Sue Johnston's dramatic entrance as Coronation Street's Gloria Price was seen by 7.5m last night including +1.
Returning permanently to its traditional Wednesday 7.30pm slot, the Manchester serial pulled in 7.11m (34.9%) as well as 415k (1.9%) on timeshift for the standalone instalment.
Emmerdale aired half-an-hour earlier at 7pm on ITV, attracting 5.77m (30.8%) and 269k (1.3%) on +1 as the tension between Katie and Robbie continued.
Meanwhile, Hollyoaks dipped to 382k (2.2%) at 6.30pm in its temporary home on E4, then the channel's usual first look screening brought in 565k (3%) at 7pm (+1: 133k/0.6%).
Elsewhere, Channel 5's Aussie soaps lost viewers, with Neighbours posting 635k (10.3%) at 1.45pm and 870k (6.8%) at 5.30pm for its latest edition, and Home and Away drawing 601k (3.9%) from 6pm.
Home and Away's first look managed 398k (2.3%) on 5* at 6.30pm.
Finally, BBC One's lunchtime screening of a Doctors episode titled 'The Devil You Know' averaged 1.12m (18.1%).
