Daily Mail - Daily Mail Weekend Magazine
Seven Days
MIKE MULVIHILL’S guide to the week’s TV
BOXING DAY
THE REPAIR SHOP AT CHRISTMAS
6.45PM, BBC1 HHHHH
The talented and dedicated craftspeople rescue faded Christmas treasures, including a rocking horse that will help a little girl to remember the elder sister she never met, a carousel that a New York socialite gave to her Scottish assistant, and a toy made by a team of Second World War engineers.
THE MASKED SINGER
7PM, ITV HHHH
See Showtime, page 10.
FAMILY FORTUNES: CELEBRITY CHRISTMAS SPECIAL
8.30PM, ITV HHH And here’s Shirley Ballas again as she and her clan take on Spencer Matthews, Vogue Williams and their family in a bid to win £30,000 for charity. Gino D’acampo hosts.
VICTORIA WOOD: THE SECRET LIST
9.05PM, BBC2 HHHHH
This second of a two-part round-up of favourite sketches from As Seen On TV, chosen by Victoria herself and celebrated here by famous fans. It is followed by Victoria Wood Live at 10.05pm, a feature-length recording from her sellout 1997 tour.
SUNDAY COUNTRYFILE
7PM, BBC1 HHHH
Ellie Harrison travels to Bristol to meet wildlife cameraman – and friend of the show – Simon King, who shares some top tips on photographing nature. Plus, selected wildlife stories from the archives.
ANTIQUES ROADSHOW: WHAT HAPPENED NEXT
8PM, BBC1 HHH Fiona Bruce revisits some exciting finds from recent years, and learns what happened when the cameras stopped rolling. She also goes behind the scenes at Pinewood Studios, where numerous Star Wars, James Bond and Superman films were made.
INSIDE THE FACTORY
8PM, BBC2 HHH In the first of a new series, Gregg Wallace visits the world’s biggest cider factory and helps to sort apples, while Cherry Healey learns how carbon dioxide, a by-product of the brewing industry, is used to make fire extinguishers.
BLACK NARCISSUS
9PM, BBC1 HHHH Rumer Godden’s 1939 novel about religion and repressed desire was famously filmed in 1947 by Powell and Pressburger; this atmospheric new, three-part drama stars Gemma Arterteron as Sister Clodagh, one of the nuns sent to start a school at a remote palace the Himalayas. Continues nightly.
BACK TO THE 80S WITH LENNY HENRY
9PM, CH4 HHHH
It was the decade that saw the birth of Channel 4 and in this first of a new, four-part series, Lenny takes us back in time to where it all began, with Brookside, Countdown and The Tube. Vic Reeves takes charge of the next episode tomorrow, all about Channel 4 in the 1990s; Davina Mccall heads into the Noughties on Tuesday; and Jimmy Carr brings things up to the present day on Wednesday.
MONDAY RICHARD OSMAN’S CHRISTMAS HOUSE OF GAMES NIGHT
7PM, BBC1 HHH
For one night only, celebrity contestants Alex Horne, Sarah Hadland, Craig Revel Horwood and Charlene White will be competing for the coveted House Of Games Christmas trophy.
MEERKAT: A DYNASTIES SPECIAL
7.30PM, BBC1 HHHH
David Attenborough narrates the story of ‘meerkat queen’ Maghogho as she struggles to establish a dynasty in the Makgadikgadi salt pans, an area of Botswana known, not very promisingly, as ‘the great nothing’.
BRITAIN’S MOST EXPENSIVE HOUSES
8PM, CH4 HHH
Step inside some of the country’s most exclusive properties as we follow brokers from Sotheby’s International Realty inside a £40 million property in London, and the Wirral home of ex-liverpool FC CEO Peter Moore.
BILLY CONNOLLY: IT’S BEEN A PLEASURE
9.30PM, ITV HHHH
As he hangs up his stand-up mic, Billy takes time to reflect from his home in the Florida Keys. The Big Yin will be looking back at 50 hilarious years on stage, while famous fans – including Dustin Hoffman and Elton John – line up to pay homage to a comedy legend.
SECRETS OF THE APOLLO
10.20PM, BBC2 HHH
Jack Dee is among some of the biggest names in comedy sharing memories of performing at the iconic Hammersmith Apollo in London.
TUESDAY MASTERCHEF THE PROFESSIONALS: A FESTIVE KNOCKOUT
8PM, BBC1 HHHH Host Gregg Wallace and judges Marcus Wareing and Monica Galetti welcome back some of the most memorable chefs from past series for a double helping of festive specials. Continues tomorrow at 8pm.
ONLY CONNECT SPECIALS: CHRISTMAS
8PM, BBC2 HHH
Victoria Coren Mitchell will be hosting festive editions of the fiendish quiz as favourite teams from the past don their best Christmas jumpers and return to do battle again. Continues over the next four nights.
CELEBRITY: A 21ST CENTURY STORY
9PM, BBC2 HHHH
This gripping new four-part series, which continues nightly, reflects on our changing celebrity culture. Looking back over the
past two decades, with the help of a litany of famous faces, it charts how reality TV and social media have changed the nature of fame – and not necessarily for the better. It begins by looking at the years 2000-06.
JAMIE AND JIMMY’S FESTIVE FEAST
9PM, CH4 HHH
Singer-songwriter Sam Smith and fitness coach Joe Wicks help Jamie Oliver and Jimmy Doherty to prepare delicious dishes, perfect to get us in the mood for the New Year. On the menu are roast pork and haggis tacos.
BOB MONKHOUSE: MASTER OF LAUGHTER
9PM, CH5 HHHHH
This unmissable documentary tells the story of the TV entertainer’s work as a stand-up comedian, featuring some of his funniest performances from his decades at the top. This includes work from the early days of BBC radio variety through to his last stage performance in front of an audience of his younger peers, shortly before he died in 2003.
WEDNESDAY
STEPHEN FRY’S 21ST CENTURY FIRSTS
8.30PM, ITV HHHH
Facebook, Instagram, the iphone and ipad – these are just some of the innovations that have appeared in our lives in the past 20 years. Stephen Fry takes a fun look back.
NOT GOING OUT
9PM, BBC1 HHHH It’s New Year’s Eve, and Lee and Lucy have
been joined by their nearest and dearest – including Lee’s dad, Frank (Bobby Ball, in one of his last screen appearances) – to see out 2020. Is this a good time for everyone to reveal how they really feel about each other? The new series begins on Friday January 8.
THE NINE LIVES OF OZZY OSBOURNE
10PM, BBC2 HHHH
An affectionate look back at the life and career of the famously hellraising rocker. How he is still alive today is anyone’s guess.
ROCK ON, TOMMY: THE BOBBY BALL STORY
10.15PM, ITV HHHH
An extended version of a tribute first shown in November, in which friends and family recall one of the nation’s favourite comedians.
NEW YEAR’S EVE
THE GREAT BRITISH SEWING BEE: CELEBRITY NEW YEAR SPECIAL
8PM, BBC1 HHHH
Birds Of A Feather star Lesley Joseph, drag artist The Vivienne, presenter Sabrina Grant and comedy actress Sally Phillips will be aiming to sew up a storm with a magical panto outfit and a New Year’s Eve dress.
THE BIG NEW YEAR’S IN
9PM, BBC1 HHHH
A host of stars join Paddy Mcguinness to wave goodbye to an extraordinary year – and not a moment too soon! We’re promised music, games, surprises and a fun quiz of 2020, and viewers can play along at home. And at 10.25pm, Graham Norton will be chatting to Hollywood stars Tom Hanks, Emily
Blunt, Jamie Dornan and Jessica Chastain.
BEFORE THEY WERE FAMOUS: BEST BITS
10PM, BBC2 HHH
A look back at the highlights from Angus Deayton’s late-1990s TV series, which saw him digging into the archives to uncover embarrassing clips of the world’s most famous stars before they hit the big time.
JOOLS’ ANNUAL HOOTENANNY
11.15PM, BBC2 HHHH
Joining Jools Holland in the studio for his 28th end-of-year party are Tom Jones, Rick Wakeman, Michael Kiwanuka, Rag’n’bone Man, Ruby Turner and, as usual, the Pipes and Drums of the 1st Battalion Scots Guards.
ALICIA KEYS ROCKS NEW YEAR’S EVE
11.30PM, BBC1 HHH
The US singer performs a special concert in Los Angeles, either side of the bells ringing out from Big Ben at midnight. There will be no fireworks this year, of course, but let’s hope things return to normality in 2021.
NEW YEAR’S DAY
NEW YEAR’S DAY CONCERT FROM VIENNA 2021
10.15AM, BBC2 HHHH Petroc Trelawny hosts the Vienna Philharmonic’s annual New Year’s Day concert, two and a half hours of music by the Strauss family and their contemporaries.
CHITTY FLIES AGAIN WITH DAVID WALLIAMS
7.30PM, CH4 HHHH
In this enchanting one-off, die-hard Chitty Chitty Bang Bang fan David Walliams attempts a ‘fantasmagorical’ feat as he enlists the help of engineer Tony Hoskins to see if they can build their own flying car, more than 50 years after Chitty took flight.
THE SERPENT
9PM, BBC1 HHHH Ambitious new eight-part drama that revels in its 1970s setting. It’s the gripping true story of serial killer Charles Sobhraj, who posed as a gem dealer to lure travellers to their deaths in Thailand and India. Tahar Rahim is Sobhraj, with Jenna Coleman as his accomplice, Marie-andree Leclerc.
DANCING ON THIN ICE WITH TORVILL & DEAN
9PM, ITV HHHH Christopher Dean and Jayne Torvill have never skated in the great outdoors before, so now, they’re travelling to Alaska to fulfil a lifelong dream. But there’s a more serious message here, too, as the pair see for themselves the effects that global warming is having on this icy landscape.
MRS BROWN’S BOYS NEW YEAR SPECIAL
10PM, BBC1 HHH
The New Year starts badly when Winnie’s place is burgled and her mother’s muchloved wedding ring is missing. But don’t worry – her old friend Agnes is on the case…