EastEnders was ahead in Thursday night's soap ratings...

EastEnders was back above the 7 million mark on Thursday evening (December 19) as David began to manipulate Janine, overnight figures show.



7.09m (34.2%) watched at 7.30pm on BBC One as Janine was fooled by David and asked him to spend Christmas with her. BBC Three's repeat screening secured 574k (3.9%) at 10.30pm.

Emmerdale interested 6.42m (32.1%) at 7pm on ITV and 138k (0.6%) on +1 as Charity seduced Ross to get back at Jai, while 6.08m (28.3%) returned at 8pm and 247k (1.1%) on +1 to see how Jai would react to his estranged wife's antics.

Hollyoaks brought in 1.12m (6.0%) at 6.30pm on Channel 4 as Darren vowed to stand by Nancy throughout her recovery, while E4's first look was the most-watched multichannel programme of the day with 868k (4.3%) at 7pm and 196k (0.9%) on +1.

Over on Channel 5, Gem's discovery of Kate and Kyle's secret in Neighbours was seen by 409k (6.1%) at 12.55pm on Channel 5 and 924k (5.8%) at 5.30pm.

BARB ratings data supplied by Attentional