So we’ve covered snow on Christmas Day and possible Christmas Number Ones so now it’s time to take a look at the contenders for the top TV show on the one day of the year that families actually watch something together rather than on various devices scattered around the house.
Maybe it’s indicative of modern times that the soaps, who would have been automatic favourites just a few years ago, now fall well down the pecking order (can you believe 30 million people actually watched Den hand Angie her divorce papers in 2008 in the back of the Queen Vic?).
EastEnders is 16/1 with Ladbrokes this year to top the Christmas Day TV Ratings with the same firm putting up 20/1 against Coronation Street. Emmerdale is 25/1 with William Hill.
The Strictly Come Dancing Christmas Special is the general Evens favourite has the prime-time slot in its favour. Not too late for the kids, not too early that the adults will all be still be enjoying their post-lunch sleep. Stars lined up include Colin Jackson, Judy Murray, Kimberley Walsh, Robbie Savage and Jeremy Vine but I’m sorry to say that won’t be enough to tear me away from the cold meats and trifle.
Call The Midwife is hugely popular and it looks like we’ll have snow amid the diseases and drama down the docks this year – I think they missed a trick last year setting their Christmas special in sunny South Africa. The Sixties nursing saga is 8/1 to attract most viewers with the first part of a festive Mrs Brown’s Boys available at the same odds.
We’re not all Doctor Who fans but it’s not every week that we get to witness the regeneration of the planet’s most famous Time Lord. Peter Capaldi’s 12th Doctor is erased from our screens this Christmas and we all get to see something unique – a female Doctor Who. Former Broadchurch star Jodie Whitaker will take control of the Tardis and Capaldi’s final episode will also feature a reincarnation of the first Doctor with David Bradley reprising the role of the late William Hartnell. ‘Twice Upon Time’ might just benefit form the novelty factor and is worth a bet at the 4/1 with Ladbrokes.
Christmas Day UK TV Ratings Current Best Odds
Strictly Come Dancing Evens, Doctor Who 4/1, Call The Midwife and Mrs Brown’s Boys 8/1, Paul O’Grady: For The Love Of Dogs 12/1, Victoria 12/1, EastEnders 16/1, Coronation Street and The Great Christmas Bake Off 20/1, Emmerdale 25/1, French and Saunders 33/1, The Queen 50/1
