Scriptwriters are working on a second series of Lewis.
The first series of the Morse offshoot, starring Kevin Whately, finished on Sunday night and ITV pronounced itself delighted with viewing figures of the final episode of 8.4 million - a million up on the previous week.
This gave it a 37 per cent share of the audience for the two-hour slot from 9pm, beating the other channels for a third week in a row.
BBC1's film premiere Cold Mountain had 2.8 million viewers, an 11 per cent of the audience, and Channel 4's film premiere I, Robot took 3.2 million viewers, with a 15 per cent share.
ITV spokeswoman Lisa Vanoli said: "We are absolutely delighted with the figures for Lewis. It's the kind of figures that usually lead to a second series being commissioned."
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