Mrs Brown's Boys top of Christmas Day TV ratings gambling
Mrs Brown's Boys looks set to come out top of the Christmas Day TV ratings on the 25th December.
Coral has made Brendan O'Carroll's sitcom the odds-on favourite at 4-6 to top the TV ratings on Christmas Day again. The studio audience sitcom was the most watched programme on the 25th December last year, when 6.8 million people tuned in, according to the overnight figures.
Whilst there's plenty of opportunities for gambling online (You can compare the best casino sites here), it's not often you can gamble on comedy-related topics (in the early 2000s a bookmaker once offered odds on who would win the British Comedy Awards, but nothing like that has been offered since). However, now Coral has put the BBC sitcom in its Christmas Day TV gambling market, as it aims to let punters decide which show will be the most watched this festive season.
The comedy does have competition for the top spot though. Whilst there's no Doctor Who on Christmas Day this year, the final episode of period drama Downton Abbey is likely to attract a large audience. It's second in the odds list, at 4-1; with the always-popular soap EastEnders at 9-2. Meanwhile the Strictly Come Dancing Christmas Special currently has odds of 8-1.
John Hill from Coral says: "After strong support in the betting, Mrs Brown's Boys is now odds-on to top the Christmas Day TV ratings for another year. We expect Downton Abbey and EastEnders to be up near the top of the standings, however, it would be a surprise if they topped Mrs Brown's Boys."
The comedy's new Christmas special is titled Exotic Mammy. It'll be shown on Christmas Day at 10:15pm.
The plotline sees Father Damian organising a competition involving festive decorations, to raise money for the local football team. Mrs Brown is keen to enter, especially as it might mean beating her nemesis Hilliary, but she soon becomes distracted by a 'wifi assistant' gifted to her by Buster and Dermot.
A second new special - Mammy's Motel - is due to be broadcast on New Year's Day at 10pm. It's time for Bono's thirteenth birthday, but a storm means that several houses in the area are flooded, including Winnie and Sharon's. Everyone turns to Mrs Brown, who is luckily on hand to offer shelter. However, perhaps unsurprisingly, Agnes soon discovers that living with her friends isn't as fan as she first imagined!
Whilst ratings of 8 million or more would be impressive for Mrs Brown's Boys, it's unlikely to reach the high some other British comedy programmes have managed in the past. In 2008 over 14 million viewers tuned in to Wallace & Gromit: A Matter Of Loaf And Death, and - as a comedy fan - you probably remember watching The Vicar Of Dibley special in 2006 along with everyone else (over 11 million viewers tuned in to that).
The overnight figures are likely to be revealed on the 28th December this year, so not long to wait to discover how many people watch Mrs Brown this time!