Top Christmas TV meerkat

Kat's fella on the side was revealed last night.

Yep, dirty Derek

Griffiths? or Jacobi?

Jacobi ofc

He was excellent in that Last Tango in Halifax. Plus I remember him in I Claudius as a kid.

Griffiths gets no action these days

Would that make Kat at 14/1 or Alfie at 9/1 any value in the `who kills Derek` market?

Jeremy Edwards and Gemma Biscuits on Pointless Celebs

Derek dies of natural causes

They never give up squares

What price is the kid doing DOI? Might be worth trying to get a bet on the double

Sun article about Max Branning's dark secret being revealed on Crimbo day.  Says actor Jake Wood has been guarding the secret for over a year and had a contract not to tell anyone, even his wife.

Bosses at the Beeb hope their hard-hitting episode — in which Max’s twisted gangster brother Derek (Jamie Foreman) is killed off — will beat Coronation Street in the annual Christmas Day ratings war.

Corrie’s producers are also planning a festive wedding, as former husband and wife Nick Tilsley and Leanne Barlow tie the knot again in a very similar plot.

But Jake believes more viewers will tune in for EastEnders.

He said: “I think our wedding will be better than Leanne and Nick on Corrie.

“I’ll have one eye on the ratings battle. It’d be fab to be number one again.”

Jake has kept Max’s secret under wraps for too long to let the cat out of the bag now. But he teases that the revelations will have major repercussions taking months to resolve.

He said: “It’ll have a huge impact on the whole Branning family. Whether or not they can come together to weather the storm remains to be seen. But it’s going to be a huge moment.”

Only Derek is currently party to Max’s secret. Many fans think Derek will betray his brother — in the most sensational way he can.

Jake said: “This is the biggest storyline I’ve ever had. And these are definitely some of the best episodes I’ve been involved in. Everyone is in for a treat when they’re broadcast.”

Max is Joey's dad

EastEnders Alfie Moon Derek BranningThe drama is set to continue in EastEnders after Alfie learned that Derek Branning is Kat’s secret lover (Picture: BBC)

EastEnders enjoyed a leap in viewing figures as Derek Branning was finally revealed as Kat Moon’s secret lover.

According to overnight estimates, around 8.4m viewers tuned in to Thursday night’s episode in which Derek, played by Jamie Foreman, broke the news to Kat’s husband Alfie (Shane Ritchie) in front of a crowded Queen Vic.

bearcub 21 Dec 12 17:33 
Max is Joey's dad

and

bearcub 21 Dec 12 17:25 
Derek dies of natural causes


Are these serious?

The overnight figures do not include the BBc3 repeat for Eastenders

I think the derek dies of natural causes is maybe right, well an educated guess

Theres pics on the web of people on the Square looking at the body, they all seem pretty calm and no cops about

http://tv.uk.msn.com/soaps/eastenders-spoilers-derek-branning-meets-his-end#image=22

If you look through these images Tim, Derek is at the wedding and then dead in the Square. If he was murdered in broad daylight someone would have seen it so no one in them later pics can be the murderer imo.

the Daily Hell suggests Max kills his brother Derek after making a grim discovery about his daughter Lauren.

One rumour - Max discovers his brother raped Tanya which resulted in her becoming pregnant with Lauren.

Another - Tanya had a wild affair with Derek.

perhaps he was mown down by a car.  Who were those geezers who drew alongside him in a car the other day?

So, hold the Kat and Alfie bets, then!

I think it was thugs who Max owed money to Squares, but not 100%.

always a wildcard in EastEnders murders, so you can rule out Kat/Alfie/Max/Lauren i'm pretty sure. I'm on mad Jean 66/1 with Fred

Zainab 14/1 at lad brokers can I claim a palp if I get on at that price when she's 100 elsewhere

Roxy Mitchell at 40s for me

Eastenders now 1/8 !  Just a word for those tempted... In 2010 it went silly short price and wallace and Gromit(14/1) beat it easily. On 'form' it should win as last year but winning margin was around hald a million votes.. 11.33 million v 10.77 million Doctor Who, and 10.67 million Downton Abbey.

Equivalent to a horse that won by 1/2 a length over 2 rivals being eights on to repeat.. not my sort of bet... Dr Who has probably got a 'too early' slot this year.. but Downton is head to head again.. Strictyly Special has weak opposition and I think the wild card could be 'Call The Midwife' a ratings hit early this year.currently trading around 30 on here..

Ok.. 'Easties' could hold on but it will be close...  1/8  ? No thanks..

I beg Call the Midwifes pardon... last price matched   90 !!

off topic kind of but the best show on so far this year was a 40 year old Morecombe and Wise Christmas Special.  Obvious where Ant and Dec try (and fail) to nick their "act" from.

Think they would have been 1.01 in their day.

Call the midwife for me too atc.

Every woman I talk to mentions it as the show they're looking forward to most.

iirc it's also on about the same time that Wallce & Gromit was on.

good luck with the midwife

problem for me is they ask the same people year on year

i wonder how accurate the results really are

90 seems a cracking bet

I guess the soap fans might record it, so any bookie who is paying out on the final figures might be worth a look too.

Cheers chaps, possibly a bet in the 'without eastenders' market, is the insurance, though being up against Coronation Street means another split vote, Wallace & Gromit I think had a soft target and was on at 8.30 but that did not stop the Eastenders lemmings forcing its price down that year too.. This Looks a strong BBC year with early Dr Who, then SCD , Midwife and Eastenders... can hope the audience might be jaded enough by Eastenders to tail off but 9pm is nowadays normally the peak for Christmas day..at least Downton A is a strong factor on ITV.. vso we can hope..

I've just looked and W&G was on @ 8.30 ish, as you say and up against midsomer murders
So much tougher opposition for CTM, but worth a punt at around 40.

I backed it @ 14's on the HS

If it's on the final barb figures you could be ok bear.

It's being discussed on 5 live now. It's the most watched BBC drama for 10 years, apparently

its figures grew every week fll, quite impressively.

After watching the last few episodes of EE though I think they've done a great job building it up for Xmas day

Main bet has been on SCD getting 9.3 or under.

Yes, EE likely to do beat it.
Had the 4.8 w/o though

I reckon it will beat Corrie and DA.
The BBC have a very strong line-up and stricty maybe the biggest danger.

Though the Xmas special never does great

7.5  last year in a later slot against Corrie

Im banking on a good cliffhanger, with Cameron killing Alex in the first Emmerdale, so people watch the second

Tough market though

who is Alex?

No idea. Last time I watched emmerdale was when my Nan was still alive and there was a farm.

He works on the farm, Cameron confessed to killing Carl to him

Keep up squares

is he the Scouse Lad?

LOL FLL - back in the days of Annie Sugden and Joe Sugden, Amos Brierley and Mr Wilks.

not that I've ever watched it oc

Yep, those were the days -

My Nan would never miss it.

Yes Squares, he's currently tied up in the back of Camerons van.

cheers - last time i caught a glimpse of it i think Cameron was giving evidence in court.

Normally SCD special is directly against Corrie , two years ago it beat it, but last year Corrie got more viewers in same slot...  On the face of it this bodes badly for SCD and well for Corrie.

However this year 'Strictly' is up against surely this year's 'XMAS Turkey'in ITVs Paul O'Grady 'For the love of dogs' about Battersea dogs home.. For that reason and a recent successful end to the series, I think SCD may do quite well, and I would probably go over 9.3 million rather than under on that bet with the books.

I also hope that Call the Midwife has the kind of drawing power to hit Coronation Street in the way SCD could not, last year. Its a brave punt as soaps do have a loyal following, but Im hoping its got the 'christmas factor' Certainly at the 90 taken this am and 30 more recently its the value bet.. I now note 'last price matched' at 16.5 so maybe theres a bandwagon rolling..

The value oc is opposing EE, at the prevalent prices. I wouldn't completely dismiss SCD it has a better spot than last year, and the main show is stable whereas many figures are falling off yoy. The prices suggest EE will be well clear, I seriously doubt it.

I, too, am taking on EE, having backed most of the field at, what I consider to be, huge prices.

The ads for EE were very gangsterish. I'm surprised people want to watch that on Xmas day but maybe they do.

As above, I'm very keen on CTM. It caused keen interest earlier in the year, in a similar way to DA. However, it is family friendly, on at a decent time, and not too long. The only real negative is CS starts at the same time. But EE has DA.

The thing in favour of the soaps is that they are easy enough to have on in the background and dip in and out of while other things are going on in a household (and most people will have watched them at some point and have at the very least a vague idea of storylines and who is who) while those other shows are going to take a lot more attentive watching and keeping up with.  I've never seen any of CTM or DA so wouldn't have a clue who any of the people are or what the hell is going on.

Yes, the soaps are default viewing. DA of course 'won' last year on reconciled all inclusive figures. Happy to have bbc staples SCD and DW running for me alongside the dark horse CTM. Coronation beat EE comfortably on Friday I don't think the current storyline is capturing the public's imagination. For me EE is more like a 1-2 shot.

Yeah, sort of carrying on from some of the stuff on the SPOTY thread it's a no brainer with EE really and with anything like that you can almost treat it like you're likely to have done your money from the outset so always a major upside.

If CTM absolutely flops then CS could even be in the running for a shock. It looks a real puzzle and I find it difficult to see where the market confidence behind EE is coming from.

Me, too. But I've been thinking that for days. It's not as if there's been any new info to drive it so short. We knew last week all that we know now.

Yes, I agree with all you recent posters, the Top Tv is based on a panel of viewers which only happens tomorrow. It is not '****' or known in advance, the collapse in EE price can only be punters seeing it backed & jumping on the 'banker'.

At 1/2 that was probably fair, but nothing has changed since then..I guess its a conundrum with none of the likely competitors having an easy target... (except for SCD but it was surprisingly well beaten by Corrie last year when head to head which dents confidence.)

A close call with EE the likely but by no means certain winner is still the conclusion... Both SCD with its 'soft' opposition and CTM with its novelty/christmas factor give us hope..

Coronation Street achieved its best Friday audience of December so far, overnight data has shown.

Some 8.49m (38.5%) watched Tyrone and Fiz get caught out by Tina in a standalone 7.30pm episode, while a further 329,000 watched on ITV1 +1.

8023: Tyrone and Fiz are caught kissing by Tina


EastEnders came runner-up with 7.68m (33.1%) for a high-profile episode which featured meltdowns for Alfie and Lauren, and Derek's manipulation of Kat.

BBC Three's 10.30pm repeat took 755k (4.1%) before the weekly Omnibus attracted 400k (8.5%) back on BBC One from midnight.

Emmerdale logged 6.99m (32.9%) as viewers realised that Carl King's killer Cameron Murray had taken a confidant captive. The village serial added 173k on ITV1 +1.

terrible figures for a 1.19 favourite...........

To the best of my knowledge, unless things have changed, ITV+1 is added to the figure and BBc3 isnt, so

Corrie  8.82 million 

Enders  7.68 million

dales   7.17 million

n1 Bear - Merry Crimbo

Merry Crimbo to you as well Squares

And the rest of you

Derek electrocuted

Christmas eve overnights inc +1

Corrie  8.64 M
enders  8.49 M

was just looking at those myself

Laddies have suspended and Corals restricted me

I think it's likely to be a lot closer than the odds suggests squares

EastEnders tops the Christmas Day 2012 ratings with 9.37m.

Corrie was 8.58 million, which i dont think includes +1

BBC1 Christmas Day 2012: EastEnders 9.37m; Strictly 7.76m; Royle Family 7.68m; Doctor Who 7.59m; Call the Midwife 7.27m.

ITV1 Christmas Day 2012: Corrie 8.58m; Downton 6.83m; Emmerdale 5.98/4.7m; Paul o'Grady 4.12m.

Shrek Forever After was the most watched film with 4.92m, Tangled on ITV1 averaged 2.9

Crap all round.
EE the winner and Corrie w/o

Christmas Day 2012
BBC One
14:00 - Top of the Pops: 3.88m (26.6%)
15:00 - The Queen: 6.27m (36.7%)
15:10 - FILM: Shrek Forever: 4.92m (29.7%)
16:35 - Room with a Broom: 4.70m (25.3%)
17:00 - BBC News: 5.63m (28.8%)
17:15 - Doctor Who: 7.59m (33.9%)
18:15 - Strictly Come Dancing Christmas Special: 7.76m (33.3%)
19:30 - Call the Midwife: 7.27m (28.3%)
20:45 - EastEnders: 9.37m (34.3%)
21:45 - The Royle Family: 7.68m (30.1%)
22:45 - BBC News: 6.09m (30.3%)
23:00 - The Vicar of Dibley: 3.23m (20.8%)

ITV1
13:25 - FILM: Toy Story: 2.00m (14.0%)
15:00 - The Queen: 2.03m (11.9%)
15:10 - FILM: Tangled: 2.90m (17.1%)
17:00 - You've Been Framed!: 3.15m (15.3%)
17:30 - Emmerdale: 4.70m (20.7%) , +1: 232k (1.0%)
* 17:30 to 17:55 - 4.86m (21.4%)
18:00 - Paul O'Grady For The Love Of Dogs: 4.12m (18.2%) , +1: 188k (0.8%)
19:00 - Emmerdale: 5.98m (24.7%) , +1: 248k (1.0%)
19:30 - Coronation Street: 8.58m (33.5%) , +1: 254k (0.9%)
20:30 - ITV News and Weather: 5.59m (21.6%)
20:45 - Downton Abbey: 6.83m (25.9%) , +1: 488k (2.3%)

Unders on SCD came in by a distance

Yes, people just don't watch Christmas TV in the same numbers as a few years back.

We didn't turn the tv on til EE, then watched The Royle Family

Viewing this year peaked at 9.40pm, with 27.7 million watching TV.


Pretty low, i would have thought

Hi bearcub, thanks for that report, where did you get these figures ??

@TVRatingsUK  on twitter. Same figures as Five's so should be accurate

EE peaked at 9.77m (35.6%) from 9.35 to 9.40. ITV1's highest peak was 9.09m at 8.05pm during Corrie.

Extremely close in percentage terms, presumably so many people recording DA is what won it comfortably for EE. With +1 added CS actually beat EE in percentage of the live audience captured. As it turned out CS was up against stronger competition live on the night.
Well done EE players.
As Fig points out the trend is watching Xmas telly later it seems.

Call the midwife peaked at around 9m too. I guess just before EE started

"Viewing this year peaked at 9.40pm, with 27.7 million watching TV."

A day when the vast majority are together with others and 27.7 million still have to switch the TV on.

If I didn't turn the telly on the feckers would never leave.

BBC comedy show Miranda topped Boxing Day viewing figures with a peak audience of ten million.

The sitcom, created by lead star Miranda Hart, began its third series on BBC1 at 9pm, receiving an average audience of 9.5million - a 37.8% share of the total TV audience between 9pm and 9.30pm.

Unofficial ratings gave the show had a five-minute peak of just over ten million - even beating the 9.4million racked up by EastEnders' explosive Christmas Day episode.

The success is a huge blow for ITV - Simon Cowell's That Dog Can Dance managed an audience high of just 3.7million.

actually had someone round last night who we thought was a fan of the Miranda show so stuck it on for them.  It was the lamest, most toe-curlingly embarrassing cr@p I had ever sat through (and that was after watching the first half of That Dog Can Dance) and at the end of it they said how cr@p it was and that they didn't usually watch it

Miranda is absolutely horrid tv. anyone that likes it is a moron, and unfortunately going by the boxing day figures that means about 1/6th of the population are morons

Always amazed to hear the likes of Boyd Hilton raving about Miranda - it is the most rancid, middle-of-the-road, canned laughter, dated, Beeb sit com & was that way from the moment ep1 aired.

Hopefully some good news:-

Hit BBC show Miranda is set to end once the current series finishes.

A massive 10 million people tuned in to watch the first episode of the third series on Boxing Day but the sitcom’s actor Tom Ellis claims creator Miranda Hart no longer wants to work on the programme.

He told the Daily Mirror: “I don’t think Miranda wants to write any more after this series. It might change, and maybe there might be the odd special, but everyone has other projects.”

from unrtv/The Mirror

Miranda on Room 101 - ffs, should be in Room 101

Rumours of another series now

back by popular demand no doubt

poker players on Eggheads tonight.  Large one won 94K in a tournament.

Spent it all on takeaways

Clemency Burton-Hill looking good on Celeb Mastermind

Who is she?

Large poker player Gareth looked like a bigger version of Irish trainer Gordon Elliott who is pretty big.  Wasn't that many years ago he was an amateur jockey.

never seen her before Celeb Mastermind

actress, novelist, journalist and violinist apparently

ofc

I've known fewer celebs on this than your average CBB or IAC

Steve Punt looks like he's been burning the candle at both ends studying for this.

This years market is up

DA on earlier with an upbeat storyline