New 'Inbetweeners' draws 958,000 for E4

The new series of The Inbetweeners made a strong start for E4 last night, according to early viewing figures.

The opening episode, which saw Simon Bird return as Will, drew 958k (5.5%) between 10pm and 10.30pm.

Last year, the first episode of series one of the E4 comedy managed just 238k (1.3%).

Also on multichannel stations, the new episode of ER logged 527k (2.7%) for More4 at 9pm, while 391k (2%) tuned in for Bones on Sky1.

BBC One documentary How Woolies Became Wellies: One Woman's Fight For The High Street came top during the 9pm hour, putting in 4.73m (21.9%) for the channel.

The second episode of The Mentalist performed well for Five, averaging 3.25m (15.1%). However, it failed to beat last week's opener.

The Truth About Eternal Youth pulled in 2.51m (11.6%) for ITV1, while Channel 4's documentary Would You Save A Stranger? attracted 1.38m (6.4%).

BBC Two's The Children Of Helen House Revisited was seen by 1.07m (4.9%), putting it in last place during the 9pm hour.

Earlier, at 8pm, The Bill put in 3.16m (14.1%) for ITV1, and 2.01m (9%) watched Caravans: A British Love Affair on BBC Two.

The penultimate episode of Ten Years Younger: The Challenge had 1.26m (5.6%) while Five's I Own Britain's Best Home interested 750k (3.3%).

The first in a new series of My Family performed well for BBC One, drawing 6.83m (30.8%) between 8.30pm and 9pm.

Overall, BBC One dominated primetime with an average share of 30.4% to ITV1's 14.6%. Channel 4 was third with 6.2% (+1: 0.8%) followed by Five with 6.7% and BBC Two with 6.1%.

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Ratings data supplied by Attentional