'Sherlock' series finale earns 7.9m on BBC One

The second series finale of Sherlock took 7.90m (30%) on BBC One last night, according to overnight data.

The 9pm drama was preceded by Countryfile and Call the Midwife, which averaged 5.88m (21.9%) and 7.95m (27.5%) respectively.

Meanwhile, Dancing on Ice posted 7.71m (28.8%) from 6.30pm (+1: 187k/0.7%), with the skate-off drawing 6.31m (23.5%) from 9.30pm (+1: 232k/1.3%). Wild at Heart aired in between with 6.45m (22.7%) and a further 210k (0.8%) on +1.

That Sunday Night Show claimed 2.6m (10.8%) from 10pm (+1: 117k/1%).

BBC Two's Great Barrier Reef grabbed 2.54m (8.8%) after darts coverage, followed by To Boldly Go (1.34m/5%) and Match of the Day 2 (1.96m/10.8%).

Channel 4 began with Hugh's Three Hungry Boys in the 7pm hour, which took 890k (3.3%) with 297k (1%) on +1. The Hotel got 1.17m (4.1%) with 290k (1.1%) on +1, before an airing of the movie The Reader averaged 1.21m (5.4%) from 9pm (+1: 188k/1.4%).

On Channel 5, Hellboy attracted 1.18m (4.3%) from 6.40pm. World's Scariest Plane Landings was watched by 1.29m (4.7%) then 1.62m (7.7%) were entertained by Celebrity Big Brother.

Overall, BBC One finished with 26.4% ahead of ITV1's 22.5% (+1: 0.7%). BBC Two had 8.3%, while Channel 5's 5% beat Channel 4's 4.4% (+1: 0.8%).

On the multichannels, The Borrowers was seen by 703k (3.3%) on ITV2, and Sky1's Got to Dance averaged 636k (2.4%) in the 7pm hour.

BARB ratings data supplied by Attentional