Marcus and Maria's shock romance helped Coronation Street attract its highest Friday audience since the spring.
Some 7.81m (36.3%) watched the 7.30pm episode which culminated with the pair's kiss - ITV1 +1 added 129k (0.6%) to that figure.
The 8.30pm aftermath, focusing on Marcus's turmoil, drew 7.51m (32%) and 125k (0.5%) on timeshift - marginally lower than EastEnders' 7.53m (33.5%) half-an-hour earlier.
Lola Pearce's arrest in Albert Square's final instalment of the week managed a further 429k (2.7%) on BBC Three at 10.30pm, while 330k (7.1%) caught the EastEnders Omnibus from midnight.
Elsewhere. Emmerdale took 6.66m (32.8%) at 7pm (+1: 128k/0.6%), while Hollyoaks mustered 884k (4.2%) on Channel 4 (+1: 108k/0.5%) and 429k (2.1%) for E4's first look.
Neighbours fetched 593k (8.5%) at 1.45pm and 852k (5.5%) at 5.30pm for its latest episode, then Home and Away grabbed just 572k (3.2%) and 390k (2.1%) on 5*.
Finally, Doctors averaged 1.54m (22.2%) at 1.45pm.