2.5m see the Duchess tackle hoodies

The first part of Sarah Ferguson's The Duchess On The Estate had a fair start for ITV1 last night, according to the latest ratings figures.

The 9pm documentary, which saw the duchess spend a week on a council estate in Manchester in a bid to solve the drugs and crime problems, pulled in 2.51m (11.8%), coming second in its timeslot.

It was beaten by BBC One's Crimewatch Solved, which attracted 3.75m (17.4%).

Desperate Romantics averaged 1.82m (8.4%) for BBC Two, 2.51m (11.6%) watched CSI: Miami on Five, and Channel 4's Big Brother highlights show was seen by 2.07m (9.6%). A further 405k (2.6%) tuned in on Channel 4+1.

Holby City led the 8pm hour, pulling in 5.07m (23.5%) for BBC Two. Its nearest rival, BBC Two's Coast, had 3.43m (15.9%).

ITV1's Car Crime UK managed 3.06m (14.2%), 1.7m (7.9%) tuned in for the penultimate part of Channel 4's Property Snakes And Ladders, and Five's Big, Bigger, Biggest was seen by 551k (2.6%).

Overall, BBC One came top during primetime with an average share of 22% to ITV1's 14.4%. BBC Two was third with 11.7%, followed by Channel 4 with 6.8% (+1: 1%) and Five's 6.2%.

Elsewhere, a new BBC Three series, Virgin Cooks - starring chef Gordon Jones - managed 360k (1.8%) during the 9pm hour.

BARB ratings data supplied by Attentional