ITV was only beaten when the match itself finished after 9.15pm and people turned over to BBC One to watch the resolution of the cryptic time travelling police drama 'Life on Mars'. It ended with lead character Sam Tyler finally awakening from the coma which had transported him back in time to the 1970s.
Having started with 6.6m viewers between 9.00pm to 9.15pm, it peaked with 7.7m viewers at 9.45pm and achieved an average share of 28%.
The BBC has now commissioned a sequel, 'Ashes to Ashes', which again features the character of old-fashioned cop DCI Gene Hunt but is set in the 1980s and puts a woman in the role of the lead time-travelling character.
Channel 4 had a quiet night of which the highlight was 'Selling Houses Abroad', bringing in 2.2m and a 9.5% share between 8pm and 9pm. It was followed by 'Get Your Act Together with Harvey Goldsmith', showing the music promoter trying to revive the career of heavy metal veterans Saxon, which bombed with just 818,000 viewers and a 3.2% share.
Five's new series of 'CSI' at 9pm attracted 2.7m viewers and landed a 10.5% share. 'CSI:Miami' followed at 10pm with 2.3m viewers and a 12.9% share.
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