'House' scores season high with 709,000

Last night's instalment of House scored the biggest audience for the season so far, according to the latest viewing figures.

The eighth episode of the hospital drama, which saw House and Foreman clash over some medical trials, averaged 709k (3.4%) during the 9pm hour. The previous high for the season was the opener, which took 676k (3.3%).

Also on the multichannel stations last night, BBC Three documentary Britney Spears Saved My Life put in 315k (1.5%).

ITV1's Kingdom was the most-watched programme during the 9pm hour, pulling in 4.57m (19.7%) with its penultimate episode. Its nearest rival, Casualty 1909, had 3.29m (14.2%) for BBC One.

BBC Two's On Thin Ice managed 2.8m (12.1%), while 1.84m (7.9%) watched Channel 4's Big Brother highlights, which included Rodrigo's secret mission to convince another housemate to bark like a dog.

Five's Samuel L. Jackson-fronted action-thriller, The Long Kiss Goodbye, averaged 1.67m (8.4%) between 9pm and 11.15pm.

Earlier, at 8pm, Top Gear attracted 5.69m (25.3%) to BBC Two, easily winning the timeslot, and ITV1's The Secret Caribbean With Trevor McDonald logged 3.81m (16.9%).

The latest episode of BBC One's Hope Springs had 3.36m (14.9%), 1.53m (6.5%) watched Channel 4's Wife Swap, and Five's Among The Apes interested 617k (2.7%).

Overall, BBC One came top during primetime with an average share of 18.2% to ITV1's 17.3%. BBC Two was third with 13.3%, followed by Channel 4 with 6.6% (+1: 1%) and Five's 5.7%.

BARB ratings data supplied by Attentional