ITV drama Broadchurch bows out in blaze of glory

Broadchurch ended on a record high as its last episode scored its biggest audience ever.

An average of 8.7 million viewers tuned in to watch as the identity of Trish Winterman’s (Julie Hesmondhalgh) rapist was revealed to be 16-year-old Michael Lucas (Deon Lee-Williams) in the shocking finale.

The average audience share for the ITV drama was 36%, and the episode peaked at 9.3m viewers.

Monday night’s instalment, the eighth in the nail-biting series, has now become the most-watched Broadchurch episode ever, beating the previous high of 8.6m for the last episode of series one in 2013.

Not only was the conclusion a ratings success, but the entire third series of the David Tennant and Olivia Colman-fronted drama has also been named the most successful of all.

The series, which returned to screens in February, averaged 7.4m viewers per episode in the overnight ratings.

The data is comprised of overnight numbers and includes those who watched Broadchurch an hour later on ITV+1.

Consolidated ratings for the series so far have shown an increase of more than 3m per episode.

The average viewers per episode data has been 10.6m across series three.

Broadchurch’s finale is now ITV’s most-watched programme of 2017, drawing level with Britain’s Got Talent, which launched on Saturday with 8.7m viewers.