MUST-SEE SHOWS
A CHRISTMAS CAROL GOES WRONG
Tonight, BBC1, 7.10pm THE Olivier Award-winning Mischief Theatre Company returns to the small screen with another festive spoof.
After mauling JM Barrie’s classic Peter Pan last year, disaster-prone am-dram troupe the Cornley Polytechnic Drama Society has been blacklisted by the BBC.
Determined not to accept the ban without a fight, the group resolves to force itself back onto the screen by hijacking the jewel in the corporation’s Christmas crown – a live production of A Christmas Carol.
What follows is an anarchic hour of TV in which the performers quickly find themselves out of their depth.
JOOLS’ ANNUAL HOOTENANNY
New Year’s Eve, BBC2, 11.20pm JOOLS HOLLAND presents his 25th annual New Year party, headlined this year by Ed Sheeran, who performs tracks from his recent album Divide with the Rhythm & Blues Orchestra, as well as a cover of a classic British rock song.
Other acts taking to the stage tonight include Mavis Staples, Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue, Jessie Ware, Soul II Soul, Beth Ditto.
THE GREAT FESTIVE BAKE OFF
New Year’s Day, Channel 4, 7.40pm TIS still the season to be jolly, and ease those winter blues by rustling up a few scones or cakes. And if you’re in search of inspiration in that department, then the second of two yuletide specials should work wonders.
Noel Fielding, Sandi Toksvig, Prue Leith and Paul Hollywood welcome back four past contestants to compete once more, taking on a series of Winter Wonderland-themed challenges.
CELEBRITY BIG BROTHER: LIVE LAUNCH
Tuesday, Channel 5, 9pm AND so it begins. The 21st series of Celebrity Big Brother and this time it’s an all-female affair to mark 100 years since women won the right to vote.
Journalist and sister of Boris, Rachel Johnson, has confirmed she will be among the housemates, saying: “I am a firm believer that you only regret the things in life you don’t do, not the things you do do.”
Obviously something she learned from her dad, Stanley, who appeared in I’m A Celebrity.
Emma Wills returns to host.
TOM KERRIDGE’S LOSE WEIGHT FOR GOOD
Wednesday, BBC2, 8pm NEW series. Chef Tom Kerridge recruits and mentors a group of struggling dieters, offering them advice on ways they can lose weight with long-term results. After losing
over 12 stone himself through a combination of diet and exercise, Tom uses his own personal experiences to help the 13 dieters reduce their calorie intake, demonstrating how they can create their own simple, low-calorie dishes.
DEATH IN PARADISE
Thursday, BBC1, 9pm AFTER being introduced at the end of the last series, Ardal O’Hanlon returns for his first full series as Detective Inspector Jack Mooney, working on surprisingly dangerous Caribbean island of Saint Marie.
The DI and his team are tested when a hotel billionaire’s fiancee falls from a balcony the day before her lavish wedding.
Everything points to suicide – except for the fact that the victim only painted one fingernail. Danny John-Jules and Josephine Jobert co-star, with guest appearances from Denis Lawson, Elizabeth Berrington and Jemima Rooper.
WILL & GRACE
Friday, Channel 5, 10pm CHANNEL 5 has pulled off a bit of a coup in landing the revamped version of the US sitcom. The original run lasted from 1998 to 2006 and focused on the relationship between best friends Will Truman, a gay lawyer, and Grace Adler, a straight interior designer, living in New York city.
Their outlandish pals Karen Walker and Jack McFarland added a little offbeat fun to the mix. Although it never reached the same heights as Friends in this country, it was still a success for Channel 4.
Fans desperate to know how the characters have changed in the intervening 11 years won’t care one jot where it’s popping up, as long as it’s on. Original cast members Eric McCormack, Debra Messing, Megan Mullally and Sean Hayes are all returning.