Midwife star of festive TV as it delivers joy to 9.6m
THE Christmas Day television ratings battle has been won by Call the Midwife for the second year in a row, with an audience of 9.6million tuning in.
The BBC One drama’s festive episode saw Sister Julienne (Jenny Agutter) embroiled in a harrowing storyline about historical child abuse.
According to the BBC, the drama beat the likes of Mrs Brown’s Boys, which claimed second spot again after last year.
The foul-mouthed matriarch was the ratings winner alongside the Queen’s speech in overnight figures released on Boxing Day, but consolidated ratings show its final viewing figure comes in at nine million.
Heidi Thomas, Call the Midwife creator, said: “We never take the loyalty of our fantastic audience for granted, and it’s just wonderful to see how many people enjoyed the Christmas special.”
Consolidated ratings are the final viewing figure after seven days, which incorporates those who watched live and those who viewed a show on catch up (+1).
The Strictly Come Dancing Christmas special waltzed comfortably into third position, with 8.3million seeing Katie Derham crowned the winner. This figure is more than half a million viewers down on last year’s Strictly festive special, which had a consolidated viewing figure of 8.9million.
There was a double dose of drama in the soaps, which saw Eastenders trump Coronation Street in the consolidated figures. The BBC One soap was in fourth position overall with 8.1million viewers, while ITV’S Corrie drew an audience of seven million.
Sandwiched comfortably between the two in fifth position was Doctor Who, another of the BBC’S much-anticipated seasonal spectaculars.
A total of 7.9million watched Peter Capaldi call it a day and fans were given their first glimpse of Jodie Whittaker, as the first female Doctor.