Thursday ratings: 'EastEnders' Bianca return seen by 7.9m

[dutchman]

EastEnders pulled in almost 8m viewers on Thursday evening as Bianca Butcher returned to screens, overnight figures show.



EastEnders attracted 7.89m (35.3%) at 7.30pm as Ricky visited Bianca in prison, leading to an explosive showdown. BBC Three's 10pm repeat screening took 851k (4.4%).

Coronation Street, meanwhile, interested 7.82m (31.3%) at 8.30pm and 224k (1.0%) on +1 as Carla decided to start an affair with Peter.

Emmerdale entertained 7.37m (34.3%) at 7pm and 104k (0.4%) on +1 as Jai and Charity were finally honest with each other, while the second episode of the double bill had 7.59m (32.0%) at 8pm and 202k (0.9%) on timeshift.

Elsewhere, Hollyoaks appealed to 1.02m (5.0%) at 6.30pm on Channel 4 and 101k (0.5%) on +1, while Mitzeee and Warren's return from holiday brought 505k (2.4%) to E4's first look at 7pm.

Over on Channel 5, Neighbours managed 571k (8.0%) at 1.45pm and 1.23m (7.7%) at 5.30pm, while Home and Away mustered 968k (5.1%) at 6pm and 494k (2.4%) for 5*'s first look.

Doctors' latest episode - titled 'The Season To Be Jolly' - was watched by 1.59m (22.3%) at lunchtime.