The final episode of Downton Abbey drew an average of 8.8 million viewers, the highest-rating episode of the sixth and final season of the ITV period drama.
The special 90-minute episode, which saw its audience peak at 9.5 million, easily won its slot with a 38.9% share of all viewing between 9pm and 10.40pm on Sunday night.
It was up almost 1 million viewers on the 7.9 million average audience the penultimate episode drew, and 500,000 on the concluding episode of series five last year.
Fans of Downton Abbey will have one more chance to see the show when it returns for a Christmas special.