Here's What Came Out On Top In This Year's Christmas Day Ratings Battle

Only one ITV show made the top 10 most-watched list.
The stars of Strictly Come Dancing's 2023 Christmas special
The stars of Strictly Come Dancing's 2023 Christmas special
BBC/Guy Levy

Strictly Come Dancing and Doctor Who were among this year’s most-watched TV shows on Christmas Day.

However, it was King Charles’ second ever festive address that pulled in the most viewers on the day, with 5.9 million people tuning in to watch the monarch’s speech.

When it came to Christmas specials, Strictly came out on top, followed closely by Doctor Who.

Around 5.3 million people sat down to watch the one-off Strictly special, which saw EastEnders star Jamie Borthwick and Nancy Xu nabbing the Silver Star trophy, while 4.7 million watched Ncuti Gatwa’s inaugural episode at the helm of the Tardis.

Ncuti Gatwa as The Doctor
Ncuti Gatwa as The Doctor
Alistair Heap/Bad Wolf/BBC Studios

In fact, the BBC smashed it on Christmas Day, with nine of the day’s 10 most watched shows airing on the national broadcaster, including the last ever episode of Ghosts and the annual Call The Midwife special (both of which recorded 4.4 million viewers on the day).

Meanwhile, EastEnders’ dramatic reveal was watched by 3.6 million, just behind Michael McIntyre’s Christmas edition of The Wheel at 4.2 million.

Christmas Day included an EastEnders reveal that fans have been waiting 10 months for
Christmas Day included an EastEnders reveal that fans have been waiting 10 months for
Jack BarnesBBC/Jack Barnes/Kieron McCarron/Matt Burlem

Completing the top 10 list were the BBC’s big movie for Christmas Day, Toy Story 4 (3.5 million), and Tabby McTat (3.3 million).

ITV’s only showing on the top 10 was the Lee Mack game show The 1% Club (3.4 million), with both The Masked Singer’s Christmas special and its flagship soap Coronation Street not making it onto the most-watched list this year.

The 21st series of Strictly came to an end earlier this month, with Ellie Leach and Vito Coppola triumphing in the live final.

A new series of Doctor Who with Ncuti leading the action is due to begin airing in May 2024.

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