'Apprentice' return sets new record

The first episode of The Apprentice set a record for the show last night with the biggest audience of any of its opening episodes.

The show, which saw Anita Shah become the first contestant to be fired by Sir Alan, averaged 8.11m (33.3%) during the 9pm hour.

The previous high was the series four opener, which took 6.4m (25.6%) on March 26 last year.

Spinoff programme The Apprentice - You're Fired!, which featured an interview with Shah, pulled in 3.01m (15.2%) for BBC Two in the 30 minutes from 10pm.

In the 9pm hour, The Apprentice was comfortably ahead of its nearest competitor Taggart, which drew 3.25m (13.4%) for ITV1.

Channel 4's Grand Designs attracted 2.59m (10.6%), while BBC Two's new series Alan Whicker's Journey Of A Lifetime opened to 1.99m (8.2%).

Five was last for the hour, drawing 1.42m (5.8%) with Extraordinary People: Tree Man - The Cure, a follow-up documentary to last year's story of Dede, an Indonesian fisherman with growths on his body.

ITV1 came top during the 8pm hour, pulling in 5m (21.4%) for the latest episode of The Bill, while BBC One stayed close behind, delivering 4.45m (19%) with Waterloo Road.

Over on Channel 4, 3.13m (13.4%) tuned in for the penultimate episode of Relocation, Relocation with Phil Spencer and Kirstie Allsopp.

Orangutan Diary managed 1.89m (8.1%) for BBC Two, while Five's Ice Road Truckers grabbed 1.42m (5.8%).

BBC One averaged out to 23.3% in primetime, leaving ITV1 in second place with 21.7%. Channel 4 was third with 9.6% (+1: 0.7%), followed by BBC Two with 8.2% and Five with 4.7%.

Elsewhere, BBC Four's new series Newswipe With Charlie Brooker averaged 176k (1.3%) between 10.30pm and 11pm, while a lowly 218k (1%) tuned in to watch the latest episode of Gossip Girl on ITV2.

Ratings data supplied by Attentional