Hollyoaks' George, Deena storyline brings 677k to E4

Hollyoaks' human trafficking storyline delivered strong ratings to E4's first look screening on Tuesday evening (March 6), overnight figures show.



Hollyoaks attracted 677k (3.1%) at 7pm on E4 as viewers tuned in to find out what would happen to troubled George after he came face-to-face with evil Deena. A further 105k (0.4%) watched the episode on E4+1.

Earlier, the show's main airing on Channel 4 pulled in 1.19m (5.9%) at 6.30pm and 120k (0.5%) on timeshift.

EastEnders was the most-watched soap of the day, taking 8.15m (35.6%) at 7.30pm as Zainab's guilt became too much to bear. BBC Three's repeat secured 639k (3.3%) at 10pm.

Also on BBC One, Holby City entertained 4.95m (20.4%) at 8pm with an episode titled 'Fresh Blood'.

Emmerdale, meanwhile, grabbed 7.54m (34.6%) at 7pm and 125k (0.5%) on ITV1+1 as Aaron had his first date with Ed.

Over on Channel 5, Neighbours managed 719k (10.4%) at 1.45pm and 1.07m (6.5%) at 5.30pm, while Home and Away mustered 776k (4.2%) at 6pm and 469k (2.3%) for 5*'s first look at 6.30pm.

Elsewhere, the latest episode of Doctors - titled 'Every End Has A Start' - was seen by 1.68m (24.4%) at 1.45pm on BBC One.

An I the only one who thinks these so-called 'first look' screenings are just a gimmick to force people to tune to an obscure channel they wouldn't normally bother with? There is absolutely no good reason why a popular show shouldn't be shown on a mainstream channel first.