Revealed: The two Christmas specials of two classic comedies which attracted impressive audiences this week
It is the time of year when viewers traditionally complain about repeats on television.
But the Christmas specials of two classic comedies from the last century managed to attract an impressive combined audience of more than 1million people this week.
The episodes of Porridge and The Two Ronnies topped the UK’s ‘multichannel’ ratings on Tuesday.
On Tuesday, a nearly 50-year-old Porridge Christmas Special on BBC4, was watched by nearly 620,000 viewers when it aired at 8pm.
This was followed by The Two Ronnies Christmas Show from 1982, which was watched by nearly 430,000 viewers on the same channel.
This meant they topped the ratings that day for ‘multichannel’ television viewing, a term that refers to TV channels beyond the main five broadcasters - BBC1, BBC2, ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5.
In the 1976 episode of Porridge, Fletch, played by Ronnie Barker, tries to bring some festive cheer to Slade Prison with his own homemade alcohol.
The 1982 Two Ronnies Christmas show - featuring Barker and Ronnie Corbett - featured David Essex as their guest.
The Two Ronnies Christmas Show from 1982, was watched by nearly 430,000 viewers on BBC4
On Tuesday, a nearly 50-year-old Porridge Christmas Special on BBC4, was watched by nearly 620,000 viewers
Among the shows they beat were soap opera Hollyoaks, which had just over 300,000 on E4 and Live World Darts Championship coverage on Sky Sports, watched by 235,000.
Other old shows also did well on the night, with ITV3 showing Midsomer Murders and Heartbeat, which both got about 350,000 viewers.
Earlier this month the Mail revealed that more than half the shows aired across BBC1 and BBC2 over the festive period will be repeats.
The final schedules revealed that on BBC1, 35 per cent of its festive fare will have been seen before (up from 32 per cent last year), while 72 per cent of shows on BBC2 will be repeats (up from 69 per cent).
Combined, nearly 54 per cent of content across the two channels will have been shown before - up from 49 per cent in 2023.
There will be episodes of Dad’s Army, Keeping Up Appearances, Morecambe & Wise and The Two Ronnies. Old films will include Chariots of Fire, Some Like It Hot, Casablanca, Shrek and The Sound of Music.
But BBC1 has freshened up its Christmas Day schedule with the return of Wallace & Gromit and the finale to Gavin and Stacey.
The BBC has pointed out it ‘invests more in British content at Christmas than any other broadcaster’, and that 90 per cent of BBC1’s ‘peak’ Christmas week programmes are new.
