Downton Abbey returned to more than 8 million viewers on ITV last night (September 21), according to overnight figures.
The series five premiere of the period drama earned 8.11m (36.6%) from 9pm, with a further 320k (2.1%) tuning in on +1.
Elsewhere, Sunday Night at the Palladium drew 3.39m (17.1%) from 7pm, and The X Factor continued with 8.33m (35.2%) with 363k (1.6%) on +1.
BBC One's Our Girl starring Lacey Turner averaged 3.91m (16.9%) in the 9pm hour. Countryfile and Antiques Roadshow took 5.2m (26%) and 5.25m (22.2%) earlier.
On BBC Two, This World was watched by 964k (4.2%) from 9pm.
Channel 4's Operation Maneater averaged 849k (3.6%) from 8pm. It was followed by Denzel Washington action thriller Safe House, which was seen by 775k (4%).
Channel 5 screened airings of Rush Hour 2 (782k/3.5%) and In Time (905k/4.5%).
On the multichannels, The Xtra Factor won 625k (2.7%) from 9pm on ITV2.
