List of most watched television broadcasts in the United Kingdom explained

In the United Kingdom, viewing figures – the number of viewers or households watching a television programme – have been recorded by the Broadcasters' Audience Research Board (BARB) since 1981. Prior to the board's formation, figures were conducted by different means, such as the BBC financing its own audience research, while the ITV companies sub-contracted theirs.

Most watched special events

The majority of special events attracting large audiences are often carried on more than one channel. The most watched special event programme of all time on a single channel in the UK is the 1973 wedding ceremony of Princess Anne, shown only on BBC One.

• Pre-1981 figures supplied by the British Film Institute (BFI)
• Post-1981 figures verified by the Broadcasters' Audience Research Board (BARB)

Rank	Event	(millions)	Date	width=30%	Network(s)
1	1966 FIFA World Cup final England v West Germany	32.30		BBC/ITV
2		32.10		BBC/ITV
3		30.69	and	BBC/ITV
4	UEFA Euro 2020 final Italy v England	29.85^[1]		BBC/ITV
5	Apollo 13 Splashdown	28.60		BBC/ITV
6	1970 FA Cup final replay: Chelsea v Leeds United	28.49		BBC/ITV
7	Wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer	28.40		BBC One/ITV
8	Wedding of Princess Anne and Mark Phillips	27.60		BBC One
9	Prime minister Boris Johnson's statement announcing a national lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic	27.10^[2]		BBC/ITV/Channel 4/Channel 5/Sky News/S4C
10	State funeral of Queen Elizabeth II	26.20^[3] ^[4]	19 September 2022	BBC//ITV/S4C/Sky News/Talk TV/GB News

Notes:

• At least two Muhammad Ali boxing matches were reported to have been watched by at least 26million viewers in the United Kingdom: the Fight of the Century (Ali vs. Frazier) was reported to have been watched by 27.5million British viewers in 1971,^[5] and The Rumble in the Jungle (Ali vs. Foreman) was reported to have been watched by 26million viewers on BBC in 1974.^[6]
• The wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton (29 April 2011) received a total average audience of 26 million viewers. This is a combined figure aggregated from the ten different channels that broadcast the ceremony. The highest figures of these were 13.59 million on BBC, with an extra 4.02 million watching on ITV.^[7]
• Boris Johnson's address on 23 March 2020 was simulcast to 14.61 million viewers on BBC, 5.80 million on ITV, and more than 6 million on other channels.^{[8] [2]}
• The state funeral of Queen Elizabeth II (19 September 2022) was watched by an average audience of 18.5 million viewers on BBC channels.^[4]

Most watched programmes

The following is a list of most watched programmes, excluding sporting events and news coverage. The mid-1980s introduction of in-week repeat showings accounts for six of the top ten programmes. On this measure, the 1996 Christmas edition of Only Fools and Horses is, not including figures for repeats, the most-watched non-documentary programme of all time so far in the United Kingdom. It is the third most-watched single-showing programme of all time so far on a single channel, behind the 2012 Summer Olympics closing ceremony and the wedding of Princess Anne and Mark Phillips in 1973 (see below).

• Post-1981 figures verified by the Broadcasters' Audience Research Board (BARB)
• Pre-1981 figures supplied by the British Film Institute

Key

• Numbers with this background and symbol are italicised to denote aggregated figure with repeat showing.

Rank	Programme	Synopsis	Viewers (millions)	Date	Network	Ref.
1	scope=row	EastEnders	Den Watts serves his wife Angie with divorce papers.	style=background:#FFE5B4	30.15		BBC1	^[9]
2	scope=row	EastEnders	The aftermath of Den Watts serving his wife Angie with divorce papers.	style=background:#FFE5B4	28.00		BBC1	^[10]
3	scope=row	Coronation Street	Hilda Ogden leaves Weatherfield.	style=background:#FFE5B4	26.65		ITV (Granada)
4	Live Aid	16-hour concert in Wembley Stadium and John F. Kennedy Stadium for Band Aid.	24.50	13 July 1985	BBC1	^[11]
5	Only Fools and Horses	"Time on Our Hands"	24.35		BBC1	^[12]
6	EastEnders	Arthur and Pauline Fowler urge their son Mark to tell his sister Michelle that he has HIV.	24.30		BBC1	^[13]
7	Royal Variety Performance 1965	Featuring Dame Shirley Bassey, Peter Cook, Dudley Moore, and more.	24.20		ITV (ATV)	^[14]
8	EastEnders	Angie Watts suffers a renal shutdown.	24.15		BBC1	^[15]
9	To the Manor Born	Finale of the first series.	23.95		BBC1	^[16]
10	Miss World 1967	Madeline Hartog-Bel (Miss Peru) wins.	23.76		BBC1
11	EastEnders	The aftermath of Den Watts serving his wife Angie with divorce papers.	23.55		BBC1	^[17]
12	scope=row	EastEnders	It is revealed that Lisa Shaw shot Phil Mitchell.	style=background:#FFE5B4	23.18		BBC1	^[18]
13	Panorama	Diana, Princess of Wales interview	22.78		BBC1	^[19]
14	Royal Variety Performance 1975	Performers include Bruce Forsyth, Dad's Army and Vera Lynn.	22.66		ITV (ATV)
15	This Is Your Life	Lord Mountbatten	22.22		ITV (Thames)
16	Sunday Night at the London Palladium	Presented by Jimmy Tarbuck.	21.89		ITV (ATV)
17	The Benny Hill Show	"Cinema: The Vintage Years"	21.67		ITV (Thames)
18	Dallas	"Who Done It" – Kristin Shepard is revealed to have shot J.R. Ewing.	21.60		BBC1	^[20]
	scope=row	Coronation Street	Ken and Deirdre Barlow finalise their divorce.	21.60		ITV (Granada)
19	scope=row	Eurovision Song Contest 1973	Staged in Luxembourg City – the UK was represented by Cliff Richard, and the contest was won by Anne-Marie David.	21.56		BBC1
20	scope=row	Steptoe and Son	"The Lodger" – Albert looks for a lodger.	21.54		BBC1

Most watched films

These are the most watched films by total number of viewers^[21] (dates are when the films were broadcast, not necessarily when they were produced).

Rank	Title	Viewers (millions)	Date	Network
1	Live and Let Die	23.50		ITV
2	Jaws	23.25		ITV
3	The Spy Who Loved Me	22.90		ITV
4	Diamonds Are Forever	22.15		ITV
5	Crocodile Dundee	21.75		BBC1

Most watched broadcasts by year

This table details the most watched programmes on a single channel based on average viewing figures.

Notes and References

1. News: Euro 2020 final: TV audience peaked at 31m as England lost on penalties . 11 July 2021 . . 12 July 2021 . en-GB.
2. News: PM's coronavirus address watched by 27.1m . 24 March 2020 . BBC News . 24 March 2020 . en-GB.
3. barbtelevision . 1572263239463075840 . The average audience for the Queen's funeral service at Westminster Abbey (11:00 – 12:06) was 26.2m across all channels. Reach was 29.2m, a share of 95% . BARB . 2022-09-20 . Twitter . en.
4. Web site: The Queen's funeral watched by 28 million viewers in UK. BBC News. 20 September 2022. 20 September 2022.
5. Book: Green, Timothy. The Universal Eye: The World of Television. 1972. Stein and Day. 9780812814248. 86. The annual Miss World Contest, which is often the single most popular program of the year — attracting half the British population — is a natural for BBC 1; so was the Ali-Frazier fight, which was watched by 27.5 million people..
6. News: Daily Mirror. 1 November 1974. Longman Asia . 9789623599856 . 'Ali is so tired he cannot raise his hands.' The next moment Ali raised his fists and Foreman was knocked out. The 26 million who saw the same fight with the same commentary on BBC-1...did not hear that line. 'Yes, we cut it out,' said a BBC man last night, 'to spare Harry Carpenter's blushes.'.
7. News: Douglas . Torin . Tracking 30 years of TV's most watched programmes . BBC News . 22 January 2012.
8. Web site: Weekly top programmes on four screens (from Sept 2018) BARB. en-GB. 6 April 2020.
9. Web site: TV since 1981 – 1986 – Top 10 programmes . Broadcasters' Audience Research Board (BARB) . 7 July 2016.
10. Web site: TV since 1981 – 1987 – Top 10 programmes . Broadcasters' Audience Research Board (BARB) . 7 July 2016.
11. News: Moments in TV History. 19 November 2013. British Academy of Film and Television Arts.
12. Web site: TV since 1981 – 1996 – Top 10 programmes . Broadcasters' Audience Research Board (BARB) . 7 July 2016.
13. Web site: Features | Britain's Most Watched TV | 1990s . British Film Institute (BFI) . https://web.archive.org/web/20051125215025/http://www.bfi.org.uk/features/mostwatched/1990s.html . 25 November 2005 . 7 July 2016.
14. Web site: Features | Britain's Most Watched TV | 1960s . British Film Institute (BFI) . https://web.archive.org/web/20051122221448/http://www.bfi.org.uk/features/mostwatched/1960s.html . 22 November 2005 . 7 July 2016.
15. Web site: TV since 1981 – 1988 – Top 10 programmes . Broadcasters' Audience Research Board (BARB) . 7 July 2016.
16. Web site: Features | Britain's Most Watched TV | 1970s . British Film Institute (BFI) . https://web.archive.org/web/20051122221511/http://www.bfi.org.uk/features/mostwatched/1970s.html . 22 November 2005 . 7 July 2016.
17. Web site: TV since 1981 – 1985 – Top 10 programmes . Broadcasters' Audience Research Board (BARB) . 7 July 2016.
18. Web site: BARB data 2001 . BARB . 5 July 2021.
19. Web site: TV since 1981 – 1995 – Top 10 programmes . Broadcasters' Audience Research Board (BARB) . 7 July 2016.
20. Web site: Features | Britain's Most Watched TV | 1980s . British Film Institute (BFI) . https://web.archive.org/web/20051122221538/http://www.bfi.org.uk/features/mostwatched/1980s.html . 22 November 2005 . 7 July 2016.
21. Web site: TV's jewels fail to shine in list of all-time winners . Corrie.net . 7 February 1998 . 4 May 2011.
22. Web site: TV since 1981 – 1981 – Top 10 programmes . Broadcasters' Audience Research Board (BARB) . 7 July 2016.
23. Web site: TV since 1981 – 1982 – Top 10 programmes . Broadcasters' Audience Research Board (BARB) . 7 July 2016.
24. Web site: TV since 1981 – 1983 – Top 10 programmes . Broadcasters' Audience Research Board (BARB) . 7 July 2016.
25. Web site: TV since 1981 – 1984 – Top 10 programmes . Broadcasters' Audience Research Board (BARB) . 7 July 2016.
26. Web site: TV since 1981 – 1989 – Top 10 programmes . Broadcasters' Audience Research Board (BARB) . 7 July 2016.
27. Web site: TV since 1981 – 1990 – Top 10 programmes . Broadcasters' Audience Research Board (BARB) . 7 July 2016.
28. Web site: TV since 1981 – 1991 – Top 10 programmes . Broadcasters' Audience Research Board (BARB) . 7 July 2016.
29. Web site: TV since 1981 – 1992 – Top 10 programmes . Broadcasters' Audience Research Board (BARB) . 7 July 2016.
30. Web site: TV since 1981 – 1993 – Top 10 programmes . Broadcasters' Audience Research Board (BARB) . 7 July 2016.
31. Web site: TV since 1981 – 1994 – Top 10 programmes . Broadcasters' Audience Research Board (BARB) . 7 July 2016.
32. Web site: TV since 1981 – 1997 – Top 10 programmes . Broadcasters' Audience Research Board (BARB) . 7 July 2016.
33. Web site: TV since 1981 – 1998 – Top 10 programmes . Broadcasters' Audience Research Board (BARB) . 7 July 2016.
34. Web site: TV since 1981 – 1999 – Top 10 programmes . Broadcasters' Audience Research Board (BARB) . 7 July 2016.
35. Web site: TV since 1981 – 2000 – Top 10 programmes . Broadcasters' Audience Research Board (BARB) . 7 July 2016.
36. Web site: TV since 1981 – 2001 – Top 10 programmes . Broadcasters' Audience Research Board (BARB) . 19 July 2021.
37. Web site: TV since 1981 – 2002 – Top 10 programmes . Broadcasters' Audience Research Board (BARB) . 7 July 2016.
38. Web site: TV since 1981 – 2003 – Top 10 programmes . Broadcasters' Audience Research Board (BARB) . 7 July 2016.
39. Web site: TV since 1981 – 2004 – Top 10 programmes . Broadcasters' Audience Research Board (BARB) . 7 July 2016.
40. Web site: TV since 1981 – 2005 – Top 10 programmes . Broadcasters' Audience Research Board (BARB) . 7 July 2016.
41. Web site: TV since 1981 – 2006 – Top 10 programmes . Broadcasters' Audience Research Board (BARB) . 7 July 2016.
42. Web site: TV since 1981 – 2007 – Top 10 programmes . Broadcasters' Audience Research Board (BARB) . 7 July 2016.
43. Web site: TV since 1981 – 2008 – Top 10 programmes . Broadcasters' Audience Research Board (BARB) . 7 July 2016.
44. Web site: TV since 1981 – 2009 – Top 10 programmes . Broadcasters' Audience Research Board (BARB) . 7 July 2016.
45. Web site: TV since 1981 – 2010 – Top 10 programmes . Broadcasters' Audience Research Board (BARB) . 7 July 2016.
46. Web site: TV since 1981 – 2011 – Top 10 programmes . Broadcasters' Audience Research Board (BARB) . 7 July 2016.
47. Web site: TV since 1981 – 2012 – Top 10 programmes . Broadcasters' Audience Research Board (BARB) . 7 July 2016.
48. Web site: TV since 1981 – 2013 – Top 10 programmes . Broadcasters' Audience Research Board (BARB) . 7 July 2016.
49. Web site: TV since 1981 – 2014 – Top 10 programmes . Broadcasters' Audience Research Board (BARB) . 7 July 2016.
50. Web site: TV since 1981 – 2015 – Top 10 programmes . Broadcasters' Audience Research Board (BARB) . 7 July 2016.
51. Web site: TV since 1981 – 2016 – Top 10 programmes . Broadcasters' Audience Research Board (BARB) . 4 May 2017.
52. Web site: TV since 1981 – 2017 – Top 10 programmes . Broadcasters' Audience Research Board (BARB) . 18 February 2018.
53. Web site: TV since 1981 – 2018 – Top 10 programmes . Broadcasters' Audience Research Board (BARB) . 2 March 2019.
54. Web site: TV since 1981 – 2019 – Top 10 programmes . Broadcasters' Audience Research Board (BARB) . 9 February 2020.
55. Web site: TV since 1981 – 2020 – Top 10 programmes . Broadcasters' Audience Research Board (BARB) . 23 February 2021.
56. Web site: TV since 1981 – 2021 – Top 10 programmes . Broadcasters' Audience Research Board (BARB) . 7 August 2022.
57. Web site: Most viewed programmes BARB . 2022-09-24 . en-GB.
58. Web site: Most viewed programmes Barb . 2023-05-20 . en-GB.
59. Web site: Most viewed programmes Barb . 2024-07-23 . en-GB.