33.8%) respectively. The episodes saw Rodney's van crash into the Home Farm shop and the rescue efforts that ensued.

The rural soap's second offering attracted its highest audience since May 18.

BBC One's Doctors, yesterday titled 'Vera Pym', put in 1.35m (19.1%) at 1.45pm.

Neighbours interested 1.3m (10.9%) at 5.30pm on Five, while Fiver's 7pm repeat added 198k (1.2%).

Channel 4's Hollyoaks offering at 6.30pm, which saw Ravi take a turn for the worse, took 1.15m (7.1%), before its timeshift repeat on Channel 4+1 had 107k (0.6%).

E4's first look managed 535k (3.3%) and its repeat showing on E4+1 added 121k (0.7%).

Hollyoaks appeared to benefit from the back-to-back soap scheduling as each timeshift repeat topped the 100k mark for the first time since the middle of last month.

Five's episode of Home and Away, during which Claudia left the Bay, brought in 1.02m (6.9%) at 6pm. Fiver's first look had 505k (3.5%) half an hour later.

BARB ratings data supplied by Attentional