UK 2018 Christmas TV ratings
Her Majesty's message tops a British tradition, but there is a catch.
- Published by David Knox
- on
- Filed under News
The Queen’s Christmas Message was the most viewed show in the UK on Christmas Day, but only due to it screening on multiple networks.
Her Majesty’s message was seen by 6.4m Brits, down from 7.6m last year (let’s put it down to the gold piano).
But Michael McIntyre’s Big Christmas Show, screening on BBC alone, drew 6.1m viewers.
Overall viewing on Christmas Day, a huge British tradition, were also down compared to 2017.
Overnight viewing figures:
The Queen (BBC1, ITV, Sky 1, Sky News): 6.4 million
Michael McIntyre’s Big Christmas Show (BBC1): 6.1m
Strictly Come Dancing (BBC1): 5.8m
Call The Midwife (BBC1): 5.5m
Jungle Book (BBC1): 5.2m
EastEnders (BBC1) 5m
BBC News (BBC1) 4.7m
Mrs Brown’s Boys (BBC1): 4.7m
Coronation Street (ITV and ITV+1) 4.6m
Zog (BBC1) 4.5m
But a Radio Times reader poll gave the audience awards this way:
Call the Midwife (31.65%)
Torvill & Dean (12.41%)
Upstart Crow (9.37%)
EastEnders (9.11%)
Mrs Brown’s Boys (6.58%)
No programme has attracted more than 20 million viewers since 2001.
13 Responses
a)…if it was solid gold…it would be unbelievably heavy…and b)…metal…the sounds would be shocking.
Wow. The soaps barely got to 6m. EastEnders had the better storylines this Christmas over Corrie. Mind you their new EP Kate Oates, was from Corrie, now running EastEnders, Causality and Holby City. Corrie seems to be lost this month…
Kate was from Emmerdale. Brillant producer.
Strongly agree about Kate Oates. It’s notable how Corrie seems to be lost post her plot lines. Mind you I often thought her slightly dark style of cause based plots suits Eastenders more. Compare the “it’s too far” reaction to Aidan’s suicide plot with the equivalent (and in soap terms far far bigger) Eastenders Peggy Mitchell one two years earlier. I think she’ll shine at Eastenders.
Who made the Queen’s golden piano?
The piano was made by Erard – the French firm whose instruments were famously used by Chopin, Liszt, Mendelssohn and Wagner. And it was made in 1856, during the reign of Queen Victoria and given to the queen on 30 April 1856. There are Erard Grand pianos for sale, from around the same period, for around $175,000 (£138,000). But this piano is a one of a kind as it is a hand-painted model. So it would hard to put a price on it. This piano was intended as a showpiece for the State Rooms at Buckingham Palace, and it still manages to get people talking almost two centuries later. Its not made from gold either its not made of gold but is mahogany, painted and gilt in gold. Queen Victoria commissioned the piano in 1856 and it recently went through a 12-month restoration to clean it of surface dirt, which covered many parts of its decoration.
Show me a queen who doesn’t love a gold piano.
As I read that I heard Freddie Mercury saying it, though technically it would be more like:
“Darling, show me a queen who doesn’t love a gold piano.”
you could also assume many people would be watching other content on streaming sites like Netfilx
What was the last show that had 20 Million David?
Sorry you will need to follow the link to original source and ask there.
It was the first of the Only Fools And Horses Christmas trilogies: If They Could See Us Now, it was 20.3m, the following 2 got 16.3m and 15.5m.
Thanks!
A lot of people were quick to criticise Queen Elizabeth for having a solid gold piano when research showed that it was actually made of mahogany with gold leaf and gold paint. Even the Queen can be on the receiving end of unfair and unwarranted criticism.
Cannot imagine she would have a solid gold piano. It’s probably a way back heirloom anyway.