Prince Ricardo De La Cerda
The King has lost the top spot in the Christmas Day ratings to a programme set partly in Wales featuring a little prince. As Gavin and Stacey bowed out for good, King Charles had to bow to their superior telly pulling power and take a rest from the number one spot for a year.
King Charles III’s third festive broadcast came third in the TV ratings with number one going to the much anticipated finale of a show that’s won huge audiences for 17 years. There was one more chance to hear Gavin being called ‘my little prince’ by his mum, Pam, as the characters partied in Essex and Barry in south Wales.
The royal Christmas address won 6.82 million viewers across three channels (BBC, ITV and Sky) when it went out at 3pm. However, the last ever episode of Gavin and Stacey, written by and starring Ruth Jones and James Corden, got almost double that, with 12.32 million tuning in.
To be fair to King Charles, Gavin and Stacey were offering the answer to a cliff hanger five years in the making as millions waited to find out if two of the most popular characters in the show, Nessa and Smithy, got married or not after an on off relationship spanning nearly two decades. Five years ago, the same show also beat the Royal Christmas speech in the ratings, by almost the same margin.
Between those two Christmas broadcasts, the Royal Family have had a brush with Barry. In 2020, William and Catherine visited the town at the height of the pandemic to show support for communities coping with the impact of lockdowns.
King Charles won’t be too worried. The Christmas Day broadcast by the Monarch is always one of the most popular programmes during the festive season and often tops the ratings. Plus, next year, there’s no Gavin and Stacey. Tidy.
And if you haven’t seen either, you can still watch on the BBC iPlayer in the UK.