The first episode of the new series, which was backed by heavy rotation of on-air trails, was watched by an average audience of 3m viewers and earned a 14.1% share.
The first 30-minute instalment, 'The Take That Story', charted the rise, fall, and rise again of boy band Take That.
The last series of the satirical comedy averaged 1.1m viewers.
The programme was sandwiched between episodes of 'Big Brother', which featured the eviction of Charley, one of the most unpopular contestants in the history of the programme.
The self-proclaimed south London "It" girl attracted the second highest number of eviction votes in the programme's history.
The eviction interview with Charley pulled in the biggest 'Big Brother' audience of the night, with 5m viewers and a 25.8% share tuning in at 10pm.
Last night, ITV1's 'The Commander' won a tough 9pm slot, in which it faced strong competition from BBC One's new five-part series 'Mountain'.
'The Commander' drew 5.1m viewers and a 22.8% share in its one-hour slot, while 'Mountain', in which comedian Griff Rhys Jones journeys across the UK's highest peaks, began with 4.1m viewers and an 18% share.
_1.jpg)
.jpg)
