'Wire in the Blood' is Friday hit for ITV1

A new series of Wire In The Blood was a ratings hit for ITV1 in its new Friday night slot.

The sixth series of the crime drama, starring Robson Green, opened with 5.58m (26.2%) in the 9pm hour, comfortably winning the slot. The previous series, which aired in a longer 90-minute slot on Wednesdays, opened with 5.9m (27%) last July and averaged 5.1m across its four-week run.

BBC One was second for the hour with 3.23m (15.1%) watching comedy Harry & Paul at 9pm. The final episode of The Armstrong & Miller Show followed at 9.30pm with 2.46m (11.7%). Over its seven-week run the show has averaged 2.47m (11.7%), down by around a third on the slot average.

On Channel 4, Ugly Betty lost over a million viewers on last week to average 1.81m (8.5%). It was beaten by BBC Two's The Tudors, which had 1.86m (8.7%), but Betty finished ahead when its 220,000 (1.4%) audience on Channel 4+1 is taken into account. Five drew 1.14m (5.4%) with an NCIS repeat.

At 10pm, a new series of Al Murray's Happy Hour began with a decent 2.71m (15%) for ITV1. Channel 4's final Big Brother programme, What The Housemates Did Next, attracted 1.9m (10.7%). Five had 1.17m (6.5%) for a new episode of Law & Order: SVU and on BBC Two, a QI repeat amused 1.94m (9.9%).

Earlier, two episodes of Coronation Street pulled in 8m (40.2%) and 7.64m (34.8%) at 7.30pm and 8.30pm respectively. BBC One's EastEnders had 7.63m (35.9%) at 8pm, with a further 450,000 (2.6%) watching on BBC Three at 10pm. Emmerdale put in 6.17m (33.9%) at 7pm.

ITV1's Tonight investigation into the closure of British pubs interested 3.61m (17%) against EastEnders at 8pm, then at 8.30pm, DIY SOS had 3.39m (15.4%) for BBC One against Corrie.

BBC Two pulled in 2.09m (9.8%) for Mastermind at 8pm, then a new series of Gardeners' World had 2.3m (10.5%). Channel 4's A Place in the Sun: Home Or Away was seen by 1.22m (5.7%), a three-fold decline on the 3.85m (16.9%) who saw part one of the Big Brother final in the same slot last week. Five drew 581,000 (2.7%) for architectural series Behind Closed Doors.

Home & Away was the rare victor in multichannel homes, with an audience of 488,000 (3.2%) tuning in for Fiver's first-look episode at 6.30pm. E4's first-look Hollyoaks brought in 425,000 (2.7%) at 7pm.

Elsewhere, a night of programming dedicated to the late broadcaster Humphrey Lyttleton was a ratings hit for BBC Four. A tribute from friends and colleagues, The Jazz Musicians' Jazz Musician, delivered 432,000 (2.3%) in the 9pm hour, putting the channel in first place for the time period. A subsequent airing of Lyttleton's last ever TV recording, a 2007 performance at the Brecon Jazz Festival, managed 230,000 (1.4%).