EastEnders ratings surge by 3MILLION as the UK stays home amid coronavirus pandemic… with a high of 9.32M tuning in shortly before PM Boris Johnson’s lockdown address
- The surge in soap viewers comes amid the call for Brits to stay home as the deadly COVID-19 continues to spread around the world
- The average figure across the episode was 6.49million, while Coronation Street garnered 6.43million viewers in its first episode of the night
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EastEnders ratings saw a huge surge on Monday evening, with highs of 9.32million watching amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
Over 3million more viewers tuned in than the average episode of the soap, with the show coming directly before Prime Minister Boris Johnson addressed the nation about a lockdown to help tackle the spread of the deadly virus.
The Sun reports that the average figure across the episode was 6.49million, while Coronation Street garnered 6.43million viewers in its first episode of the night.
All star: EastEnders ratings saw a huge surge on Monday evening, with highs of 9.32million tuning in amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic
The surge in soap viewers comes amid the call for Brits to stay home as the deadly COVID-19 continues to spread around the world.
After the episode, figures across all channels showed that 27million viewers tuned in to see the Prime Minister’s speech – making it one of the most watched moments in UK history.
Despite the rise in ratings, UK TV has been rocked to its core after coronavirus ground production to a halt on a host of shows.
Last week, ITV announced that the production of Coronation Street and Emmerdale would stop from Monday due to coronavirus concerns.
Tackling it: Over 3million more viewers tuned in than the average episode of the soap, with the show coming directly before Prime Minister Boris Johnson addressed the nation about a lockdown to help tackle the spread of the deadly virus
A statement from the broadcaster said its staff had been working hard to ensure filming continued ‘whilst adhering to the Government’s latest health guidelines’.
It said enough episodes have been recorded to see both soaps through until the early summer.
The statement said: ‘ITV has sadly taken the decision to suspend production of the soaps Coronation Street and Emmerdale with effect from Monday March 23.
‘We’ve been doing our best to carry on filming, whilst adhering to the Government’s latest health guidelines, to ensure we’ve episodes of both soaps airing on ITV until at least the early summer.
Oh dear: Last week, ITV announced that the production of Coronation Street and Emmerdale would stop from Monday due to coronavirus concerns
‘However, the health and well-being of the production teams, actors, crew and their families is of paramount importance to us and we now feel that the time has come to stop filming.
‘We’d like to thank our viewers for their support and hope they continue to enjoy both soaps in the coming months.
BBC has suspended filming of EastEnders and other top BBC dramas including Casualty, Doctors, Holby City, River City and Welsh series Pobol y Cwm.
EastEnders fans will still be able to get their fix of Walford from episodes already filmed, and TV bosses say just two episodes will air each week to make them last as long as possible.
Coronation Street tweeted to fans: ‘We’ll still be on air next week as normal, apart from Friday. From 30th onwards we’ll be on three times a week.’