Four million watch The Sound of Music Live on ITV

With a peak of 4.5 million viewers, the show was the most watched programme of the evening with a 17 per cent share of the total viewing audience.

Tointon was joined by a bevy of theatrical stars including Julian Ovenden (Captain Von Trapp), Maria Friedman (Mother Abbess), Evelyn Hoskins (Liesl von Trapp) and our very own WhatsOnStage Awards host Mel Giedroyc as Frau Schmidt.

Following the broadcast the cast took to twitter:

Thank u so much to everyone who wrote…can't tell you how happy/relieved so many of you enjoyed it.Ur messages are icing on a very big cake

Thanks for all the wonderful messages. It's been a real joy to create this live on screen. Happy Xmas everyone! #SoundOfMusicLive

So many lovely comments about The Sound of Music thank you everyone who watched and enjoyed it. I wiped tears from m'chin the whole way thru

A night to remember.Big shout out to my nuns cast for such care and support Camera and creative teams were off the scale brilliant @ITV SOM