The Apprentice rose to over 6.5m last night, its highest audience since series eight premiered three weeks ago.
Lord Alan Sugar's finger of doom was seen by 6.54m (26.3%) on BBC One, then 2.55m (12.6%) stayed for The Apprentice: You're Fired with Dara O'Briain on BBC Two.
Chelsea's defeat of Benfica in the Champions League scored 4.82m (20.6%) for ITV1 between 7.30pm and 10pm.
Meanwhile, the rest of BBC Two's factual lineup performed steadily, with Our Food (1.94m/8.4%) and Woolly Mammoth: Secrets from the Ice (1.96m/7.9%) airing before You're Fired.
Channel 4's One Born Every Minute continued strongly, pulling in 2.5m (10.1%) in the 9pm hour and 483k (2.7%) on +1, prior to which Four Rooms took 1.05m (4.5%) at 8pm (+1: 132k/0.5%).
Later on, the penultimate 10 O'Clock Live, featuring George Galloway, entertained 760k (4.3%) and 122k (1.3%) on timeshift - slightly more than its Thursday average.
US drama NCIS anchored Channel 5's schedule with 1.82m (7.3%) at 9pm (+1: 120k/0.7%), before Law & Order: Criminal Intent mustered 1.06m (5.9%). Cowboy Builders returned at 8pm with 1.35m (5.8%).
Overall, BBC One led primetime with 22,4% against ITV1's 19.2% (+1: 0.3%). BBC Two claimed third place with 8.2%, ahead of Channel 4's 5.8% (+1: 1.1%), and Channel 5's 5.5% (+1: 0.2%).
