SOAP opera EastEnders lost its traditional slot topping the Christmas Day viewing as sitcom Mrs Brown's Boys became this year's most-watched programme.

The BBC1 serial drama was also beaten by arch-rival Coronation Street with the ITV show taking the honours as the top festive soap opera for the first time in more than a decade.

Mrs Brown's Boys - the bawdy show created by Irish comic Brendan O'Carroll - pulled in an average audience of 9.4million.

Corrie tied with Doctor Who - which included Matt Smith's regeneration into the new doctor Peter Capaldi - on 8.3million viewers, to jointly claim second spot in the viewing league table.

The Dr Who special, which saw The Doctor age 300 years and included a brief return for Karen Gillan as Amy Pond, was up 700,000 viewers on last year.

The BBC took six of the top ten places, but the Queen's Christmas broadcast missed out at the top end of the list. BBC1's audience for the annual address traditionally figures in the top ten but this year's 5.7 million meant it failed to figure in the top shows.

However, with the 2.1 million who watched on ITV, the broadcast managed a combined 7.8 million.

The BBC News lost its place in this year's top ten, replaced by the ITV News.

1. Mrs Brown's Boys (BBC1, 9.30pm) - 9.4m

2. Doctor Who (BBC1, 7.30pm) - 8.3m

2. Coronation Street (ITV, 7.30pm) - 8.3m

4. EastEnders (BBC1, 8.30pm) - 7.8m

5. Strictly Come Dancing (BBC1, 5pm) - 7.3m

6. Call the Midwife (BBC1, 6.15pm) - 7.1m

7. Downton Abbey (ITV, 8.30 pm) - 7m

8. Toy Story 3 (BBC1, 3pm) - 6.3m

9. ITV News (ITV, 10.30pm) - 5.9m

10. Emmerdale (ITV, 6.15pm) - 5.8m

All ITV figures in the overnight ratings include viewers on the catch-up plus one service.