Mrs Brown's Boys was the most-watched programme on Christmas Day with its highest ratings ever, on a strong day for BBC One.
The Brendan O'Carroll comedy's first seasonal instalment 'Buckin' Mammy' aired to an audience of 9.4m (35.5%) at 9.30pm, according to initial overnight data.
Matt Smith's farewell to Doctor Who - and Peter Capaldi's official debut as The Doctor - was seen by an average audience of 8.29m (30.7%) at 7.30pm. Audience figures peaked at 10.2m as Smith's Doctor regenerated.
Rufus Hound's Strictly Come Dancing victory aired to 7.3m (35.4%) at 5pm, and Call the Midwife's Christmas special picked up an audience of 7.08m (30.1%) at 6.15pm.
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Elsewhere on the channel, Janine Butcher's comeuppance on EastEnders was witnessed by 7.78m (29%) at 8.30pm, with a further 599k (3.2%) watching the 10.30pm repeat on BBC Three.
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However, Coronation Street's hour-long special aired to 7.91m (29.4%) at 7.30pm (+1: 360k), as Roy's hopes for a quiet day with Hayley were dashed and the Platts experienced a nightmare Christmas.
Rokhsaneh Gwaham-Shahidi's surprise return to Emmerdale as Leyla Harding was seen by 5.5m (23.6%) at 6.15pm (+1: 253k).
Corrie, EastEnders or Emmerdale: Which soap had the best Christmas episode?
Downton Abbey was ITV's highest-rated programme in primetime outside of soaps, airing to 6.59m (25.3%) at 8.30pm. A further 420k (2%) tuned in later on +1.
Paul O'Grady's For the Love of Dogs Christmas special was seen by 3.9m (18.5%, +1: 412k).
BBC Two's highest rated primetime shows were Morecambe and Wise: Leading Ladies, airing to 2.04m (7.6%) at 8.30pm, and Mark Gatiss's adaptation of The Tractate Middoth, which chilled 1.23m (4.6%) at 9.30pm.
Channel 4's most-watched programme in primetime was Bear's Wild Weekend with Stephen Fry, seen by 1.99m (7.4%) at 8.30pm. Meanwhile, Michael Jackson's This is It led Channel 5's primetime schedule with 988.8k (4.8%) at 9.30pm.
The most-watched film on Christmas Day was Toy Story 3, airing to 6.32m on BBC One at 3.20pm.
Finally, 5.68m tuned in for the Queen's annual Christmas message at 3pm on BBC One, with a further 1.83m watching on ITV at the same time. Edward Snowden's Alternative Christmas Message for Channel 4 aired to 600k on initial broadcast at 4.15pm.
Kate (they/she) is a freelance writer, editor, digital editorial trainer and data technician who first joined Digital Spy as an overnight freelance sub-editor in January 2011, after studying a postgraduate diploma in journalism at Salford University while working part-time as a social researcher.
In July 2013, Kate joined the DS staff team as chief sub-editor and following six years as the site's managing editor, their role expanded to incorporate Hearst UK's entertainment portfolio (including Digital Spy and its sibling titles Best and Inside Soap) between late 2024 and early 2026.
Kate has worked as a writer and editor since 2006, with bylines syndicated across the Hearst network and at organisations including Metro. They started their career as a TV production runner for the BBC and contributed to various music websites, blogs and zines while based in Manchester.
During her time at DS, Kate has previously been a freelance sub-editor and chief sub-editor.
Kate's team at Digital Spy were proudly nominated in the Best Subbing/Production Team category at the BSME Talent Awards 2022. Over the years, she has contributed to coverage of many, many Prime Days and Black Friday/Cyber Monday, and was part of the team that launched the DS weekly TV newsletter in November 2019 – followed by the Top of the Shops e-commerce newsletter in May 2024.
Kate's screen passions include Taskmaster (their biggest career regret remains turning down the opportunity to visit the house), nature documentaries, and live sport (up there with the greatest of all soap operas although if asked to choose, it's Corrie… every time).
Her highlights while working at DS have included interviewing Stevie Nicks on the red carpet for her documentary In Your Dreams, sitting at a press roundtable with Formula 1 commentary icon Murray Walker, watching a life-sized LEGO car being driven around Silverstone, writing an album-by-album retrospective of Lady Gaga's genre-defying career for Living Legends, and raising awareness of receiving and understanding a late-in-life ADHD diagnosis through the lens of Bianca and Freddie's EastEnders storyline.
Upon remembering to log off the internet, Kate enjoys live theatre, dance and comedy, appreciating nature, baking (badly), tending a recently-rented allotment (equally badly) and pampering one very spoiled rescue cat named Jolene.
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