According to unofficial figures, the BBC has trounced rival ITV in the ratings war on Christmas Day after its specially commissioned 30 minute episode Wallace and Gromit: A Matter of Loaf and Death, got the highest rating of any television show all year, by getting 14.3 million, or a 53.3% share of the audience, last night.

In fact, nine BBC1 programmes managed to get into the top 10 shows on the night, with ITV’s hour-long Coronation Special was the only ITV programme to get a placing on the top 10, attracting 7.4 million viewers. However, it was beaten by Strictly Come Dancing, which attracted 8.6 million.

EastEnders also bet Coronation Street, attracting 9.9 million on its first of the two Christmas episodes. The second instalment, airing at 9pm, picked up 11.5 million viewers.

An average of 11.7 million watched the Doctor Who Christmas Special, The Next Doctor, at 6pm. However, this is lower than last year’s special, which attracted 12.2 million.

The Queen’s Speech was seen by 6.4 million on BBC1, with another 1.8 million tuning on ITV; and the movie Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit, beaten ITV’s afternoon movie of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.

In all, the BBC managed to secure 34.2% throughout the day on BBC1, with ITV managed to get 16.9%. However, its biggest share happened to be during peak time (also known as primetime), which had BBC1 getting 43.7%, compared to the 21.6% share from ITV1.

Source: The Guardian