Not a particularly Merry Christmas for the Corrie lot (Picture: ITV)
Coronation Street has fallen out of the top ten most watched Christmas Day TV shows this year for the first time in decades, with Emmerdale also failing to make the cut.
Both of the soaps are down year-on-year, while EastEnders soared by around 400k viewers from 2022’s edition, which saw the exit of Danny Dyer.
This year saw the killer revealed in the long-awaited Six storyline, seeing the soap place number seven with a tidy 3.6 million overnight viewers.
It came behind shows, all BBC, including Doctor Who, Strictly Come Dancing, Ghosts and Call The Midwife.
In what was a poor night for ITV, only one of its programmes made it into the top ten, with Lee Mack’s The 1% Club drawing in 3.4 million at position nine.
It was a particularly, though perhaps unsurprisingly, modest night for the ITV soaps.
Both had been placed at earlier than usual slots, with Emmerdale airing at 6:30pm and Corrie going out at 7pm.
I don’t know about you, but I was still necking Bailey’s at the dinner table while failing at a quiz and consuming a cheese board.
Emmerdale had a shot at a big Christmas Day episode in more ways than one (Picture: ITV)
The only soap to increase year-on-year, EastEnders is on a high (Picture: BBC)
Even more unusually, the soaps only aired half hour episodes after having hour long specials traditionally every year.
The storylines were explosive, with Emmerdale in particular going for a more gritty entry, as gangster Harry was shot by Charity Dingle (Emma Atkins).
Corrie was traditionally brighter and more festive, with some comedy capers in chaotic family Christmases, as well as the build-up to Peter Barlow’s (Chris Gascoyne) exit, which will air in an emotive Boxing Day edition.
It is inevitably hoped that this will be a stronger draw for the audience, as it has been more heavily promoted.
Coronation Street attracted 2.6m for Christmas Day, down from 2022’s figure of 2.8m, while Emmerdale had 1.92m, also down from last year. It is the second year that Emmerdale hasn’t secured a top ten position.
It is imperative to bear in mind that the overnight ratings do not take into account catch-up figures.
At this time of year, many will not watch TV live and will spend the next week streaming and getting up to date with the favourite shows they have missed.
At the very start of 2024, the teens will be involved in a car theft, with a joyride tipped to end in disaster.
For EastEnders, the Six women will cover-up the murder of Keanu Taylor (Danny Walters), triggering a major new arc as they all navigate their darkest secret.
And two familiar faces will surprise the Branning clan, with Lauren (Jacqueline Jossa) and Penny (Kitty Castledine) rocking up.
Ratings aside, for the fans watching, there is plenty to sink their teeth into as the shows throw everything at the New Year and beyond.
MORE : Gutted Alison King has been regularly crying over Chris Gascoyne leaving Coronation Street
MORE : EastEnders airs huge twist in aftermath of murder as The Six take shocking action
Coronation Street and Emmerdale didn’t make the most-watched shows this year in a bad night for ITV. ‘ preload=”none” playsinline>
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Traditionally, the soaps are some of the most streamed online, so it is likely to add on big chunks to the final consolidated figures which will release later down the line.
This means that things are not as bleak as the overnight figures suggest.
However, Corrie will understandably be disappointed by the fall out of the top ten after so many years, perhaps in a lesson for ITV that half hour episodes don’t give off enough of a vibe that these are Christmas specials.
Metro.co.uk has contacted ITV for comment.
As the soaps continue, Corrie plans to go big for New Year, with the returns of Lucy Fallon as Bethany Platt, who will instantly be thrust into a love triangle with Daniel Osbourne (Rob Mallard) and Daisy Midgeley (Charlotte Jordan).
And Ciaran Griffiths is also back as sinister Damon Hay, who will seek revenge on Adam Barlow (Sam Robertson) while seeking to win back Sarah (Tina O’Brien).
Meanwhile, the Rovers will finally re-open, but at a big cost for Daisy and Jenny (Sally Ann Matthews).
In Emmerdale, we will see Charity struggle massively in the aftermath of what happened with Harry, while Caleb Miligan’s (William Ash) affair with Tracy Shankley (Amy Walsh) heads for a big hurdle.
A passionate love triangle will carry Corrie into 2024 (Picture: ITV)
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