EastEnders' Who Killed Lucy revelation draws 10 million-plus viewers

EastEnders' two episodes on Thursday night each drew more than 10 million viewers*, according to unoffical overnight figures.

Accorsing to the Media Guardian, the 7.30pm episode which suggested Jane Beale was Lucy's killer was watched by 10.8 million people, the equivalent of 44 per cent of the entire TV audience.

The flashback episode at 9.25pm which eventually identified Lucy's brother Bobby as the real killer was watched by 10.3 million, or 42 per cent of the TV audience.

BBC1's Caribbean cop drama Death in Paradise, which was sandwiched by the two EastEnders episodes, was watched by 7.1 million, a 29.7 per cent share.

EastEnders producers will be satisfied with the ratings for the 30th anniversary episodes, but they're dwarfed by the soap's record ratings: on Christmas Day 1986 30 million people watched 'Dirty' Den Watts serve his wife, Angie, with divorce papers.

*These figures don't include viewings on catch-up services like BBC iPlayer

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Patrick McLennan is a London-based journalist and documentary maker who has worked as a writer, sub-editor, digital editor and TV producer in the UK and New Zealand. His CV includes spells as a news producer at the BBC and TVNZ, as well as web editor for Time Inc UK. He has produced TV news and entertainment features on personalities as diverse as Nick Cave, Tom Hardy, Clive James, Jodie Marsh and Kevin Bacon and he co-produced and directed The Ponds, which has screened in UK cinemas, BBC Four and is currently available on Netflix.

An entertainment writer with a diverse taste in TV and film, he lists Seinfeld, The Sopranos, The Chase, The Thick of It and Detectorists among his favourite shows, but steers well clear of most sci-fi.