Most watched Christmas TV of all time revealed

Sam Warner
Updated
Photo credit: Getty Images
Photo credit: Getty Images

From Digital Spy

We all watch A LOT of TV over Christmas. After all, how else are we going to pass the time during those colds night in with relatives and friends?

Well, we now know just what the great British public has been watching over all these years, and it seems the most popular choice has been... Only Fools and Horses.

The list, complied by MyOffers, reveals that the 1996 Christmas episode 'Time On Our Hands' is the most popular Christmas TV episode ever, drawing in 24.35 million viewers.

This is followed by The Mike Yarwood Christmas Show, which aired in 1977 after The Morecambe and Wise Show, and drew in 21.4 million.

Third was Coronation Street's 1985 Christmas episode, also with 21.4 million, followed by another three Only Fools and Horses episodes.

Yes, it's a bit unfair to compare old with new, TV viewing figures are significantly lower in general these days – last year Call the Midwife came out on top with only 9.2 million.

Photo credit: Neal Street Productions / BBC
Photo credit: Neal Street Productions / BBC

We imagine a lot of this is down to the hundreds of channels, the variety of programmes and the emergence of streaming services in the past few years – after all, back in the day there only used to be three TV channels. Imagine!

Here is the full top 10:

  1. Only Fools and Horses 'Time On Our Hands' – December 29, 1996 (24.25 million)

  2. The Mike Yarwood Show 'The Mike Yarwood Christmas Special' – December 25, 1977 (21.4 million)

  3. Coronation Street '2581' – December 25, 1985 (21.4 million)

  4. Only Fools and Horses 'If They Could See Us Now' – December 25, 2001 (21.35 million)

  5. Only Fools and Horses 'Modern Men' – December 27, 1996 (21.33 million)

  6. Only Fools and Horses 'Heroes and Villains' – December 25, 1996 (21.31 million)

  7. The Morecambe & Wise Show 'The Morecambe and Wise Show' – December 25, 1977 (21.3 million)

  8. Bread – December 25, 1988 (20.95 million)

  9. Wallace and Gromit 'A Matter of Loaf and Death' – December 25, 2008 (14.4 million)

  10. EastEnders 'Christmas Day Part 2' – December 25, 2007 (13.9 million)

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