Festive Season Brings Cheer To BBC One
Around half of the television viewing audience tuned in to BBC One on Saturday 23 December to see cricketer Mark Ramprakash and professional dancer Karen Hardy win Strictly Come Dancing.
Almost 10 million adults on average watched Ramprakash and rugby player Matt Dawson battle it out on the ballroom dance floor for first and second place. This gave BBC One a more than 50% viewing share at the time, whilst the results programme was seen by more than 11.1 million on average, equating to a 48% share.
BBC One was the most watched terrestrial channel on Christmas Day, with solid viewing figures for its soaps and specials. Eastenders double bill, which saw the dramatic departure of long-standing sour-faced matriarch Pauline Fowler, drew around 7.8 million (43%) for its first instalment and 9.7 million (43%) for the second.
The Doctor Who Christmas special, The Runaway Bride co-starring comedian Catherine Tate, took an average of 7.2 million viewers, a 34.4% viewing share, whilst Strictly Come Dancing‘s special, which saw top contestants from the past two series reunited, managed to entice an average of 6.7 million adults, a 30.6% share.
The first part of the Vicar of Dibley special, where Dawn French’s character meets her future husband, was watched by more than 10.7 million adults on average (46.8%), whilst Little Britain Abroad took 7.8 million, giving BBC One a 37.4% audience share.
New Year’s Day also saw BBC One triumph, with part two of the Vicar of Dibley special, the last ever episode of the series where the Vicar marries her new-found partner, was watched by a massive 11.3 million adults, giving the channel a 44.6% audience share, whilst the Wind In The Willows adaptation, with its all star cast including Bob Hoskins, Matt Lucas and Imelda Staunton, picked up more than 4.6 million adult viewers, a 21% share.
Pauline Fowler’s funeral in Eastenders, screened as two episodes before and after a special on Pauline’s 20-odd year life in Albert Square, gained more than 9.5 million (40%) and 8.8 million (36%) respectively, whilst the special was seen by 4.3 million (17.5%).
Coronation’s Street‘s New Year’s double bill also proved popular with viewers. The first episode, which was screen just before the first instalment of Eastenders, grabbed 9.6 million adult viewers (41%), whilst the second edition of the soap took 9.2 million or a 37.4% audience share.
The most watched films of the festive period were Calendar Girls shown on Sunday 24 December, which took an audience of 7.3 million on average for BBC One (a 37% audience share), and Pirates of the Caribbean on Tuesday 26 December, which netted an average of 8.8 million adult viewers, giving the channel a 41% share.
Overnight data is available each morning in mediatel.co.uk’s TV Database, with all BARB registered subscribers able to view reports for terrestrial networks, ITV2 and Sky One.
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