'MasterChef' tops Thursday ratings with 4.77 million on BBC1

MasterChef topped Thursday evening's ratings on BBC One.



The latest heat of the cooking competition grabbed 4.77 million viewers (21.3%) at 8pm, dropping slightly from last week's equivalent broadcast.

Victoria Wood's second Nice Cup of Tea episode amused 3.22m (14.1%) at 9pm, while a Margaret Thatcher Question Time special brought in 2.64m (19.7%) at 10.45pm.

On BBC Two, the Hairy Biker's Best of British won 1.63m (7.8%) at 7pm, followed by James May's Man Lab with 1.18m (5.2%) at 8pm. A Horizon special attracted 1.15m (5.1%) at 10pm.

ITV's coverage of Tottenham's heartbreak in the Europa League averaged 3.12m (14.4%) from 7.45pm. ITV4's broadcast of Newcastle's departure from the competition scored 655,000 (3.0%).

Channel 4's latest episode of Secret Eaters attracted 1.28m (5.7%) at 8pm, while The Intern fell to 766k (3.4%) at 9pm. New series The Sex Clinic was seen by 1.00m (5.5%) at 10pm.

On Channel 5, new documentary series Trauma Doctors secured 1.63m (7.1%) at 9pm.

E4's The Big Bang Theory attracted a strong audience of 1.51m (6.8%) at 8pm, with a further 464k (2.0%) on E4+1. How I Met Your Mother won 957k (4.2%) at 8.30pm, with 248k (1.1%) on +1.

Peter Andre's series My Life continued to perform well on ITV2, grabbing 944k (4.1%) at 9pm, with 240k (1.3%) tuning in on ITV2+1. Celebrity Juice amused 1.14m (5.9%) at 10pm (328k/3.0% on +1), while Plebs secured 361k (2.6%) at 10.45pm.

ITV3 saw big ratings with a repeat of Midsomer Murders, thrilling 918k (4.1%) at 8pm.

E4's The Big Bang Theory attracted a strong audience of 1.51m (6.8%) at 8pm, with a further 464k (2.0%) on E4+1.

That was a Xmas Special which I first saw last December on US-TV. Next-week's episode smashed all viewing records when it first aired on CBS in January and is likely to do the same on E4.