The most watched TV across the UK in 2025 has officially been revealed – and Gavin and Stacey has continued its small-screen reign in an unexpected way.
The hit BBC sitcom starring Ruth Jones and James Corden came to a climactic end on Christmas Day in 2024 as Smithy and Nessa finally tied the knot to cheers across the nation.
The long-awaited special comfortably became one of the most-watched TV shows that year with a whopping 19 million viewers (including iPlayer figures) but its domination hasn’t stopped there.
Clearly, people were not ready to move on just yet and, in 2025, the retrospective documentary, Gavin and Stacey: A Fond Farewell, astonishingly landed the number eight spot on the top 10 chart with 8.7 million viewers.
The 56-minute special, in which the cast and crew reflected on the show’s mammoth 17 year legacy, was just beaten by The Great British Bake Off premiere at 8.72m.
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Netflix film The Thursday Murder Club, based on Richard Osman’s bestselling cosy crime novel, landed in number six with 10m.
Making up our top half is premieres for ITV reality series I’m A Celebrity (10.6m) and The Traitors season three (10.8m) followed by Netflix’s megahit Adolescence at 13.2m and the New Year’s Eve Fireworks with 13.3m.
Rolling in at number one in, perhaps, the least surprising twist of the year, is the scandalous Celebrity Traitors finale which saw the treacherous Alan Carr snatch a Traitor victory from the jaws of defeat – cementing the moment in TV history.
These figures don’t include the final six weeks of the year, although the Strictly finale is the only show that has a running chance at breaching the coveted list.
As for the Gavin and Stacey finale, alongside specials such as Wallace and Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl, it boosted Christmas TV viewing figures to dizzying highs with 11.6m overnight viewers. It also re-aired on BBC on Christmas Eve in December.
The most watched British TV in 2025
Below are the 28-days consolidated figures
The Celebrity Traitors finale – 15.4M
New Year’s Eve Fireworks – 13.3M
Adolescence – 13.2M
The Traitors season three premiere – 10.8M
I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! season 25 premiere – 10.6M
The Thursday Murder Club – 10M
The Great British Bake Off season 16 premiere – 8.72M
Gavin & Stacey: A Fond Farewell – 8.7M
Race Across The World season five premiere – 8.3m
Unforgotten – 8.1m
In fact, it outpaced 2025’s top Christmas watch (the King’s Speech at 6m) by a country mile with even the farewell documentary outpacing anything that aired over the festive period.
That wasn’t the only trip down memory lane.
Ruth cheekily reprised the role during the travel show Ruth And Steve: From Porthcawl With Love, much to the delight of fans.
Although Gavin and Stacey may not be returning to screens, the Nessa star is booked and busy, playing Mrs Bennett in Netflix’s highly-anticipated Pride and Prejudice series.
In November there were reports that she was already in talks to appear in the second season of Celebrity Traitors as well.
‘Ruth is one of the names in the frame, and she’s been approached about taking part.
‘Given the stellar names they secured for series one, the next instalment has to be just as impressive,’ a source told the Sun at the time.
The fourth season of the civilian version is currently airing and is already notching up an eye-wateringly large audience with the New Year’s debut peaking at 6.9m and only building on that every episode.
Gavin and Stacey: A Fond Farewell is available to stream on BBC iPlayer now.
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