EastEnders beats Downton in TV war

EastEnders triumphed in the head-to-head battle with Downton Abbey in the UK as BBC1 kept with tradition by coming out on top in the Christmas Day ratings.

Overnight viewing figures show Walford proved a bigger draw than the Crawley family’s estate, with an average audience of 9.9 million compared with the ITV1 show’s 8.1 million (8.6 million including ITV1+1 viewers).