Doctor Who episode The Snowmen was a hit with iPlayer viewers over the festive season (Picture: BBC)

The Christmas episode of Doctor Who was the most popular progamme on the BBC’s catch-up iPlayer service over the festive season, with EastEnders and Miranda also proving popular.

According to figures released by the corporation, the episode – which featured the official debut of the Doctor’s new sidekick, played by Jenna-Louise Coleman, has been viewed online 1.47million times since it was shown on BBC One on Christmas Day.

The Christmas episode of EastEnders, which saw Derek Branning meet his demise, finished second with 1.4million views, while the Boxing Day episode of Miranda notched up 1.32million online views.

Two further episodes of EastEnders, which were screened on Boxing Day and December 27, completed the top five – while two more episodes featured further down the top ten along with festive editions of Call the Midwife and Outnumbered, and the final ever episode of Merlin which was broadcast on Christmas Eve.


1.4m EastEnders fans watched Derek Branning’s demise on iPlayer (Picture: BBC)

The BBC also said that ratings for the whole festive period had risen by almost a third compared to Christmas 2011 – with 77million programme requests between December 22 and January 1.



By contrast the same time period in 2011 attracted 58.2million viewers.

And New Year’s Day set a new record for the most programme requests – 6.7million – in a single day, eclipsing the previous record of 5.8million set on August 7 2012 during the Olympics.

As well as being popular on iPlayer, Doctor Who’s Christmas adventures also pulled in a big viewing audience on Christmas Day, with 7.5million tuning in to see Matt Smith battle killer snowmen – controlled by Richard E Grant’s evil Doctor Simeon – on the loose in Victorian London.

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