Eric and Ernie help to pull in Christmas TV viewers

Nostalgic television such as the Morecambe and Wise biopic dominated the schedules during Christmas.

More than six million watched Eric & Ernie, starring Victoria Wood as Morecambe's mother, Sadie, on BBC2 — three times the channel's audience on a Saturday night over the past three months.

The drama ended a season of nostalgia which included BBC1's revival of Upstairs Downstairs and its adaptation of food writer Nigel Slater's memoirs Toast.

Upstairs Downstairs averaged more than seven million viewers across its three episodes, but failed to match the ratings of ITV's Downton Abbey.

Toast attracted over six million viewers.
BBC1, which traditionally dominates Christmas Day viewing, had 30.4 per cent of the share compared with ITV1's 14 per cent.

Both channels were down on last year. BBC1 fell from 31.3 per cent, and ITV1 from 18.8 per cent.

BBC drama commissioning controller Ben Stephenson said: "You want big blockbuster treats at Christmas with stories that resonate with a broad audience. Often they are classic stories or pieces that trade on an element of our past."

Channel 5 showed repeats of classic BBC sitcoms such as Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em and Terry And June Christmas Special from 1982.