THURSDAY: Question Time’s election special matched the challenger debate a fortnight ago, as BBC2’s The Game made an unspectacular start.

Question Time Election Special

Question Time Election Special (BBC1) 8pm-9.30pm
4.3m (20.5%)

The David Dimbleby-fronted current affairs show gave a studio audience the chance to question prime minister David Cameron, Labour’s Ed Miliband and Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg.

Its audience matched the 4.3m (20.5%) that tuned in for BBC1’s challenger debate two weeks ago and peaked with 4.9m (24.1%) in the five minutes from 8.55pm - just as Miliband’s segment was wrapping up.

However, Question Time special fell well short of the 7.3m (27.9%) that watched BBC1’s Leaders’ Debate on 29 April 2010 between Cameron, Clegg and the then incumbent Gordon Brown.

Later in the evening, BBC1 broadcast Election 2015: Ask Nigel Farage, drawing 2.3m (20.7%) between 10.50pm and 11.20pm.

The Game (BBC2) 9pm-10pm
1.6m (7.9%)

BBC Wales’ six-part Cold War spy thriller kicked off with an audience in line with the channel’s 1.6m (7.3%) 12-month slot average.

BBC2’s last drama to debut in the Thursday 9pm slot was Jimmy McGovern’s Banished, which launched with an average of 3.4m (16.2%).

The Game was just shaded by ITV’s 9pm offering - the first episode of Wild Films thee-part documentary series Fraud Squad.

Its audience of 1.8m (8.8%) was half ITV’s 3.6m (16.8%) slot average and only marginally better than the 1.5m (7.3%) the channel secured for the first episode of Ice Rink on the Estate in the same slot three weeks ago.

Elsewhere, C4 returned to the female camp for The Island with Bear Grylls, gripping an audience of 2.3m (11%). The fourth episode of The Hotel Inspector on C5 checked in 1m (5%) over the hour.

Double Decker Driving School (ITV) 8.30pm-9pm
2.1m (10.5%)

Blast! Films’ series concluded with an audience down on its six-part run average of 2.3m (11.3%). Its final audience was half ITV’s slot average of 4.2m (19.4%).

W1A (BBC2) 10pm-10.30pm
1.1m (6.7%)

The sitcom moved to a later slot for its second episode after its series opener premiered at 9pm last week.

It lost 400,000 viewers, but was still the most watched 10pm offering after the news bulletins on BBC1 and ITV.

W1A marginally surpassed Open Mike’s satirical panel show, The Last Leg, which amused 920,000 (6.1%) for C4 between 10pm-11.05pm.