Record audience for BBC Four

The serialisation of the diaries of the late Tory MP Alan Clark drew in a record audience to BBC Four last night, early ratings figures show.

Episode one of The Alan Clark Diaries - broadcast from 10pm - averaged 848,000 viewers, a 7.22% audience share in multichannel homes. As well as becoming the most watched programme on the channel since its launch, it also pulled off the feat of being the third most watched programme at the time, beaten only by BBC One and ITV1.

The BBC's decision to broadcast the series on a digital-only station, backed by a £1.6m advertising campaign, had been met with widespread criticism over the past few weeks. BBC Four controller Roly Keating today described the ratings as a "milestone" for his channel: "We're very proud of the Alan Clark Diaries and it's fantastic that so many people came to it on its first episode."

The previous record for a BBC Four show was State of Play, seen by 560,000 viewers.