Dean and Shirley cliffhanger seen by 6.5m on EastEnders

EastEnders was Thursday evening's top-rated soap (November 20) with the latest Carter family bombshell, overnight figures show.



6.52m (32.0%) watched at 7.30pm on BBC One as Shirley was stunned into silence when Dean guessed that newcomer Buster could be his father. BBC Three's repeat screening secured 325k (2.3%) at 10.30pm.

Emmerdale attracted 6.23m (31.7%) at 7pm on ITV as Aaron and Ross went ahead with the Home Farm raid, while 5.99m (28.7%) returned at 8pm and 193k (0.8%) on +1 as the shock scheme began to go wrong.

Hollyoaks interested 1.12m (5.9%) at 6.30pm on Channel 4 with Mercedes's final episode, while the intrigue over her sinister exit boosted E4's first look to 946k (4.8%) at 7pm along with 251k (1.2%) on +1.

Neighbours grabbed 709k (10.5%) at 1.45pm and 823k (5.3%) at 5.30pm on Channel 5 as Josh's fate was revealed.

Home and Away claimed 257k (3.8%) at 1.15pm and 547k (3.1%) at 6pm on Channel 5, while 5*'s first look had 470k (2.5%) at 6.30pm.

Elsewhere, Doctors continued with 1.5m (22.3%) at 1.45pm on BBC One.