Ratings: 'Death In Paradise' touches down with nearly 6m

Death In Paradise premiered with almost 6m viewers on Tuesday evening, while Don't Tell the Bride continued to dazzle on BBC Three, overnight audience data has revealed.



Death In Paradise, a new drama starring Ben Miller as a British cop sent to investigate a murder on a Caribbean island, averaged 5.75m (23.7%) for BBC Three in the 9pm slot.

The show proved too strong for the semi-final of icy reality show 71 Degrees North, which had 2.23m (9.1%) on ITV1 and 155k (0.9%) on +1. It also eclipsed the debut of Jamie Oliver's new series Jamie's Great Britain, after the show served up 1.71m (7%) on Channel 4 and 405k (2.3%) on timeshift.

On the multichannels, the new series of Don't Tell The Bride stayed popular on BBC Three, attracting 1.23m (5.1%) in the 9pm hour. Earlier, Young, Foreign and Over Here was watched by 445k (1.9%) from 8pm.

Back on the terrestrials, Mayday Mayday fetched 2.68m (11.7%) on ITV1 from 7.30pm. High Stakes had 1.96m (8.3%) in the 8pm hour, but was beaten by Holby City's 5.64m (24.2%) on BBC One. Young Nuns enchanted 1.98m (15.4%) on BBC One from 10.45pm.

Celebrity Antiques Road Trip dealt with 1.96m (8.8%) on BBC Two in the 7pm hour. James May's Man Lab returned with 2.19m (9.4%) from 8pm and 168k (0.7%) on BBC HD. Code-Breakers: Bletchley Park's Secret Heroes captivated 2.13m (8.8%) from 9pm and 108k (0.4%) in HD. Later Live With Jools Holland stayed tuneful with 780k (4%) from 10pm.

Gok's Clothes Roadshow styled 1.78m (7.6%) on Channel 4 from 8pm and 1201k (0.8%) on +1. Shameless finished with 1.25m (7.1%) from 10pm and 261k (2.7%) on timeshift.

Real Food Family Cook Off served up 2579k (1.2%) on Channel 5 from 7.30pm. Amanda Knox: The Untold Story drew in 1.29m (5.5%) in the 8pm slot, before CSI: Miami investigated 1.55m (6.4%) from 9pm. Big Brother entertained 1.58m (9.1%) in the 10pm hour.

Overall, BBC One dominated primetime with 24.8% ahead of ITV1's 12% (+1: 0.4%). BBC Two took third with 8.2%, followed by Channel 4's 6.2% (+1: 1%) and Channel 5's 5.3%.