EastEnders in ratings slump

EastEnders slumped to a new ratings low of just 3.9 million viewers last night.

The BBC soap was trounced by an hour-long Emmerdale special on ITV1, according to unofficial overnight figures.

The audience figures cap a disastrous week for EastEnders. On Tuesday, it attracted 5.2 million viewers – then a record low. But ratings for last night’s episode were down a further 1.3 million.

An EastEnders spokeswoman said the poor ratings were just a blip.

“EastEnders is a show in good health which has had a strong year both critically and with audiences,” she said.

“EastEnders reaches over 19 million people each week, and the average audience per episode is 10 million. Last night’s figures were entirely untypical.”

Emmerdale pulled in an audience of 6.6 million for a special which saw Patsy Kensit’s character Sadie King trapped in a house explosion.

The ratings for EastEnders are a far cry from its 80s heyday, when 30 million tuned in to see Den serve wife Angie with divorce papers on Christmas Day 1986.

Earlier this week original cast member Wendy Richard announced she was quitting her role as Pauline Fowler after 21 years.