EastEnders and Coronation Street top festive television

It may be a little presumptuous to have such a headline, but research by YouView suggests that UK soap is going to be as popular as ever this Christmastime.

Christmas misery courtesy of Walford residents since 1985.

Soap opera has always performed well over the festive period and it wasn’t always merry. While the tabloid press will have you believe EastEnders made Christmas grim first in the 1980s – it was ATV’s 1960s soap opera Emergency Ward 10 that was bringing death to festive proceedings when a patient committed suicide on Christmas Eve, while elsewhere in the hospital, the staff performed a carol concert.

Of course its recent times that soap episodes have been especially scheduled to air on Christmas Day, up until the 1990s most aired on the day itself by co-incidence, with festive goings on in soap-land airing in the week before Christmas. But now the tradition to have a festive fall-out on the box in the Square or the Street has proved a good move by schedulers.

YouView research shows that more than one in five, that’s 21%, of Brits say that their top Christmas TV moment is watching the soap specials, compared to just 7% who look forward to the annual Queen’s speech, the survey by the catch-up TV service reveals.

Christmas in Corrie was always a happier affair.

“2012 may have been a busy year for Her Royal Majesty as she celebrated her Diamond Jubilee, but this Christmas she will be usurped by EastEnders’ Queen Vic and the ‘Coronation’ Street of Weatherfield as these prove the most eagerly anticipated TV choices for Christmas Day.” – YouView spokesperson

YouView also revealed that 95% of the nation will be turning on their TV at some point during Christmas Day, with 60% of people watching at least three hours, and one in six (16%) watching double this amount.

The research, which questioned 2,000 adults across the UK, found that choosing what to watch on TV was the most popular cause of arguments over the Christmas period. More than one in six (17%) respondents cited it as their top cause of festive-friction, beating arguments about presents (8%), or the Christmas dinner (7%).

“Almost one third (29%) stated that that they eventually give in and let another family member rule the remote, with more than one in five (21%) claiming that it’s Dad who gets his way on what to watch on Christmas Day.” The YouView company added.

YouView is the seven day catch-up, subscription-free service available in the UK. EastEnders airs on BBC One, Coronation Street airs on ITV, UTV and STV.