It’s time to update our list of the most-watched telly since 2000.

As usual, the prediction I made 12 months ago for the year turned out to be almost completely wrong: “Given there are no home nations in Euro 2008, I doubt there’ll be any sport events that make the grade. The soaps might scrape in, but Doctor Who certainly won’t. A one-off sitcom ‘event’ might do the trick, though.”

Well, I was right about sport. Here’s the list, with the 2008 entries in bold:

1) Only Fools and Horses (25 December 2001) – 21.4m
2) Euro 2004: Portugal v England (BBC1, 24 June 2004) – 20.7m
3) EastEnders (5 April 2001) – 20.1m
4) Coronation Street (24 February 2003) – 19.4m
5) Coronation Street (3 January 2000) – 19.0m
6) Euro 2004: France v England (ITV1, 21 June 2004) – 17.8m
7) EastEnders (29 September 2003) – 16.7m
8) EastEnders (5 March 2001) – 16.6m
9) Only Fools and Horses (25 December 2002) – 16.3m
9) EastEnders (2 January 2001) – 16.3m
9) Coronation Street (16 February 2004) – 16.3m
12) Coronation Street (1 January 2001) – 16.2m
13) Coronation Street (3 January 2001) – 16.1m
13) Who Wants to be a Millionaire?: Tonight Special (21 April 2003) – 16.1m
13) Wallace and Gromit: A Matter of Loaf and Death (25 December 2008) – 16.1m
16) EastEnders (25 December 2002) – 16m
17) Who Wants to be a Millionaire? (19 January 2000) – 15.8m
18) Coronation Street (13 January 2003) – 15.6m
19) Only Fools and Horses (25 December 2003) – 15.5m
20) Coronation Street (11 March 2001) – 15.5m
21) Michael Jackson Tonight Special (3 February 2003) – 15.3m
22) Heartbeat (6 February 2000) – 15.2m
22) EastEnders (28 December 2000) – 15.2m
24) I’m a Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here! (9 February 2004) – 15m
25) Euro 2000 Portugal v England (ITV1, 12 June 2000) – 14.9m
26) Coronation Street (5 January 2001) – 14.8m
26) EastEnders (5 January 2004) – 14.8m
28) A Touch of Frost (14 January 2001) – 14.7m
29) Euro 2000 England v Romania (BBC1, 20 June 2000) – 14.6m
30) World Cup 2006: Sweden v England (ITV1, 20 June 2006) – 14.4m
31) Coronation Street (21 February 2005) – 14.4m
31) EastEnders (25 December 2007) – 14.4m
33) EastEnders (18 February 2005) – 14.3m
34) World Cup Match of the Day Live (BBC1, 25 June 2006) – 14.25m
35) The X Factor: Results (13 December 2008) – 14.06m
36) Who Wants to be a Millionaire? (1 May 2000) – 13.9m
36) Britain’s Got Talent Final: Result (31 May 2008) – 13.9m
38) Heartbeat (21 January 2001) – 13.8m
39) Inspector Morse (15 November 2000) – 13.6m
40) Emmerdale (22 March 2000) – 13.3m
41) Pop Idol (9 February 2002) – 13.3m
41) Doctor Who (25 December 2007) – 13.3m
43) Rugby World Cup Final (20 October 2007, ITV1) – 13.1m
43) Coronation Street (15 January 2007) – 13.1m
43) The Vicar of Dibley (1 January 2007) – 13.1m
43) Doctor Who (25 December 2008) – 13.1m
47) A Touch of Frost (22 February 2004) – 13m
47) Coronation Street (18 January 2008) – 13m
49) Strictly Come Dancing (20 December 2008) – 12.9m
50) One Foot in the Grave (20 November 2000) – 12.8m
50) Heartbeat (12 January 2003) – 12.8m

An impressive six new entries: one more than last year.

Think what you like about Russell T Davies, but he certainly knows how to hype up his Christmas Doctor Who episodes. An appearance by David Morrissey attracted just 200,000 fewer viewers than an appearance by Kylie Minogue. Maybe the earlier time slot and the absence of anything good on the other channels helped.

As for Wallace and Gromit, that’s the first time any British television programme has got more than 16m viewers since 24 June 2004 – a gap of almost exactly four and a half years.

If anyone knows what happened during that Coronation Street episode, speak up. Otherwise it’s all about talent shows, back in the chart for the first time since 2002.

The new chart means both 2000 and 2001 still hold joint first place for the most number of programmes (10 apiece) followed by 2003 (7), then 2004 tied with 2008 (6 – one in the eye for all the doom merchants who think nation-gripping telly is dead), 2007 (5), 2002 (3) and finally 2005 and 2006 (two each).

For the record, the ones that got knocked off the chart this year were the final of I’m a Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here! from 2003, a screening of Billy Elliot in 2003, the 2004 Christmas Day episode of The Vicar of Dibley, Jubilee 2002: Party at the Palace, and the 2002 World Cup match between England and Brazil.

Predictions for 2009, and hence for the final *final* chart of the decade? Doctor Who will be in there, probably when David Tennant regenerates (assuming he does it before 1st January 2010). A soap might be there. If Andy Murray gets to the Wimbledon final, that might squeeze in. Otherwise: talent shows. Especially if Brucie decides to quit Strictly Come Dancing.

Lastly, here’s the full top 20 for 2008.

1) Wallace and Gromit: A Matter of Loaf and Death (25/12/08, BBC1) 16.15m
2) The X Factor: Results (13/12/08, ITV1) 14.06m
3) Britain’s Got Talent Final: Results (31/05/08, ITV1) 13.88m
4) Doctor Who (25/12/08, BBC1) 13.10m
5) Coronation Street (18/01/08, ITV1) 13.02m
6) Strictly Come Dancing (20/12/08, BBC1) 12.97m
7) Dancing On Ice (16/03/08, ITV1) 12.08m
8) EastEnders (24/03/08, BBC1) 11.73m
9) The Royle Family (25/12/08, BBC1) 10.60m
10) I’m a Celebrity…Get Me Out Of Here! (29/11/08, ITV1) 10.19m
11) Antiques Roadshow (16/11/08, BBC1) 10.11m
12) Champions League Final (21/05/08, ITV1) 10.05m
13) Children In Need 2008 (14/11/08, BBC1) 9.83m
14) New Tricks (18/08/08, BBC1) 9.36m
15) BBC News (25/12/08, BBC1) 9.34m
16) The Apprentice (11/06/08, BBC1) 9.29m
17) Match Of The Day Live: England v Switzerland (06/02/08, BBC1) 9.18m
18) Brazilian Grand Prix (02/11/08, ITV1) 9.08m
19) Lewis (24/02/08, ITV1) 8.90m
20) Emmerdale (02/01/08, ITV1) 8.85m