The BBC series, which concluded its latest run last week with 7.81m (31.3%), kept hold of a decent 6m (24.9%) for this week's episode, a repeat of the first episode of series three. The Children, a three-part drama about a group of families torn apart by the murder of one of their daughters, had 4.93m (20.4%) over the same period. The figures are up significantly on the one-off piece Pierrepoint, which managed 3.63m (15.7%) last week.
Dragons' Den was third place at 9pm, adding 350,000 week-on-week to average an impressive 3.71m (15.4%). Five's new series Extreme Fishing with Robson Green made a decent start with 1.18m (4.9%) while on Channel 4, the final episode of Kevin McCloud and The Big Town Plan had a disappointing 1m (4%).
Coronation Street brought in solid audiences of 8.73m (41.9%) and 8.53m (36%) for its 7.30pm and 8.30pm episodes. EastEnders had 8.61m (38%) for BBC One at 8pm, with a further 447,000 (2.5%) watching BBC Three's 10pm repeat. Emmerdale took 6.36m (32.9%) at 7pm, while on BBC One, The One Show improved 900,000 to 3.9m (20.2%).
A Cambridge-Oxford showdown on University Challenge pulled in 2.8m (12.4%) to BBC Two at 8pm, then half an hour later, a pie-themed episode of The Hairy Bakers appealed to 3.2m (13.5%). A Panorama investigation into the credit crunch managed 3.43m (14.4%) for BBC One at the same time.
Channel 4's follow-up to a controversial episode of Dispatches, Undercover Mosque: The Return, had a fairly muted reception with just 1.12m (4.8%) in the 8pm hour. On Five, Fifth Gear picked up 703,000 (3%).
Big Brother, now in its final week, brought in 2.55m (14.4%) for Channel 4 in the 10pm hour and 117,000 (1.4%) on timeshift. BBC Two's Would I Lie To You? rerun amused 1.51m (7.3%) between 10pm and 10.30pm.
Multichannel audiences were largely down, despite the launch of several high-profile new series. A new run of Ross Kemp On Gangs interested 369,000 (1.7%) for Sky1 in the 9pm hour but was beaten by a QI rerun on Dave. The quiz, fronted by Stephen Fry, had an audience of 554,000 (2.6%) between 9pm and 9.40pm, then an episode of Mock The Week kept 541,000 (2.7%) with the channel until 10.20pm.
Meanwhile, ITV2 launched a new season of Gordon Ramsay's Hell's Kitchen USA with a double-bill at 9pm. The first episode averaged 315,000 (1.5%), then at 10pm the second episode improved to 351,000 (2.2%).
First-look Hollyoaks was the top multichannel draw, with 637,000 (3.8%) for E4 at 7pm and 86,000 (0.4%) on timeshift.
