The Christmas Day episode of Gavin & Stacey has become one of the most watched scripted TV shows of the century.

According to official Barb ratings figures, after seven days of catch-up viewing the finale of the much loved comedy had been seen by 19.11 million people.

That beats the last Gavin & Stacey special in 2019 which at the same stage had an audience of 17.92m, rising to 18.49m after a month.

The 90 minute 2024 special resolved the cliff hanger from five years before, when Nessa (Ruth Jones) asked Smithy (James Corden) to marry her.

Also performing well was the new Wallace & Gromit adventure Vengeance Most Fowl. The return of villain Feathers McGraw was watched by 16.29m viewers after a week of catch-up.

The biggest TV audiences of recent years remain big news and sports events, including government lockdown announcements and European and World Cup football matches.

When the next set of Barb figures are issued in three weeks, reflecting 28 days of catch-up viewing, it’s expected that Gavin & Stacey will have passed or be close to passing the 20 million viewer milestone.

No scripted show has achieved that figures for 28 days of catch-up were first issued in December 2014. Only figures for seven days of catch-up are available for shows before that date.

The 2001 Only Fools and Horses Christmas special is recorded as having more than 20 million viewers after seven days, but the way ratings were calculated by Barb before 2002 was different to the current system, which means direct comparisons will not be accurate.