Festive Insider
The Amazing Mr Blunden
Christmas Eve, Sky Max & NOW TV Christmas adventure arrives for London teenagers Jamie and Lucy Allen in the form of a mysterious old man, Mr Blunden (Simon Callow), who o ers their mum the opportunity to become the caretaker of a ruined country house – one that’s said to be haunted. Mark Gatiss and Tamsin Greig also star in this festive family thriller.
Peter O’toole –Réalta & Rógaire
Christmas Day ,TG4
Peter O’toole , who scorched onto the screen in 1962 as Lawrence of Arabia, was also known for his hell-raising and his Irishness. In this new documentary, his brilliant career and wild life are chronicled by family, friends and fans including his daughter, Kate, and costars Brian Blessed, Twiggy and Mary Coughlan.
Jools’ Annual Hootenanny
New Year’s Eve, BBC Two
Joining Jools Holland and his orchestra in the studio this year are Ed Sheeran, Gregory Porter, Lulu, Joy Crookes, Rag’n’bone Man, Yola, Vic Reeves, Ruby Turner and the Pipes and Drums of the 1st Battalion Scots Guards. Plus, there will be archive performances from the likes of Craig David, Madness and Soul II Soul.
Fáilte 2022
New Year’s Eve , TG4
Dáithí Ó Sé and Orla Ní Fhinneadha ring in the New Year with the best of traditional music and entertainment from Matt Molloy’s pub in Westport, the Rusty Mackerel in Donegal and the Ráth Chairn Gaeltacht in Co. Meath. With Matt and Peter Molloy, Dan Delaney, Cathy Jordan, Jiggy, The Bonny Men and a whole heap more.
Stay Close
from New Year’s Eve, Net ix
A Harlan Coben mystery, with his signature blend of twisty intrigue and soapy drama, questions how much you really know someone. Four people conceal dark secrets from those closest to them but inevitably the past comes back to haunt then. The cast includes Cush Jumbo, Richard Armitage and James Nesbitt as, unbelievably, a policeman.
Kobra Kai
from New Year’s Eve, Net ix
Fourth season of the popular spin-o of the 1984 movie, The Karate Kid. Set 30 years on from the events of the
lm, yet little has seemingly changed in the continuation of the inescapable con ict between Daniel Larusso (Ralph Macchio) and Johnny Lawrence (William Zabka). Wax on, wax o , repeat ad in nitum.
Superworm
Christmas Day, BBC One
‘Hip, hip, hooray for SUPERWORM!’, the latest in the animation series that brings to life the words of Julia Donaldson and the illustrations of Axel Sche er. Superworm, saviour of all, has been captured by dastardly Wizard Lizard and his unky, Crow. Can he escape? With the voices of Matt Smith (as the hero), Olivia Colman (narrator) and Rob Brydon (crow).
A Very British Scandal
St Stephen’s, BBC One
One of the UK’S most notorious legal cases of the 1960s, the ding-dong divorce of the Duke and Duchess of Argyll, is thrashed out in this Battle Royal penned by Sarah Phelps. The three-part series, with a title very like 2018’s A Very English Scandal, unsurprisingly covers similar turf and themes. Claire Foy and Paul Bettany co-star.
Shaun the Sheen: The Flight Before Christmas
Christmas Eve, BBC One
A farmhouse raid to get bigger stockings for the ock goes horribly wrong when Timmy goes MIA. Can Shaun get the hapless wain back before he ends up on someone’s gift list? Aardman Studios deliver another half hour of festive frolics and sheepish laughter in this seasonal winner.
Worzel Gummidge
Dec 28, BBC One
Mackenzie Crook is back with another tale of the walking, talking scarecrow from Scatterbrook Farm. The cast will include Bill Bailey as Mr Peregrine.
The Repair Shop at Christmas 2021
Christmas Eve, BBC One
Christmas has arrived at The Repair Shop, where its team of passionate and skilled craftspeople set to work repairing and rescuing four beloved festive treasures. Maureen Donnachie and her husband John arrive with a very special present that Father Christmas brought Maureen in 1950. As a young child of two, Maureen was diagnosed with polio and was placed into
quarantine for several months before being released just before Christmas.
Around the World in 80 Days
St Stephen’s, BBC One
David Tennant is the globe-trotting Phileas Fogg in this latest spin on the Jules Verne classic. Over eight episodes we follow the indefatigable Fogg who is accompanied by his valet, Passepartout (Ibrahim Koma) and journalist Abigail Fix (Leonie Benesch). A second season of the show has already been green-lit.
The Great Christmas Bake Off 2021
Christmas Day, Channel 4
Paul Hollywood, Prue Leith, Matt Lucas and Noel Fielding invite the stars from the award-winning hit drama It’s A Sin to join them in the famous white tent to celebrate Christmas. Olly Alexander, Nathaniel Curtis, Lydia West and Shaun Dooley compete for the coveted Christmas Star Baker title, before the London Community Gospel Choir perform their version of All I Want for Christmas.
A Ghost Story for Christmas: The Mezzotint
Christmas Eve, BBC Two
M.R. Jame’s chilling Christmas ghost story is adapted and directed by Mark Gatiss (Sherlock) for a half hour chamber piece about a painting that has taken on a supernatural life. Rory Kinnear stars as the curator at a university art museum who receives a creepy old engraving of a country house.