Gavin and Stacey has won the festive TV ratings battle, with the show’s final farewell becoming the most watched Christmas Day programme in 16 years.
The final episode of the long-running BBC sitcom drew in an average of 12.3 million viewers on Wednesday, according to overnight viewing figures. These figures do not include views racked up on catch-up services during the rest of the festive period.
The previous Gavin and Stacey special, broadcast in 2019, drew 11.6 million viewers on Christmas Day.
The new Wallace & Gromit film, Vengeance Most Fowl, drew in 9.38 million viewers. After Gavin and Stacey, it was the most-watched broadcast since King Charles’s speech in 2022, his first address to the nation as monarch.
The previous Wallace & Gromit special, A Matter of Loaf and Death, drew 14.3 million viewers in 2008.
Commenting on Gavin and Stacey’s huge viewership, the BBC’s chief content officer, Charlotte Moore, said: “Christmas Day on the BBC brought people together in their millions and saw Gavin and Stacey triumph.
“Ruth Jones and James Corden created a magical finale that fans will treasure for ever. Their exquisitely written comedy creation is a show all about family, love and joy and it proved to be the unmissable TV event of the year.”
Nearly 7 million people watched the king’s Christmas message on the BBC, ITV and Sky News, about 1 million more than the audience who tuned in to the monarch’s speech in 2023.
Call The Midwife ranked fourth in terms of viewership, with 4.42 million tuning in to the latest Christmas special. EastEnders came a close fifth place, with nearly 4.4 million viewers watching the soap’s festive special. The EastEnders Christmas special drew in 800,000 more viewers compared with 2023, based on each year’s overnight figures for 25 December.
Doctor Who: Joy to the World drew in 4.11 million viewers, down slightly compared with last year’s special, which attracted 4.4 million overnight viewers. The Strictly Come Dancing festive show racked up just over 4 million views, while 3.23 million people tuned in to the latest Julia Donaldson adaptation, Tiddler, which was narrated by Hannah Waddingham.
The Weakest Link Christmas special, hosted by Romesh Ranganathan, rounded out the top 10, with just over 3 million viewers.
BBC One dominated the festive ratings charts in a bumper day for Christmas Day viewing, with programmes shown on the channel occupying all spots in the top 10 for the first time.
ITV made its first appearance at number 11 after 2.47 million viewers tuned in to Coronation Street to see Helen Worth, who played Gail Platt, bid farewell to the cobbles after 50 years on the soap.
Despite the desire for festive cheer, some viewers still wanted to keep up with current events. On Christmas Day, 2.35 million viewers watched ITV News, beating out the Mrs Brown’s Boys Christmas special, which drew in 2.15 million viewers.
In the Guardian’s five-star review of the Gavin and Stacey finale, critic Rachel Aroesti called it “comfortably superior” to the 2019 special. She said it would “make you smile, but mainly it will make you sob uncontrollably”, adding it was “a send-off that pulls at the heartstrings, and then some”.
Viewers hankering for more Jones and Corden can tune in to Gavin And Stacey: A Fond Farewell, a documentary that will be shown at 7pm on New Year’s Day on BBC One and will also be available on BBC iPlayer.
