Press Releases

The BBC enjoyed a fantastic Christmas Day with a peak audience of almost 12 million people tuning in to see the demise of Archie Mitchell on BBC One's EastEnders.

Elsewhere huge audiences for The Royle Family, Doctor Who and The Gruffalo showed that comedy and drama remain the firm favourites at Christmas time.

Viewing headlines for the day include:

BBC One had nine of the top 10 shows on Christmas Day for the second year running.

BBC Two had its highest peak-time share (7.7%) since 2005.

BBC One had almost double the share of the nearest terrestrial channel in peak-time viewing (6.00 to 10.30pm).

BBC One had the highest average millions tuning in across all hours since 2002 (4.4m).

BBC One Christmas Day figures

In addition to the strong performance on BBC One, BBC HD had a huge increase in Christmas Day viewing.

The biggest show this year, Doctor Who, had almost three times the number of viewers compared to last year's screening of Wallace & Gromit which was seen by an audience of 120,000.

BBC HD Christmas Day figures

Doctor Who – 343,000
The Gruffalo – 249,000
The Royle Family – 143,000
Gavin & Stacey – 125,000
The Queen – 117,000

Overall top 10 shows on Christmas Day

EastEnders – 10.9m (45.9%)
The Royle Family – 10.2m (42.5%)
Doctor Who – 10.0m (42.2%)
Gavin & Stacey – 9.2m (39.2%)
The Gruffalo – 8.8m (42.6%)
Coronation Street – 7.9m (32.4%)
Catherine Tate: Nan's Christmas Carol – 7.1m (36.2%)
BBC News – 6.8m (36.5%)
Strictly Come Dancing – 6.8m (27.9%)
The Queen – 5.6m (36.7%)

All hours share across all channels

BBC One – 30.8%
BBC Two – 6.5%
ITV 1 – 17.8%
Channel 4 – 4.2%
Five – 2.9%

Peak share across all channels (6.00-10.30pm)

BBC One – 39.5%
BBC Two – 7.7%
ITV 1 – 20.1%
Channel 4 – 2.3%
Five – 3.0%

Alongside the shows that pull in big audiences the BBC is also offering a broad range of programming across its four channels during Christmas.

Highlights include BBC Two programmes such as The Private Life Of A Christmas Masterpiece – The Mystic Nativity, Hamlet starring David Tennant, Victorian Farm Christmas and Delia's Classic Christmas.

On BBC Three the Balletboyz offer their own unique interpretation of Stravinsky's The Rite Of Spring, and Russell Howard's Good News and Two Pints Of Lager And A Packet of Crisps will return for festive specials.

BBC Four honours the work of Orson Welles with a season of films and documentaries and gets into the seasonal spirit with a musical extravaganza celebrating the best of British balladry. Ruth Jones stars in A Child's Christmases In Wales, a deeply nostalgic, funny adaptation of Dylan Thomas's classic portrayal of how the routine of Christmas brings out the best and worst in a family.

And for children there's also plenty of festive fun with all-new Tracy Beaker, Dreamland, Ingenious – a one-off drama for CBBC – and a Christmas special from Dani's House.

BBC One Controller Jay Hunt said: "I am thrilled that BBC One continues to be the channel of choice for Christmas day viewing.

"The range and variety of our line-up this year offered something for all audiences to enjoy."

BBC Director of Vision Jana Bennett added: "The BBC's commitment to providing the best possible viewing can be seen in these audience figures.

"Alongside great performances from BBC One and BBC Two I am particularly delighted that BBC HD's performance continues to go from strength to strength."

JP3/BBC Press Office