Come Fly With Me was 2010's top comedy

Come Fly With Me was the most-watched comedy of 2010, according to new analysis of the ratings.

A total of 12.5million viewers tuned into the Christmas Day debut of Matt Lucas and David Walliams’s airport-based sketch series – making it the ninth most popular show of all types.

Trade magazine Broadcast compiled a list of the top 100 most popular programmes of the year, using only the most-viewed episode of long-running series to ensure the chart was not dominated by soaps.

The December 12 final of the X Factor was the most popular show of the year, with 17.7 million viewers.

All but two of the top comedies aired on BBC One, while the majority also went out over the festive period.

The top ten comedy shows were:

1. Come Fly With Me, BBC One, Dec 25, 12.5million
2. The Royle Family, BBC One, Dec 25, 11.3million
3. Gavin And Stacey, BBC One, Jan 1, 10.25million
4. Royal Variety Performance, BBC One, Dec 16, 8.9million
5. The One Ronnie, BBC One, Dec 25, 8.8million
6. Rock & Chips, BBC One, Jan 24, 8.4million
7. Harry Hill’s TV Burp, ITV1, Nov 13, 8.3 million
8. Benidorm, ITV1, Dec 26, 7.4million
9. Outnumbered, BCB One, May 13, 6.75million
10. Have I Got News For You, BBC One, Dec 24, 6.7million

Published: 28 Jan 2011