Emmerdale kept hold of 7.6m viewers with the immediate aftermath of Carl King's murder on Thursday evening (October 18), overnight figures show.
The ITV1 soap pulled in 7.59m (36.9%) at 7pm and 179k (0.8%) on +1 as Carl's body was discovered by Adam and Victoria. 6.82m (30.8%) returned at 8pm as the police charged Jimmy and Debbie finally discovered the truth about Cameron's affair, while a sizeable 417k (1.9%) watched the timeshift screening an hour later.
Documentary series Emmerdale at 40 also made a decent debut on ITV1, attracting 3.7m (16.7%) at 8.30pm and 228k (1.0%) on +1.
EastEnders was the most-watched soap of the day, bringing 7.99m (37.4%) to BBC One at 7.30pm as big rows broke out among the Masood family. BBC Three's repeat screening secured 423k (2.8%) at 10.30pm.
Also on BBC One, Waterloo Road interested 3.49m (15.8%) at 8pm as Rhiannon's secret was uncovered.
Hollyoaks managed 698k (3.6%) at 6.30pm on Channel 4 with Theresa's latest antics, while E4's first look had 580k (2.8%) at 7pm.
Over on Channel 5, Neighbours grabbed 670k (9.8%) at 1.45pm and 889k (6.0%) at 5.30pm, while Home and Away mustered 794k (4.6%) at 6pm and 532k (2.7%) for 5*'s first look at 6.30pm.
Elsewhere, the latest episode of Doctors was seen by 1.28m (19.0%) at 1.45pm on BBC One.
