User:Frickative/Four Funerals and a Wedding

"Four Funerals and a Wedding" is a storyline from the ITV soap opera Coronation Street, which aired from 6-10 December 2010. It was devised to commemorate the show's fiftieth anniversary, and included a live episode on 9 December, the second in the show's history following one in 2000 to mark its fortieth anniversary. The storyline follows the events of an explosion and tram crash on the fictional Coronation Street. Local residents Ashley Peacock (Steven Arnold), Molly Dobbs (Vicky Binns) and Charlotte Hoyle (Becky Hindley) are killed, and a critically injured Peter Barlow (Chris Gascoyne) marries his fiancée Leanne Battersby (Jane Danson) from his hospital bed. The storyline attained strong ratings, peaking at 14.9 million viewers during the live episode, Coronation Street most-watched episode in seven years.

Ratings
The first instalment of Coronation Street on Monday 6 December 2010 was watched by 11.63 million viewers, and attained a 44.4% audience share. The second instalment of the day was watched by 12.90 million viewers (45.8%). Between episodes, ITV aired a black and white repeat of the series' first ever episode, which drew 6.76 million viewers (24.3%). As a result of Coronation Street high viewership, both the soap opera EastEnders on BBC One and comedy series Miranda on BBC Two attained lower ratings during the 8 pm to 9 pm timeslot than on Monday in the previous week. The Tuesday edition attained 11.83 million viewers (42.6%). Airing outside its usual timeslot at 8.30 pm, it caused a significant decline in the ratings of the BBC One medical drama Holby City, which received its lowest audience share in at least seven years. Following the episode, ITV aired the first of a two-part documentary entitled Coronation Street: 50 Years, 50 Moments, which was watched by 5.681 million viewers (22.7%). The Wednesday episode drew 11.14 million viewers (45%). The hour-long live episode, which aired on Thursday 9 December 2010, averaged 14.03 million viewers (52.1%), peaking at 14.9 million. It was the most-watched episode of the series in seven years, and drew an additional 2.04 million viewers (14.1%) when repeated at 10.35 pm. Viewing figures did not surpass those of "EastEnders Live", a live episode of EastEnders watched by 15.6 million viewers in February 2010. Following the live broadcast, the second part of Coronation Street: 50 Years, 50 Moments averaged 6.81 million viewers (27.2%).