Celebrity Big Brother soars past 2m on Channel 5

Celebrity Big Brother last night pulled in its best audience since launching last Wednesday, early overnight data indicates.

Highlights of Day 5 from the house garnered 1.89m (7.9%) for Channel 5 in the 9pm hour, adding an impressive 276k (1.6%) on +1.

Celebrity Wedding Planner logged its best ever audience with 1.02m (5.9%) at 10pm. Previous airings had failed to surpass the 1m mark.

Earlier on 5, 935k (4.2%) watched Frontline Police, while Celebrity Big Brother's Bit on the Side entertained 655k (7%) at 10pm.

Silent Witness won the 9pm hour for BBC One with 4.83m (20.1%), beating ITV1's new drama Ruth Rendell's Thirteen Steps Down, which slipped to 2.66m (11.2%) and 325k (1.9%) on +1.

Elsewhere on the main channels, Countrywise interested 2.79m (12.7%) for ITV at 8pm (+1: 150k), while Panorama took only 2.18m (9.6%) on BBC One at 8.30pm.

Over on BBC Two, University Challenge drew 2.37m (10.1%) at 8pm, then Lorraine's Fast, Fresh and Easy Food served up 1.8m (7.9%), and The Riots: In Their Own Words mustered 1.08m (4.2%) at 9pm.

Meanwhile, Channel 4 documentary Ian Brady: Endgames of a Psychopath intrigued 1.67m (7%) from 9pm (+1: 395k/2.3%).

Overall, BBC One just about retained its primetime lead with 19.8% versus ITV1's 19.3% (+1: 0.9%). BBC Two claimed third place with 6.2%, beating Channel 5's 5.3% (+1: 0.3%), and Channel 4's 3.8% (+1: 0.9%).

BARB ratings data supplied by Attentional