Halloween is out of the way and Christmas is fast approaching. The Christmas ads are already beaming through our TV screens and the soaps are gearing up for their inevitably juicy Christmas storylines.

But what do the big two (Corrie and Eastenders) have in store for us this year? Rather than making wild predictions out of the blue, the team here at Good Elf thought it would be a good idea to put some data behind our Christmas storyline predictions. 

We trawled through tonnes of old synopses and YouTube videos to tally up some of the key stories that occurred over the Christmas period and up to New Years Eve. Keep in mind that Corrie started back in 1960 and Eastenders in 1985, so that's more than 90 years' worth of storylines our elves have analysed!

We counted up the number of births, deaths, marriages, punch-ups, drunkard flings and lots more. We even tallied up the number of times the turkey got ruined. Who can forget Les Battersby's fateful turkey incident back in 1997?

Our data analysts and the friendly folk at William Hill crunched the numbers and produced odds for those storylines playing out on our screens this year.

Here's the results:

Coronation Street

 

  • Is it even Christmas without a family bust-up on Coronation Street? The odds are 1/10 for a festive family feud this year.

  • We've had six Christmas weddings, the first being when Alf and Audrey tied the knot in 1985.

  • The odds are at 4/5 for someone to ruin the turkey again this year. It's happened nine times in total, the most memorable being when Les Battersby's served up roadkill in 1997.

  • We've seen seven Christmas births over the years. There was a double whammy in 1990 when David and Rosie were born, and again in 1998 when Judy Mallet gave birth to the twins. Odds are at 3/2 for a newborn in 2019.

  • There must be something in the water over the Christmas period in Weatherfield that makes the residents extra frisky. We found 17 instances of affairs or flings, the first being in 1983. The odds are 5/2 for some hanky panky taking place on the street this year. 

  • Sing-alongs were a regular occurrence back in the 60s, usually with Ena Sharples leading proceedings on the piano at the Rovers Return. Times have changed and this has only happened once since 1984. That leaves us with a 20/1 chance of the residents coming together for some Christmas carols this year.

     

    Eastenders

     As you might imagine, the storylines get more sinister as we travel down the country to Albert Square. 13 Walford residents kicked the bucket over Christmas - nine between 2002 and 2012. The odds are 8/13 for another bleak Christmas this year.

    • In a recent interview on The One Show, Danny Dyer told viewers to expect a ‘brilliant’ Christmas Day episode featuring a ‘punch-up’. Well, Danny, our odds of 2/1 back that up completely!

    • We've counted nine notable affairs or flings on Eastenders over Yuletide. The odds are 1/10 for this happening again this year.

    • The odds are even for a major character leaving Albert Square this Christmas. It's happened four times since the show started in 1985, the last being when Stacey fled the country after being framed for the attempted murder of Archie.

    • Walford is a dangerous place at Christmas. So much so, that the odds are 5/1 of someone sustaining a notable injury. Cast your minds back to when Pauline whacked Arthur over the head with a frying pan - merry Christmas one and all!

    • Could we hear the pitter patter of tiny feet in Albert Square this Christmas? According to our data, the chances are slim, with odds placed at 12/1. We've seen seven Christmas births to date, the most recent just in 2017 when Abi Branning was born.

    Our raw data is available for all to use here. If you would like a hi-res version of our illustrated calendar, please drop us a message to dan@goodelf.co.uk.

    Whilst you're here, don't forget to check out our Christmas tree delivery service for homes across the UK. We also offer corporate and office Christmas tree delivery across the UK.

    Merry Christmas!