THE Queen’s speech was a Christmas TV ratings winner as the nation turned to her for reassurance.
An average of 8.2million watched her national address across the BBC, Sky and ITV, up from 7.7million last year.
Her message that the pandemic had brought the UK closer together easily beat the Beeb’s Call The Midwife special into second place.
Her Maj said she understood that what many people really wanted for Christmas was “a simple hug or a squeeze of the hand”.
Royal author Phil Dampier said: “I’m not surprised so many people tuned in to listen to the Queen’s speech.
“She’s already shown in her address to the nation earlier in this pandemic how much we come to lean on her for reassurance.”
Call The Midwife was watched by 5.4million, 200,000 more than last year, but Strictly’s one-off was down to 4.9million from 5.5million.
ITV’s hour-long Corrie won the battle of the soaps with 4.5million, the same average as last year.
EastEnders fell from 5.2million to 3.5million. A decade ago, it attracted 11.4million on Christmas day.
The falling audiences trend continued as more watch streaming services.
