CORONATION Street fans have slammed a ‘shoddy decision’ which saw legendary Gail Platt’s exit get ‘shocking’ ratings.
Helen Worth bowed out of Weatherfield on Christmas Day – after 50 years playing Gail on the ITV soap.
Beloved character Gail left for France with her new husband Jesse Chadwick (John Thomson).
Despite the huge occasion, Coronation Street missed out on a top 10 spot in overnight ratings – much to fans’ frustration.
The instalment had been available to watch on ITVX from 6am on Christmas Day.
A viewer wrote on X: So #Corrie just missed out on the top 10, coming in at 2.5 million viewers in overnight ratings.
“This is shocking for ITV.
“Gail leaving after 50 years should’ve been a monumental event, and thanks to various shoddy decisions, more people watched The Weakest Link.“
Another commented: “It wouldn’t matter what they did it was never going to compete with what BBC had on which is why they put it on itvx early.”
While a third remarked: “It’s very poor for such an iconic characters exit after 50 years.
“Christmas was always going to be a tough night given the soap has been far from stellar with Gail herself hardly featuring in her own story.”
BBC shows comprised the entire top 10 most watched programmes on Christmas Day.
Gavin and Stacey‘s emotional finale took the top spot, with 12.3 million viewers.
This highly anticipated special saw fans revisit Gavin (Mathew Horne), Stacey (Joanna Page), Smithy (James Corden) and Nessa (Ruth Jones) for one final time.
In second place was Wallace and Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl, with 9.4 million viewers.
The King had 6 million viewers while period drama Call The Midwife accumulated 4.4 million.
Over the years the character of Gail Platt has been the centre of several major plots.
Here we take a look back over actress Helen Worth’s biggest storylines:
Teenage daughter’s pregnancy
One of Gail’s most controversial storylines was in 1999.
It came when her 13-year-old daughter Sarah became pregnant.
Multiple marriages
Gail holds the record for the series’ most married female character.
She has been wed a whopping six times, each one worse the last.
Married to a serial killer
One of Gail’s multiple marriages saw her wed Richard Hillman, who turned out to be a serial killer.
At the climax of the storyline, 19 million fans tuned in to watch Hillman drive his wife and her family into a canal.
Scrapping on The Street
Gail has proved over the years she can’t resist a good scrap.
Her most memorable bust-up saw her attack Eileen Grimshaw on the cobbles in 2004 while in her dressing gown.
Jail bird
In 2010, Gail found herself wrongly banged up in jail.
She was wrongfully arrested for murdering her 4th husband Joe McIntyre.
As for EastEnders, the BBC soap scored 4 million viewers for its 7.30pm instalment and 4.4 million for the 10.30pm episode.
Doctor Who got 4.10 million and Strictly Come Dancing‘s Christmas special had 4.05 million viewers.
Tiddler, an animation, had 3.2 million viewers tuning in to watch.
Popular game show The Weakest Link rounded out the list, with an audience of 3.05 million.
