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Mrs Brown's Boys wins Christmas Day TV ratings war for second year running

Brendan O'Carroll's comedy was watched by more than 7.6 million viewers

Jess Denham
Friday 26 December 2014 11:04 GMT
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Brendan O'Carroll as Agnes Brown in the 2014 Mrs Brown's Boys Christmas special
Brendan O'Carroll as Agnes Brown in the 2014 Mrs Brown's Boys Christmas special (BBC)

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Brendan O'Carroll's comedy hit Mrs Brown's Boys has triumphed in the annual Christmas Day TV ratings war

The sitcom was named most-watched on 25 December this morning, after an average 7.61 million tuned in last night - a 32.2 per cent share of the audience, but down on last year's 9.4 million, according to BARB.

EastEnders was the most-watched soap and second most-watched show with 7.55 million, while Coronation Street attracted 6.62 million and Emmerdale, 5.71 million.

The Strictly Come Dancing Christmas special was the third most-watched programme, with 6.98 million viewers tuning in to see gymnast Louis Smith win and Sir Bruce Forsyth return for festive fun.

Call the Midwife followed in fourth with 6.83 million on BBC1, with the final ever Miranda watched by 6.67 million.

Doctor Who pulled in a disappointing 6.34 million to be named the seventh most watched programme of the day - almost two million fewer than last year's Christmas special.

Also coming in lower than expected was Downton Abbey, which averaged 5.84 million viewers.

The Queen's speech proved a triumph with 5.71 million watching on BBC1 and a further 2.11 million tuning in on ITV. The two figures combined makes it the most-watched broadcast with 7.82 million.

On Christmas Eve, James Bond movie Skyfall topped the ratings chart with more than 6 million people tuning in to watch Daniel Craig as Ian Fleming's 007 spy.

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