Luther is back with 4.9 million viewers on Tuesday

Luther​ returned to kick crime in the arse with just under 5 million viewers on Tuesday night.



The BBC One drama starring Idris Elba was seen by an average overnight audience of 4.91m (22.5%) at 9pm. This is down by around 900,000 from its series 3 premiere in 2013, but slightly higher than its previous episode.

On BBC Two, MasterChef: The Professionals​ appealed to 3.15m (14.5%) at 8pm, followed by Back in Time for Christmas ​with 2.16m (10.4%) at 9.15pm and Mock the Week​ with 1.06m (6.6%) at 10.15pm.

Channel 4's World's Most Expensive Christmas ​fascinated 2.06m (9.4%) at 9pm (376k/2.4% on +1), while That's So Last Century​ entertained 1.05m (6.7%) at 10pm (180k/2.2%).

On Channel 5, The Dog Rescuers at Christmas​ interested 1.15m (5.4%) at 8pm.

Sky1's latest episode of The Flash​ was seen by 396k (1.9%), while MTV's Geordie Shore​ attracted 367k (2.3%) at 10pm.