'Secret Millionaire' breaks ratings record

The Secret Millionaire continued to gather steam last night (Tuesday), helping Channel 4 to top the ratings table.

The third episode of series three, which saw property tycoon Nick Leslau observing deprived citizens in Glasgow, averaged a weighty 4.23m (18.8%) for Channel 4 in the 9pm hour. The figure is a new record for the show, beating its previous best - the 3.72m (16.4%) audience for last week's episode - by a clear half million. A further 313,000 (1.9%) watched on Channel 4+1 at 10pm.

The figures put Channel 4 ahead of all competition in the hour. BBC One's investigative documentary Pedigree Dogs Exposed was in second with 3.93m (17.4%) while on ITV1, Trinny and Susannah Undress The Nation languished on a dismal 2.14m (9.5%). Five actually took third place for the period, drawing 2.65m (11.8%) for a new episode of CSI: Miami and on BBC Two, the second episode of Maestro engaged 1.79m (7.9%).

Channel 4 held up in the ratings at 10pm, with its latest Big Brother update pulling in 3.11m (17%) and a further 256,000 (3.1%) on timeshift. Five's CSI: New York repeat was seen by 1.79m (9.5%) and later, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit drew 873,000 (9%).

Team GB's success in the Olympics brought in the highest ratings of the Games to date, with 6.11m (30.4%) tuning in for BBC One's 7pm highlights show. The programme ran a close race with an hour-long edition of ITV1's Emmerdale, which had 6.49m (32.4%) over the same period.

At 8pm, EastEnders managed 7.46m (34.5%), a drop of 1.5m on Monday night's impressive figures but still enough to qualify as the day's most-watched show overall. A repeat of My Family, which followed at 8.30pm, put in a respectable 4.72m (21.5%). The Bill commanded 3.86m (17.7%) for ITV1 and on BBC Two, Jimmy Doherty's Farming Heroes concluded its run with 2.62m (12%), a week-on-week rise of 300,000. Channel 4's Don't Blame The Builder interested 1.53m (7%) and Five documentary Julius Caesar and the Druids: Revealed pulled in 1.08m (4.9%).

ITV3 had a particularly strong night with its classic drama lineup, starting with 388,000 (2%) for a vintage episode of Pie in the Sky at 8pm. The audience lifted to a sizeable 600,000 (3.1%) at 9pm for a 90-minute Rebus, which easily beat all multichannel competition.

BBC Three had the top multichannel show of the day in its 10pm EastEnders repeat, with 715,000 (4%), and solid audiences of 454,000 (4.4%) and 448,000 (5.7%) for a Family Guy double-bill in the 11pm hour.

ITV2's screening of X-Men sequel X2 brought in 425,000 (2.6%) between 9pm and 11.30pm, with a further 105,000 (1%) on timeshift. E4's ratings peak was 609,000 (3.6%) for first-look Hollyoaks at 7pm, with a further 134,000 (0.7%) on timeshift.