Hell's Kitchen sizzled to ratings success on its final night, attracting a peak of more 6 million viewers and beating BBC1's Ten O'Clock News.
The 90-minute finale on ITV1, which saw former boxing champion Barry McGuigan win the celebrity bake-off, peaked at 6.3 million viewers, a 29% share, in the quarter hour from 10pm.
On BBC1 the Ten O'Clock News was watched by 5.5 million, a 27% share.
The Hell's Kitchen final averaged 5.6 million viewers and a 25% share across 90 minutes from 9pm, according to the unofficial overnights.
But Hell's Kitchen was not popular enough to beat Silent Witness on BBC1. The police drama was seen by 6.9 million people, a 29% share, in the 9pm hour.
Marco Pierre White's appearance as the celebrity chef meant last night's series closer was more popular than the previous Hell's Kitchen finale in 2005, which featured Jean Christophe Novelli and Gary Rhodes.
In 2005 BBC2's snooker coverage proved more popular than the final of Hell's Kitchen, which attracted 4.8 million viewers and a 19% audience share.
But this year's final was not as popular as when Gordon Ramsay fronted the first series of Hell's Kitchen in 2004.
That year the final night secured an average audience of 7.4 million viewers and a 34% share, beating a Big Brother eviction night.
Later on BBC1 at 10.35pm, the series Movie Connections, focusing on the film The Commitments, attracted 2.1 million viewers and a 16% share.
At 8.30pm, Panorama performed honourably against a strong night on Coronation Street, drawing 3.2 million and a 13% share.
At the same time Coronation Street attracted 10.2 million viewers and a 42% share.
Earlier, at 7.30pm, viewers were hooked on the soap's storyline, which saw errant teenager David accidentally allow his niece Bethany to swallow an ecstasy tablet.
The 7.30pm edition of Coronation Street was watched by 10 million viewers and attracted a 46% share.
ITV1's Tonight with Trevor McDonald attracted 4.7 million viewers and a 20% share for a report on the McCanns between 8pm and 8.30pm - more than the combined audience for rival Monday current affairs shows Panorama and Dispatches. Channel 4's Dispatches drew 800,000 viewers and a 3% share in the 8pm hour.
Still on ITV1, Emmerdale at 7pm pulled in 7.4 million viewers and a 39% share.
On BBC2, Nigella Express was the channel's most popular programme yesterday, attracting 3.1 million viewers at 8.30pm, a 13% share.
Channel 4's most popular programme of the day was the Paul O'Grady Show at 5pm, drawing 2.4 million viewers and a 19% share.
The network's most-watched peak-time programme was Hindenburg, a docudrama about the fateful airship. Hindenburg attracted 1.5 million people and a 7% share from 9pm.
Channel Five's most popular programme was Home and Away at 6pm, drawing 1.4 million viewers and a 8% share.
Five's 9pm documentary Extraordinary People: the Real Sleeping Beauty, pulled in 1 million viewers and a 4% share.
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