Parkinson's last BBC show was broadcast in May

But the show, which also featured comic Billy Connolly, lost out to BBC One news, which drew an audience of 6.3 million between 2145 and 2205 BST.

Parkinson moved to ITV1 after the BBC wanted to move his show to an earlier slot to make room for Match of The Day.

A spokeswoman for ITV said they were "over the moon" at the figures.

Talent show

She added that the figures were a good, considering the warm weather and England's football World Cup qualifier, which was televised on Sky Sports.

Previously, Parkinson pulled in an average of 4.5 million viewers and a 24% audience share on the BBC, the spokeswoman continued.

Saturday's chat show also proved more popular than the final part of Test The Nation on BBC One.

It was watched by 5.6 million people between 2205 and 2315 BST - the same number that had tuned in for the first part of the quiz.

Earlier in the evening, ITV's new talent show The X-Factor - starring Simon Cowell, Sharon Osbourne and Louis Walsh - was watched by 4.9 million people.