'The Restaurant' ratings on the rise

The Restaurant hit a new high on Wednesday as the series drew closer to its conclusion.

The show, headed by chef Raymond Blanc, pulled in a series high of 2.75m (11.9%) in the 8pm hour on Wednesday. Over its seven weeks to date, The Restaurant has averaged a strong 2.37m (10.7%). The finale airs this Wednesday (October 29).

ITV1 won the 8pm hour with 5.25m (22.8%) for The Bill, while on BBC One, new fly-on-the-wall documentary series Air Medics began with 4.04m (17.5%). Channel 4's Supernanny USA had 1.55m (6.7%) and Five's Axe Men brought in 1.1m (4.8%).

At 9pm, BBC One took the lead, drawing 6.31m (26.4%) with Silent Witness. Greatest Cities of the World with Griff Rhys Jones concluded its three-week run with a trip to Paris and an audience of 3.26m (13.7%) for ITV1.

Heroes kept up the pace for BBC Two with 2.16m (8.9%) at 9pm. Heroes Unmasked delivered 1.38m (6%) at 9.45pm, then 842,000 (5.2%) watched the next episode on BBC Three.

The Family improved to 1.84m (7.7%) for Channel 4 (+1: 186,000, 1.2%) and on Five, Paul Merton In India interested 1.66m (6.9%).

The new season of Desperate Housewives began at 10pm with an improved 1.91m (11.3%) for Channel 4 (+1: 131,000, 1.9%).

Coronation Street notched up 8.72m (40.2%) to rank as the most-watched show of the day. Emmerdale had 6.95m (34.3%) for second.

ITV1 and BBC One were level pegging in primetime, with an average audience share of 21.4%. Last week ITV1 had led with 23% to BBC One's 20.9%. BBC Two was third with 8.6% (8.5%), followed by Channel 4 on 7.2% (7.3%) and Five on 4.6% (4.3%).

First-look Hollyoaks had a strong 1.02m (5.8%) for E4 at 7pm (+1: 164,000, 0.8%) and Fiver's first-look Home & Away brought in 580,000 (3.5%).

ITV2's top audience was 483,000 (2.3%) for Jack Osbourne: Celebrity Adrenaline Junkie in the 9pm hour.

Ratings data supplied by Attentional