The Royle Family Christmas special attracts over 4 million

The Royle Family was the most watched peak time programmes last night (December 23) outside of soaps, according to overnight data.



The Christmas special - which first aired in 2012 - entertained an average of 4.22m (19.2%) on BBC One from 9pm and peaked at 4.46m.

Earlier in the evening, 4.14m (20.2%) tuned into Celebrity Mastermind, while a repeat of Mrs Brown's Boys' 2012 Christmas episode was watched by 3.34m (22.1%).

On BBC Two, Masterchef: The Professionals tempted an average of 3.59m viewers from 8pm (16%), followed by 1.87m (8.5%) who stayed for The Wrong Mans.

Meanwhile, ITV showed the latest episode of Wilderness Walks with Ray Mears to 2.13m (10.4%) at 7.30pm (88.7k/0.4% on +1).

1.79m (7.8%) joined Christine Bleakley and Michael Scott for a look at Roman Britain from the Air at 8pm (128.5k/0.6%), which was followed by 1.90m (8.7%) who tuned into Lottery Stories: Be Careful What You Wish For at 9pm (202.7k/1.1%).

Over on Channel 4, festive favourite The Snowman was watched by 1.09m (4.9%) at 7.30pm (151.5k/0.7%).

The likes of Johnny Vegas, Rufus Hound and Spencer Matthews entertained 1.46m (6.5%) from 8pm (141.5k/0.6%) for Celebrity Fifteen to One, while 1.85m (8.4%) watched 8 Out of 10 Cats (213.4k/1.2%).

Channel 5 got festive with Michael Bublé's Christmas Songbook at 8pm, attracting 1.00m (4.5%) (67.4k/0.3%) and took 1.04m (4.8%) to Kids' Hospital at Christmas at 9pm (66.6k/0.4%).

Meanwhile, BBC Three topped the multichannels last night with a showing of Shrek 2, gaining an average of 1.22m viewers (5.7%).

I wonder if the Royle Family ever watch Gogglebox watching the Royle Family?

PS: Don't ask me what happened to Monday's ratings. I wasn't drunk, they were just never published