Digital TV News

Freeview poll reveals top TV moments of 2011

Friday 30 December, 2011

By Anthony Hill

Cockroaches, kisses and human cannonballs captivate UK viewers

It’s been an eventful 12 months in the world of entertainment, but some unlikely contenders have been named among Britain’s favourite moments of the year.

In a poll of 1,000 Brits, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s kiss on the balcony of Buckingham Palace was voted our top telly moment of 2011.

The research, which was carried out on behalf of Freeview, suggests that over 25% of TV viewers enjoyed the romantic moment from Kate and William’s wedding day more than anything else on the box all year.

It comfortably beat its closest contender, but the two couldn’t possibly be more different. The nation’s second favourite TV moment was an excruciating scene from I’m A Celebrity ... Get Me Out Of Here in which a cockroach crawled up Fatima Whitbread’s nose. It got 14% of the vote.

Other small screen moments that captured our imagination include Pippa Middleton’s appearance at the royal wedding, astrologer Russell Grant being fired from a cannon for an episode of Strictly Come Dancing and comedian Steve Coogan’s heated exchange with former News of the World journalist Paul McMullan on Newsnight.

A spokeswoman for Freeview, the subscription-free digital TV service, said: “Over the last 12 months, viewers across the nation have been captivated by great TV drama, structured reality programmes, compelling soap storylines and of course the royal wedding.”

But not everyone agreed with the results. Writing for The Scotsman, TV critic Paul Whitelaw described the list of top telly moments as “massively depressing”.

He explained: “The royal wedding is fair enough, people are still interested in the royals, but Russell Grant being fired out of a cannon is probably a non-event for Russell Grant, never mind the rest of us.

“I think there are increasingly two types of TV viewer – those who watch reality shows and those who have absolutely no interest in whether Fatima Whitbread has a cockroach up her nose.”

The former Olympian was witnessed having insects flushed out through her mouth with a syringe, during a challenge on the show, which Dougie Poynter of pop group McFly went on to win.

Meanwhile, EastEnders has topped the Christmas TV ratings tree for the third consecutive year. The BBC soap was watched by more than 10.2 million of us on Christmas Day, while rival ITV’s Coronation Street attracted 9.9 million.

The Queen’s Speech, broadcast by both BBC and ITV, was seen by an audience of 8.2 million.

Photos by UK_repsome