The Doctor is in on Boxing Day
Coca-Cola Xmas in the Park 6pm, TVNZ2 Hosted by Jason Gunn and featuring a stellar line up of Kiwi entertainers such as Stan Walker, Tami Neilson and Black Quartet, as well as that man in the jolly red suit, the annual festive sing-along was recorded last weekend at the Auckland Domain. The Improv 8.30pm, Prime Jerry Seinfeld, Jimmy Fallon, Jay Leno, Larry David and Judd Apatow are among those celebrating 50 years of America’s first comedy club in this 2013 documentary. The history of the New York theatre district venue is brought to life through private photographs, archival footage and never-before-seen clips. Miranda Hart - My What I Call Live Show 9pm, TVNZ2 British Queen of comedy Miranda Hart took on London’s vast O2 Arena in 2014 as part of a nationwide sell-out tour of her first ever stand-up show. Always entertainingly honest, she reveals hilarious and – somewhat worryingly – completely true anecdotes about her own mishaps and misdemeanours. John Bishop Xmas Show 9.35pm, TVNZ1 British comedian John Bishop presents an all-singing, alldancing festive comedy spectacular featuring a host of music and comedy names (including Sarah Millican, Kylie Minogue and Jess Glynne) and Boxing Day, 7.30pm Prime In this year’s Christmas Special of the popular longrunning British sci-fi series, The Doctor (Peter Capaldi) joins forces with a masked superhero for an epic New York adventure.
With brain-swapping aliens poised to attack, the Doctor and Nardole (Matt Lucas) link up with a reporter and a mysterious figure known only as The Ghost. Can the Doctor save Manhattan?
Speaking to Fairfax ahead of the show, Capaldi describes the feature-length episode (which will also play in select cinemas earlier in the day) as ‘‘a very genuine response to Christmas’’. ‘‘We wanted to try and make a Christmas Special that evoked Christmas feelings without being exclusively about snow and mistletoe and tinsel.
‘‘This is a gentle tribute to the kind of superhero movies they used to show on Christmas Day – like the Christopher Reeve Superman movies – very different to superhero movies now, which are all very violent and very knowing. Those ones had a warmer, more ironic and deliberately naive quality to them. Which sorts of suits Christmas Day and suits Doctor Who.’’
Following on from this, a new series will screen in 2017.