EastEnders tops Christmas Day ratings

EastEnders was the most watched programme of Christmas Day with rival soap Coronation Street only narrowly behind but no programme managed to break the 10 million viewers mark.

The dramatic Christmas Day instalment of EastEnders came close to breaking the 10 million mark and probably will when final figures are released but going by overnight figures the BBC One soap had 9.9 million viewers. ITV rivals Coronation Street took the second spot with 9.6 million viewers – not much of a gap between the two soaps. Downton Abbey took the fourth spot with the two-hour special seen by 8.6 million viewers.

The Doctor Who Christmas Special; The Doctor, The Widow and the Wardrobe had 8.9 million viewers making it the third most watched programme of the day. The special starred Matt Smith alongside guest stars Claire Skinner, Bill Bailey and Alexander Armstrong while series regulars Karen Gillan and Arthur Darvill appeared briefly at the end. However, its ratings are down quite a bit on last year’s special, A Christmas Carol, which had an overnight figure of 10.3 million viewers which rose to 12.11 million through final consolidated ratings – so expect a rise to possibly nearer 10 million viewers when BARB releases its final figures next week.

(Via the Doctor Who Newspage)