Chris Ryan's 'Strike Back' pulls in 370,000

Sky1's new war drama Chris Ryan's Strike Back got off to a decent start on Wednesday (May 5).

The first two episodes of the series, which stars Richard Armitage and Andrew Lincoln, averaged 398k (1.7%) for the channel from 9pm.

It was beaten by BBC Three's screening of Shia LaBeouf thriller Disturbia, which put in 436k (2%) over the same period.

ITV2's American Idol had 360k (1.5%) in the 9pm hour and 85k (0.5%) on timeshift.

Elsewhere, ITV1 dominated most of primetime with a two-hour Midsomer Murders, which averaged 5.44m (23%) from 8pm.

On BBC One, Waterloo Road took 4.59m (19.6%) in the 8pm hour, then the audience fell to 3.85m (16.2%) for Motorway Cops.

B&B reality series Three In A Bed delivered 1.73m (7.4%) for Channel 4, and at 9pm, Jamie Does - Venice grabbed 2.09m (8.8%).

The Edible Garden and Cracking Antiques averaged 1.31m (5.7%) and 1.23m (5.1%) for BBC Two in the 8pm hour, after which Monty Halls' Great Hebridean Escape appealed to 1.32m (5.5%).

On Five, Last of the Dambusters started the evening with 722k (3.1%), then the audience doubled to 1.4m (5.9%) for NCIS. A double-bill of CSI: NY followed with 938k (5.1%) and 605k (6.6%).

ITV1 managed a narrow victory over BBC One overall, averaging 20.8% to 20.6%. Channel 4 was third with 7% (+1: 0.8%), followed by BBC Two with 6.1% and Five with 3.8%.

BARB ratings data supplied by Attentional