The return of BBC1 sitcom Miranda won the Boxing Day ratings battle with a peak of 10 million viewers, while Simon Cowell's "X Factor for dogs" was watched by an audience of 3.7 million.
The big rating return of the third series of Miranda, penned by and starring Call The Midwife's Miranda Hart, meant BBC1 scooped the Christmas honours airing the most popular shows on Christmas Day and Boxing Day.
Miranda managed an average audience of 9.5 million, a 37.8% share of the total TV audience between 9pm and 9.30pm. The show had a five-minute peak of just over 10 million viewers, according to unofficial overnight ratings figures for Wednesday 26 December.
Miranda's audience is massively up on the levels seen during the second series – ratings were about 3.5 million an episode – this is in part due to a move from BBC2 to BBC1 and, more significantly, the decision to schedule the launch of the six-part third series on Boxing Day.
The best peforming episode of Miranda before Boxing Day attracted 4.4 million viewers and aired on 23 December last year.
The BBC points out that if the ratings juggernaut Eastenders is excluded then Miranda is the next most popular Boxing Day show to be aired since at least 2001.
Up against Miranda was BBC2's The Girl, starring Toby Jones and Sienna Miller, which tells the story of the obsession Alfred Hitchcock had with Tippi Hedren whom he cast in The Birds and Marnie.
The 90-minute film managed an average of 1.8 million viewers and a 7.5% share of the audience between 9pm and 10.30pm.
ITV1 targeted Miranda with Doors Open, a comedy heist based on a novel by Ian Rankin, which starred Stephen Fry and was produced by his production company, Sprout.
The film attracted an average audience of 2.2 million and a 10% share between 9pm and 11pm.
Earlier, ITV1's Boxing Day family fare included That Dog Can Dance!, produced by Simon Cowell's Syco, which has been dubbed an "X Factor for dogs".
The 1-hour show, co-hosted by Christine Bleakley and Britain's Got Talent winners Ashleigh and Pudsey the dog, managed an average audience of 3.7 million and a 15.3% share in the 8pm slot.
In the ongoing festive season battle of the soaps BBC1's Eastenders just pipped Coronation Street to take the honours for Christmas Day and Boxing Day.
An average of 8.2 million tuned into catch the fallout in Albert Square of the death of Derek Branning – which managed 9.4 million viewers on Christmas Day – a 32.2% share between 8.30pm and 9pm.
On ITV1 Coronation Street attracted an average of 8.1 million viewers, a 34% share between 7.30pm and 8pm, while half-an-hour earlier Emmerdale managed 7.1 million and a 30.4% share.
The concluding part of BBC1 drama Mrs Brown's Boys built on its Christmas eve success – where it was the most popular show with 8.8 million viewers – averaging 9 million viewers between 9.30pm and 10pm.
Channel 4's biggest programme of Boxing Day was the second part of Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings triology, The Two Towers, which attracted an average audience of 2 million. The lengthy film managed an 8.2% share of audience between 6.55pm and 10.30pm.
Channel 5's best offering was TV's 50 Greatest Magic Tricks, which aired from 7.10pm to 10pm, which averaged 1 million and a 3.9% share in its slot.
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