The Bafta Television Awards walked away with its biggest audience in at least seven years on BBC1 on Sunday, seeing off competition from ITV’s The Suspicions of Mr Whicher.

British Academy Television Awards (BBC1) 8pm-10pm
6m (25.2%)

The awards ceremony was recorded at London’s Royal Festival Hall and saw the likes of Olivia Colman and Clare Balding collect coveted bronze masks.

The event was seen by an average of 6m viewers, making it the most watched Bafta TV awards since at least 2006 – the earliest Barb figures supplied by Attentional are available from.

It was around 2.5m viewers ahead of last year’s ceremony, which was seen by a meagre 3.52m (16.2%) viewers.

The proceedings peaked with an audience of 6.88m (29.97%) over the five-minute period from 9.55pm – around the time Michael Palin picked up his Bafta fellowship.

The Suspicions of Mr Whicher (ITV) 8pm-10pm
5.87m (24.55%)

The period crime drama starring Paddy Considine returned for another special, but was just pipped to the post by the Baftas. It failed to match the previous episode in 2011, which drew 6.18m (26.93%).

FILM: The Inbetweeners Movie (C4) 9pm-10.55pm
2.38m (11.35%)

Another repeat of the 2011 film was next in line for Channel 4.

The Challenger (BBC2) 8pm-9.30pm
1.05m (4.4%)

A repeat of the drama performed in line with slot average. It was followed by The Fantastic Mr Feynman, which could only manage 690k (3.2%) up to 10pm.

The Truth about Travellers (C5) 9pm-10pm
691k (2.88%)

The factual series bowed out on a low. Overall, the three-part run averaged 1m (4.2%).

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