Top 10 Christmas Day Specials on British TV
Mike DuinNo less than 1 in 4 Brits will celebrate Christmas Day by having an argument over what to watch on TV and the same number of Brits will miss a program they really want to see because they fall asleep after dinner. Those are just a few of the findings of our research into Christmas TV habits of British consumers.
The show that most people are planning to watch this Christmas Day is iconic comedy, Gavin and Stacey, back for a one off special after almost a decade. Others at the top of the must-see list are Call the Midwife and Mrs. Brown’s Boys, followed by Strictly Come Dancing and Coronation Street.
| Christmas Day watch list | ||
| 1. | Gavin and Stacey Special | 24% |
| 2. | Call the Midwife | 24% |
| 3. | Mrs. Brown’s Boys | 24% |
| 4. | Strictly Come Dancing | 21% |
| 5. | Coronation Street | 20% |
| 6. | EastEnders | 16% |
| 7. | The Chase Celebrity Special | 16% |
| 8. | Who Wants to be a Millionaire? Celebrity Special (with Jeremy Clarkson) | 13% |
| 9. | The Great Christmas Bake-Off | 13% |
| 10. | First Dates at Christmas | 9% |
However, not all shows will be watched live, with a quarter of Brits likely to catch-up on the Christmas Day specials through a streaming service. First Dates at Christmas is the show of choice, with two in five (39%) opting to catch up at a later date.
Just a quarter (25%) of viewers plan to tune in to the Queen’s Speech. Our survey also found that 40% of Brits NEVER watch the Queen’s Speech, and of those who do, one in five (21%) will stream it on Boxing Day.
But, Christmas Day telly is a huge tradition for Brits. In fact, the box will be on for averagely 7.03 HOURS on the 25th, with someone actively watching it for 4.74 hours of those.
Many Brits are hoping to catch a new iconic comedy moment this year, with Brits still watching past popular sketches now – the Only Fools and Horses ‘Batman’ sketch tops the list as a firm favourite, closely followed by the moment Del and Rodney became millionaires! Brits’ favourite Christmas film of all time is A Christmas Carol.
| Top 5 classic Christmas TV Comedy Moments | |
| Only Fools and Horses: Batman (1996) | 36% |
| Del Boy and Rodney millionaires (1996) | 35% |
| Vicar of Dibley’s three xmas lunches (1996 | 31% |
| Morecambe and Wise: Andre Previn sketch (1971) | 31% |
| Vicar of Dibley: Christmas birth miracle (1999) | 23% |
More than three in five (62%) Brits class the BBC as the home of Christmas, according to the study, however streaming services like Netflix, and Amazon Prime are listed as alternative places to catch-up on Christmas. The top 5 iconing Christmas films consumers would like to watch are:
| Top 5 Iconic Christmas films | |
| A Christmas Carol | 26% |
| White Christmas | 26% |
| It’s a Wonderful Life | 24% |
| Miracle on 34th Street | 24% |
| Home Alone | 21% |
Need more inspiration on what Christmas movies to watch? Check out our tips for Christmas Movies to Watch When the Kids are Asleep or Christmas Movies to Watch with the Family this December!
About the research
An online survey was conducted by Atomik Research among 2,004 respondents from the UK. The research fieldwork took place December 2019. Atomik Research is an independent creative market research agency that employs MRS-certified researchers and abides to MRS code.
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