Downton takes on Walford in TV ratings battle

Downton Abbey is the highest rating United Kingdom drama of the past decade across any channel, with an average of 11 million viewers over the course of the five series, including Christmas specials.

It was the first time Downton had ever topped the Christmas ratings and a fitting end to the beloved series.

Since it was announced earlier this year that Downton Abbey would bow out on Christmas Day, the question on all our lips was how the Crawleys would bid us a final farewell.

There has been only one example in the past decade of a programme getting more than 15 million viewers on Christmas Day.

Lady Edith finally got her happy ending as she patched things up with her sister Lady Mary after a long-standing feud between the pair.

The two shows were both beaten by the Queen’s speech as the most-watched programme of the day.

Michelle Dockery had a tear in her eye when she read the final page of the last ever “Downton Abbey” script.

The final episode of the hit ITV drama was trending on Twitter worldwide.

Lord Grantham, played by Hugh Bonneville, and Lady Cora, played by Elizabeth McGovern, prepare to celebrate an unforgettable New Year’s Eve.

TV audiences on December 25 for some of UK’s best-known shows have dropped by over a quarter in recent years.

The series finale also features regular cast members Penelope Wilton as Isobel Crawley and Samantha Bond as Lady Rosamund Painswick.

“We film six months of the year, every year, and we see each other a lot, so inevitably when you say goodbye to people after that length of time it’s going to be very, very sad”.

It also grew into a pop-culture favourite with spoofs and parodies from Sesame Street and The Simpsons, to name a few, lighting up social media.