EastEnders' explosive Christmas episode helps break BBC iPlayer record
The dramatic Six tale finally came to a head on Christmas Day.
The truly explosive EastEnders Christmas special was the most popular episode on BBC iPlayer over the festive fortnight, after bringing in 2.96 million streams.
The dramatic reveal of who the murderer among The Six was and the untimely demise of a Walford male helped BBC iPlayer break a new record.
Amid The Six storyline, EastEnders was the top title on iPlayer for the festive fortnight, with 26.28 million streams, followed by Vigil (10.96m) and Doctor Who from 2005 onwards (10.01m).
EastEnders was the number one episode streamed over the Christmas period, with Vigil season 2 episode 6 in second place with 2.19 million streams and Rick Astley Rocks New Year's Eve - Part 1 in third place with 2.02 million streams.
The Doctor Who Christmas special, The Church on Ruby Road, was the fifth most watched series throughout the festive period, and it received 1.79 million streams.
The episode saw Ncuti Gatwa as the Doctor as he met his new companion Ruby Sunday (Millie Gibson).
Dan McGolpin, Director of BBC iPlayer and Channels says: "It's wonderful to see that viewers came to BBC iPlayer in record numbers over the festive period.
"Nowhere else would they have found the same range of high-quality British programming to keep them gripped, make them laugh or to provide companionship and news at that special time.
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"And with a whole host of compelling drama, comedy, factual programming, entertainment and sport landing on iPlayer in 2024, viewers can look forward to a great year ahead."
The EastEnders Christmas special saw multiple secrets spill out into the Square, including Keanu's involvement in Albie's kidnapping being revealed to Sharon, Eve being alive and, of course, the reveal of the 10-month long The Six storyline.
It was revealed that Linda Carter (Kellie Bright) was the killer as she murdered Keanu Taylor (Danny Walters) in a bid to protect Sharon Watts (Letitia Dean).
The six Walford matriarchs all covered up the murder, and so far, they have gone undetected.
Read more:
- EastEnders 2024 preview: 10 spoilers for the year ahead
- EastEnders airs heartbreaking goodbye amid The Six drama
- EastEnders must give tragic heroine Whitney the happy ever after she deserves
- EastEnders boss Chris Clenshaw previews Christmas 2023 and The Six aftermath
- EastEnders' Letitia Dean on whether Sharon can forgive Keanu for kidnap secret
- EastEnders' Gillian Taylforth on Kathy and Rocky: "She can’t live with the constant lies"
- EastEnders' Diane Parish teases "heartbreak" in Christmas episode
- EastEnders' Lacey Turner on whether Stacey will kill again: "She will do whatever it takes to protect Eve"
- EastEnders' Balvinder Sopal: "People will be on the edge of their seats"
- EastEnders' Kellie Bright: "The body wasn't who I thought it would be"
EastEnders airs Mondays to Thursdays at 7:30pm on BBC One and from 6am on BBC iPlayer.
Visit our dedicated EastEnders page for all the latest news, interviews and spoilers. If you're looking for more to watch, check out our TV Guide and Streaming Guide.
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Authors
Katelyn Mensah is the Entertainment and Factual Writer for Radio Times, covering all major entertainment programmes, reality TV shows and the latest hard-hitting documentaries. She previously worked at The Tab, with a focus on reality TV and showbiz news and has obtained a BA (Hons) in Journalism.
