Record audience for Line of Duty

THE FOURTH episode of BBC One’s attracted the largest audience in the programme’s history, new figures reveal.

Consolidated ratings for the episode that aired on Easter Sunday show that 8.5m people tuned in to the police drama. The series starring Thandie Newton has seen its number of viewers grow steadily since the show moved to BBC One this year.

The previous three series aired on BBC Two, where audiences peaked at 5.6m.

Overnight ratings for the latest episode, which was broadcast on Sunday, suggested the show beat the return of ITV’s by more than two million viewers.

averaged an audience of 6.6m, while James Norton’s return attracted an average of 4.4m. The two shows went head to head in the 9pm slot, but even at its peak of 4.7m, still had a two million shortfall in audience against its rival.