Soap ratings dip as hot weather hits UK

Emmerdale and Hollyoaks sunk to their lowest audiences of the year so far yesterday (Tuesday).



Emmerdale picked up 5.59m (33.8%) for ITV1 at 7pm (+1: 184k), while Channel 4's Hollyoaks took 571k (3.8%) at 6.30pm.

Their relatively stable audience shares (%) suggest the dips were typical of many of last night's programming.

Meanwhile, E4's first look of Hollyoaks pulled in 371k (2.2%) at 7pm.

EastEnders could only muster 6.41m (35.3%) for its first showing at 7.30pm, but a hefty 961k (5.1%) joined the Albert Square soap at 10pm on BBC Three.

Elsewhere, Channel 5's Australians were unaffected by the weather, with Neighbours logging 627k (12.8%) and 913k (7.8%) for its lunchtime and teatime showings, and Home and Away grabbing 708k (5.1%) and 463k (3.1%) for 5*'s first look.

Doctors drew 1.14m (23.2%) at 1.45pm for an instalment titled 'Sticky Fingers'.