'EastEnders Live' audience totalled 18.8m

EastEnders' live 25th anniversary instalment was seen by a cumulative audience of 18.8m, according to consolidated figures.

The Walford soap's first ever live broadcast - aired on Friday, February 19 from 8pm - logged BBC One's highest audience since Euro 2004, pulling in 16.4m (57%) for its original showing.

The 30-minute live screening featured the tragic demise of fan favourite Bradley Branning as he plummeted to his death from The Queen Vic roof, before his wife Stacey was unveiled as Archie Mitchell's killer.

The three BBC Two and BBC Three repeats in the ensuing days lifted its total to the 18.8m mark, while BBC's iPlayer received a further 1.1m requests.

BBC Three's George Lamb-fronted spinoff show The Aftermath - which aired for an hour from 8.30pm - put in 4.5m, before its four repeats increased the tally to 11.1m. Online views via iPlayer added a further 0.5m.

John Yorke, controller of BBC drama production said: "The best birthday present EastEnders could possibly have is to know that 25 years in it can still grab the biggest audience in the UK."

He added: "It's a real tribute to the show's creators that a quarter of a century on, everybody's still talking about it."