Skyfall tops Christmas Eve TV ratings with 6 million viewers

The highest-grossing Bond movie of all time proved a hit on terrestrial TV too

Daniel Craig as James Bond in Skyfall (Rex)

Sam Mendes’ first Bond film won the battle of Christmas Eve ratings as it was watched by nearly a third of television audiences last night.


Skyfall, which aired on ITV at 8pm and stars Daniel Craig as Ian Fleming’s 007 spy, was watched by 6.33m people, making up 28 % of the viewing audience.

Ahead of tonight’s festive specials the three major soaps drew high ratings on Christmas Eve with Coronation Street coming out top.

Nearly 7m viewers tuned into the drama in Weatherfield on ITV, while EastEnders was just slightly behind with 6.57m viewers. Emmerdale was watched by 5.26m in the run up to Andy and Katie’s wedding.

BBC1’s most-viewed programme which wasn’t a soap was Toy Story 3 airing from 6.30pm and winning an audience of nearly 5m.

But the BBC's new children’s drama The Incredible Adventures of Professor Branestawm starring Harry Hill drew a disappointing 3.6m viewers.