ITV’s new drama Des was watched by 5.4m [average audience] last night [Monday 14 September] making it the biggest drama launch on the channel since Cleaning Up in 2019.

Des, featuring David Tennant as serial killer Dennis Nilsen, opened to critical acclaim and is the second biggest drama launch episode across all channels so far in 2020. The first episode peaked with 5.9m and was watched by almost a third of all viewers [32 per cent] across its slot.

ITV has three of the top five most watched drama launches this year. As well as Des, the first episodes of Quiz [5.3m] and Van Der Valk [5.2m] are also ranked in the top five by overnight audience.

Des continues tonight, Tuesday 15 September, and concludes tomorrow, Wednesday 16 September on ITV.