There are question marks over the future of the NBC-made drama after its first series failed to win over US audiences and was hit by the US writers' strike, but, for now, ITV2 has seven more episodes to run and looks to have a hit on its hands.
The show stars Ryan as Jaime Sommers, a bar maid who is involved in a terrible car accident and wakes up with a new bionic body, provided by her surgeon boyfriend.
With her bionics in place she is recruited by a secret government agency and is swiftly involved in a battle with an evil bionic woman played by Katiee Shackoff, who is better known as Starbuck from the remake of 'Battlestar Galactica'.
The show scored a number of positive reviews, including : "The new Bionic Woman (ITV2) is so much darker, more expensively made and, well, better. The new Jaime Sommers, played by our own Michelle Ryan from 'EastEnders', is brunette, a Hollywood signifier for intelligence."
: "This opener is fun, though. The baddies are suitably bad, as are their lines. 'Sooner or later you're going to have to make a choice,' says one of them. 'It goes something like this: heads you lose, tails you die. Welcome to the game.'"
Its success at 9pm-10pm brought ITV2 close to beating its terrestrial relative, which earned only 3.23m viewers and a share of 14% for new series 'Cops with Cameras'.
It did outdo Channel 4, on which three-part documentary 'The Woman Who Stops Traffic' was watched by just 777,000 viewers, managing a 3.2% share.
BBC One won the slot's biggest audience with 5m for 'Hotel Babylon', equal to a 21.1% share of all viewing.
Five's 'CSI' continues to appeal, earning 3m viewers and a 12.6% share. It outperformed BBC Two's 'The Poles Are Coming!', a documentary examining the impact of immigration on the UK, which was watched by 2.6m or an 11% share.
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