Mrs Brown’s Boys won the TV ratings battle over Christmas in the UK as it was the most-watched programme over the festive period.
The Brendan O’Carroll character has long been a favourite with the British public, and it proved the case once again as viewers tuned in to watch the antics on Christmas Day.
The sit-com pulled in an impressive 6.8 million viewers on the BBC.
That makes it the most-viewed show on British TV broadcast on a single channel. The Queen’s Speech was viewed by a combined 7.6 million people across BBC, ITV and Sky.
So all in all the Irish comedy came out at number one ahead of British favourites Doctor Who, Strictly Come Dancing and Call the Midwife.
It is a great achievement for O’Carroll and his team.
The BBC had six of the ten most-watched shows over Christmas. Mrs Brown’s Boys came first, with Strictly Come Dancing second and Call the Midwife and EastEnders in joint third.
Also making the top ten were Jodie Whittaker’s debut as Time Lord Doctor Who, ITV soaps Coronation Street and Emmerdale, and the BBC News.
The television adaptation of Julia Donaldson’s book The Highway Rat came ninth in the ratings and ITV drama Victoria completed the top ten.
Charlotte Moore, director of BBC content, said: ‘Millions of people chose BBC1 on Christmas Day and came together to enjoy the top six most popular programmes from comedy, drama and entertainment, with Mrs Brown’s Boys returning to the top spot.’
All the figures are expected to increase in the next few weeks as busy viewers catch up with their favourite shows online.