BBC1 s reinvention of Conan Doyle s master sleuth pulls in more viewers than Hollywood star s appearance on Top Gear

Guardian
Mark Sweney

The BBC s reinvention of Conan Doyle master sleuth Sherlock Holmes was watched by more than 7 million viewers last night, according to unofficial overnight audience figures for Sunday 25 July.

The first outing of the new three-part BBC1 series, which has been described as a cross between Withnail and I and The Bourne Ultimatum , attracted an average of 7.05 million viewers.

The drama, penned by Doctor Who writers Mark Gatiss and Steven Moffat, peaked at 7.4 million viewers and took a 28.5% audience share between 9pm and 10.30pm.

Sherlock, which stars Benedict *****berbatch in the title role and Martin Freeman as Watson, was the top-rating show of the night.

Sherlock beat the star power of Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz, who appeared on BBC2 s Top Gear while in the UK promoting their new film Knight and Day, which managed an average of 5.8 million viewers and a 22% share in the 8pm slot. The show peaked at 6.6 million viewers.

Top Gear beat ITV1 s 8pm drama Heartbeat, the broadcaster s biggest rating show of the evening, which drew 4.7 million viewers and a 17.9% share.

Channel 4 s highest-rating show was the first of a four-part series, Amish: World s Squarest Teenagers, which attracted 2.7 million viewers and an 8.9% share in the 8pm slot.