Ghosts was the most-watched TV comedy of 2023
- 6.62 million viewers watched the final episode of Ghosts within the first seven days of broadcast
- Michael McIntyre's Big Show was watched by 5.75m viewers
- Have I Got News For You, The Graham Norton Show, Blankety Blank, Mrs Brown's Boys and For The Love Of Paul O'Grady were seen by more than 4 million viewers
The final episode of hit sitcom Ghosts, which was broadcast on BBC One on Christmas Day, was the most-watched new British comedy episode in 2023.
Data from the Broadcasters' Audience Research Board (BARB) reveals that across the first seven days from broadcast it was watched by 6.62 million viewers. BARB's 7-day 4-screen consolidated ratings combine the estimated count those that watched the programme on the day of broadcast with figures from households who chose to catch-up via streaming platforms.
The top 10 for 2023 is below. In many cases, multiple episodes from the productions mentioned scored ratings of over 4 million. We have selected the highest rated episode in these cases.
6.62m on 25th December
5.75m on 4th February
4.35m on 10th November
4.21m on 31st December
4.16m on 30th September
4.07m on 25th December
4m on 9th April
3.86m on 24th December
3.68m on 3rd February
3.04m on 24th March
Comic Relief in March was seen by 3.02m viewers, whilst 2.39m watched the opening episode of Series 16 of Taskmaster on 21st September.