Mrs Brown’s joys
Comedy shocks Strictly to take the Christmas Day ratings crown
MRS Brown’s Boys won the Christmas Day TV ratings battle in a surprise victory over Strictly Come Dancing.
The show, starring Brendan O’Carroll, secured 6.8 million viewers – the highest for a single show on one network.
It was 300,000 ahead of Strictly, which had been favourite. A spokesman for bookmaker Coral said: “It’s a big shock. Half the bets we took were on Strictly.”
The top six shows were all on the BBC, with Call The Midwife – the day’s top drama – in joint third place with EastEnders, attracting 6.3million. The Queen’s broadcast was the most-watched programme overall, in fifth with 5.9million viewers on BBC1 – and a further 1.9million on ITV.
Doctor Who was sixth with 5.7million viewers. Charlotte Moore, the BBC’s director of content, said: “Millions of people chose BBC1 on Christmas Day and came together to enjoy the top six programmes.”
ITV got a look-in at seventh place with Coronation Street, at 5.1 million. BBC News, The Highway Rat on BBC1, and ITV soap Emmerdale made up the rest of the top 10.