Downton Abbey beats Strictly Come Dancing in Christmas Day ratings battle

But the Queen’s speech, broadcast on BBC and ITV, was the most watched programme, with a combined audience of 7.2 million.

For now, let us at least be pleased with the closure the 2015 Christmas Special provided; with happy endings all round for Lady Edith, Lady Mary, Anna, Bates, and the rest.

According to the Radio Times, “romance is in the air” in the final Downton Abbey episode – though “for some the year’s end will prove bittersweet”, it goes on.

“We easily could have gone for a seventh season, but if I’d have said “We haven’t got Maggie” it would have been a shadow of itself”.

“We all feel very blessed”.

While we were all keen to find out whether Mr Bares and Lord Grantham would end on good terms and what Thomas Barrow’s fate would be, the main storyline we were all dying to know the end of was the will-they-won’t-they Edith and Bertie relationship.

He told The Sun: ‘We have a final season that’s as strong as the first because we quit while we were ahead.

The Doctor Who Christmas special in its early teatime slot earned 5.8 million viewers, roughly the same as BBC1 period drama Call The Midwife.

The programme averaged a massive 6.9 million viewers, when it aired on ITV at 8.45pm. This year ITV also won the battle of the soaps, with Coronation Street attracting 5.9 million viewers, 200,000 more than EastEnders.

BBC One controller Charlotte Moore said: “BBC One brought the nation together with a distinctive range of programmes on Christmas Day and eight of the top 10 most popular shows”.

Elsewhere, the Christmas special of Strictly Come Dancing received 6.5 million viewers, whilst Mrs Brown’s Boys and Stick Man were broth watched by 6.4m.