’ TIS THE SEASON TO WATCH TELLY... THE HOLLYWOOD HITTER: TROLLHUNTERS THE TEARY FAREWELL: THE GREAT BRITISH BAKEOFF CHRISTMAS SPECIAL THE FAMILY VIEWING: CALL THE MIDWIFE
From Bake Off to the Brontës, here’s what we’ll be setting our boxes to record this Christmas
Hollywood ace Guillermo del Toro will be forever loved for his fantastical spooky evergreen horror fable, Pan’s
Labyrinth. Here, telly gets the Toro treatment. Starring the late, young
Star Trek actor Anton Yelchin, who plays an animated teen who discovers a mysterious amulet, the key to saving two worlds. Given Yelchin’s passing and del Toro’s talent, it’s unusually poignant material. 23 December, Netflix In a perfect bit of TV casting, David Walliams steps into the Terry Wogan/ Lily Savage hosting spot for a one-off reprisal of the missing-words celebrity panel quiz. A patina of ’80s kitsch and suggestive double entendres will hang over proceedings just as surely as bunting over the fireplace. 24 December, 6.30pm, ITV1 Ready, steady and, for the very last time under the trusty BBC banner,
bake! The mince pie recipes and seasonal frolics come courtesy of the principled trio of Mary, Mel and Sue, who refused to shift over to Channel 4 with the most successful show of its era. Paul Hollywood may look shamefaced over an arctic roll. On after the big Christmas film, Frozen, in the unlikely event you haven’t see that yet. Let It Go was rarely more precipitously placed. 25 December, 4.45pm, BBC One In the Downton post-turkey period drama slump spot, the sisters of Nonnatus House are shipped to South Africa to help an ailing hospital with their magical midwife midwifery. Festivities, tragedies, childbirth, nuns and a newly picturesque backdrop. There will be tears of joy and happiness, guaranteed. 25 December, 9pm, BBC One
THE RETURNING FAVOURITE: OUTNUMBERED
Once you’ve attuned to kids Jake, Ben and Karen now being proper teenagers – and there’s quite a bit to accustom the eye to here – the return to life in the Brockman household unfolds with gentle familiarity. Middle-class angst, thwarted parent traps and furrowed brows can’t cover up the fact that Pete and Sue did good with their children, they brought them up with love. 26 December, 10pm, BBC Two
THE AGATHA MURDER MYSTERY: THE WITNESS FOR THE PROSECUTION
Kim Cattrall takes the lead in this year’s adaptation of a Christie classic. There’s a murder in a 1920s London townhouse and the victim is glamorous, loaded and smokes through a cigarette holder. Who could possibly have taken the scalp of Emily French? And why isn’t Aidan Turner wandering about in a towel like last year’s Christie mystery? All – well, not quite all – shall be revealed. 26 and 27 December, 9pm, BBC One
THE MODEL DRAMA: CHASING CAMERON
When he appeared on the FROW at a Calvin Klein show last summer, Vine star Cameron Dallas became the first Beatlemania moment for new media. Now scooped up, Miranda Sings-style, by Netflix, the teen phenomenon that makes Justin Bieber look positively 20th century in his social media practices is bound for full TV glory. Resistance is futile. Your little sister is going wild somewhere about this one. And so may you. 27 December, Netflix
THE MUST- SEE PERIOD PIECE: TO WALK INVISIBLE: THE BRONTE SISTERS
Sally ‘ Happy Valley’ Wainwright takes the writing duties for this compelling tale of the literary family whose stories of desire and destiny seem to acclimatise with each age they enter. The sisters tend to their ailing brother while their stories come thick, fast and profound. 29 December, 9pm, BBC One
THE SEASONAL LOL: CUNK ON CHRISTMAS
Screenwipe’s bedevilled roving reporter Philomena Cunk is primed with an inappropriate question for a puzzled expert in all situations. She took the piety out of Shakespeare’s TV coverage earlier this year – let’s see what she makes of Christmas now. 29 December, 10pm, BBC Two
THE HIT SLEUTH: SHERLOCK
Now we know that Cumberbatch’s GBF is Judge Rinder, will it affect our enjoyment of his starring role in the detective saga? Benedict et al have shaped out of Holmes the jewel of the BBC’S seasonal crown. As Sherlock’s such a blessed know-all, they can just about get away with knowing it on screen. Another monster hit. 1 January, 8pm, BBC One