In 2019 a list was compiled of the 20 most watched Christmas Day TV shows ever. You won’t be surprised to learn that only one was from this century, that all bar three were broadcast on BBC One, or that the Corporation nabbed spots one to nine on the list. Monopoly isn’t just the name of a board game – it also applies to the broadcaster’s sway over our Christmas Day TV watching habits.

Top of the most watched ever list was a film, a 1989 airing of action comedy Crocodile Dundee. Not a classic in anyone’s book, but it attracted nearly 22 million viewers. Given a UK population at the time of 57 million, it means well over a third of Britons tuned in to watch a man in a leather vest refer to women as ‘Sheilas’.

The single top 20 programme from this century also has its roots in the 1980s. A 2001 Christmas edition of Only Fools And Horses came second in the list with 21.3 million viewers. In fact Rodney and Del Boy dominate, with seven of the most watched programmes overall and five in the top 10. Making up the rest of the entries are shows like EastEnders, Birds Of A Feather, Just Good Friends, Bread, The Two Ronnies and One Foot In The Grave.

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The lessons from all this? There are three. First, and most obvious, BBC One dominates our Christmas Day TV viewing. Second, it’s sitcoms and the odd blockbuster movie which typically attract the most viewers.

Third, in our fragmented, multi-channel world, those eight digit Christmas Day viewing figures are a thing of the past. The 1995 edition of One Foot In The Grave, for instance, was bottom of the all-time top 20, but with nearly 18 million viewers it still dwarfs last year’s most watched........

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