FESTIVE HIGHLIGHTS 41. ROYAL INSTITUTION CHRISTMAS LECTURES

Don’t miss your Mail on Sunday next week for TV listings right through to New Year’s Day

28. THE MORECAMBE & WISE SHOW 1970: THE LOST TAPE

A festival of Eric & Ernie-themed crackers awaits. The 1971 Christmas

Show is a familiar treat (it’s the classic with Glenda Jackson and Andre Previn) but it’s followed by a real gem – a restored and revamped lost recording (only discovered last year) that is getting its first outing since it was originally broadcast in 1970. BBC2, 7.45pm, plus the 1971 Christmas Show, BBC2, 7pm and Eric And Ernie: Behind The Scenes, BBC4, 8.35pm

29. CALL THE MIDWIFE

Christmas TV weddings rarely go without a hitch (though often it’s the hitching itself that’s the problem) so don’t imagine that midwife Lucille’s union with Cyril will be a problem-free affair. Especially after her hen do leaves her battered and bruised… Expect drama and tears, but above all something heartwarming. BBC1, 8pm

30. THE GREAT CHRISTMAS BAKE OFF 2021

The cast of the hit drama It’s A Sin enter the tent for the first of this year’s two specials (a second follows on New Year’s Day). Actors Olly Alexander, Lydia West, Nathaniel Curtis and Shaun Dooley are the quartet hoping for a Hollywood handshake as they jostle for the title of Christmas Star Baker. Channel 4, 8pm

31. THE LARKINS AT CHRISTMAS

Can Bradley Walsh’s Pop Larkin keep everything ‘perfick’ in his rural idyll this Christmas? It’s going to be tough as the raffish patriarch not only contends with a power cut, the arrival of Charlie’s uptight parents and a disastrous nativity play, but also has to try and track down the burglar causing chaos in the village…

ITV, 9pm

32. MRS BROWN’S BOYS

Love it or hate it, but Christmas doesn’t seem quite complete without a visit to the Irish mammy and her over-the-top sitcom family and friends. The big news this year is that Agnes is desperate to secure herself a place on the church choir. After all, what could possibly go wrong?

BBC1, 10.20pm

TRAVELLER: David Tennant, above. Right: Renée Zellweger as Judy Garland in Judy. Far right: Billy Connolly

BOXING DAY 33. AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS

David Tennant is the perfect choice to don Phileas Fogg’s top hat in this spirited reworking of Jules Verne’s tale. The eight episodes kick off with a double bill which sees the indomitable English gentleman setting off to loop the globe with only his trusty manservant and an intrepid female reporter for company. BBC1, 5.50pm and 6.40pm

34. DEATH IN PARADISE CHRISTMAS SPECIAL

Ralf Little gets another Caribbean break as he stars as DI Neville Parker in a festive new mystery. He’s not the only Brit actor getting a trip to the island of Saint-Marie, though: look out for Juliet Stevenson and

Matthew Baynton too as the case of a murdered magnate at a Christmas party develops. BBC1, 7.30pm

35. A VERY BRITISH SCANDAL

Paul Bettany and Claire Foy star as the Duke and

Duchess of Argyle in this account of the real-life

1963 divorce case that rocked Britain’s aristocracy. Shot through with accusations of forgery, theft, drugs, bribery, and violence, it’s a dark tale that unfolds in three parts over three nights. BBC1, 9pm

36. MORTIMER & WHITEHOUSE: GONE CHRISTMAS FISHING

One of the most welcome Christmas catches sees Bob Mortimer and Paul Whitehouse unpacking their fishing rods for an hour-long special. The pair (along with guest star Paul Gascoigne) set off to the North of England for a stay in a stately home while they try to fulfil Paul’s lifelong dream of catching a salmon. BBC2, 9pm

37. BILLY CONNOLLY: MY ABSOLUTE PLEASURE

Scotland’s finest comedy export looks back on his life and career from the comfort of his Florida home.

It’s a bittersweet show (Connolly suffers from Parkinson’s Disease) but The Big Yin’s trademark sense of mischief is still strong. ITV, 9.30pm

MONDAY 27 38. THE VOICE KIDS

The Spice Girls’ Mel C joins the cast of judges as the talent show returns for three junior editions airing on consecutive nights. The contestants may be little (they range in age from seven to 14), but their vocal talents certainly aren’t, with convincing renditions of songs by everyone from

Elton John to Frankie Valli stunning the judges. ITV, 7.30pm

TUESDAY 28 39. WORZEL

GUMMIDGE:

TWITCHERS

Mackenzie Crook makes a welcome return as the scarecrow in the first of two new adventures. Tonight he has a chance to scare away some rare birds, but will he be able to do it without the crowds of birdwatchers pursuing him and spotting him in motion? BBC1, 7.15pm and Wed 29, 7.15pm

BLEAK: Left: Jodie Whittaker as Dr Who. Far left: the Bake Off crew. Right: Mackenzie Crook. Below: Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga. Right: Mortimer and Whitehouse. Bottom: The Masked Singer

40. EXTRAORDINARY ESCAPES AT CHRISTMAS WITH SANDI TOKSVIG

The diminutive presenter heads north with a trio of famous female faces to enjoy all that

Norway has to offer. Cue a hunt for killer whales with scientist Maggie AderinPocock, encounters with wolves with Dragons’ Den’s

Deborah Meaden, and a trip up a mountain with actress Fay

Ripley. Brace yourself for Cold Feet gags during the last one… Channel 4, 8pm

Broadcast on television every year since 1966, the Royal Institution Christmas Lectures are one of the great festive telly traditions, popularising science for generation after generation of viewers of all ages.

This year the UK’s deputy chief medical officer Jonathan Van-Tam presents the trio of talks focusing on a topic that we’re all now fascinated with: viruses.

BBC4, 8pm

42. A PLAY IN A DAY

Can three teams of performers create an original 15 minute-long theatrical production (which will include a dance piece, a musical and a drama) with only 24 hours in which to write, cast and rehearse the show? It’s a tricky challenge for the mixed bands of newcomers and old hands, but watching them set about it is great fun. A treat for theatre lovers as well as fans of more conventional TV challenges.

Sky Arts, 9.30pm

WEDNESDAY 29 43. A STAR IS BORN

The plot is a bit hackneyed – this is the fourth time Hollywood has had a stab at this tale – but the performances make this version sing. Lady Gaga is great as the aspiring singer discovered working as a waitress by Bradley Cooper’s fading rock star, and the chemistry between the pair is positively electrifying. BBC1, 9pm

THURSDAY 30 44. ATTENBOROUGH

AND THE MAMMOTH GRAVEYARD

When amateur fossil hunters discovered a mammoth bone in the mud of a quarry near Swindon, they triggered a search for answers that dug deep into Britain’s prehistoric past. David Attenborough joins the quest tonight, wondering just what the giant pachyderms, thought to have gone extinct about 4,000 years ago, were doing here and whether it’s possible that early humans killed them.

BBC1, 8pm

45. JUDY

Renée Zellweger goes all the way over the rainbow with an Oscar-winning performance as Judy Garland in her later days, struggling with bad health, the ravages of substance abuse and her own self-destructive nature as she attempts to get her career back on track via a string of performances in London. BBC2, 9pm

NEW YEAR’S EVE 46. JOOLS’ ANNUAL HOOTENANNY

Ed Sheeran, Gregory Porter and Lulu are among the guests singing in the New Year as Jools Holland’s extravaganza marks its 28th year. Expect predictions for 2022 from Vic Reeves and lashings of boogie-woogie piano from Jools. BBC2, 11.25pm

NEW YEAR’S DAY 47. DOCTOR WHO

The Daleks make yet another festive reappearance. Are the Doctor and her friends (plus guest star Aisling Bea) going to be able to escape from a deadly Groundhog Day-esque time loop and avoid extermination? BBC1, 7pm

48. THE MASKED SINGER

Rockhopper, Robobunny, Bagpipes,

Traffic Cone, Poodle, Lionfish and Doughnuts are just some of the fantastical costumes concealing household names as a new series of the singing challenge begins. Fans desperate for more anonymous crooning action won’t have to wait long – episode two follows on January 2, 7.30pm. ITV, 7pm

49. DOWNTON ABBEY

After six series of upstairs-downstairs ups and downs, the folk of the Yorkshire country estate returned in movie form.

With a visit from King George V and

Queen Mary on the cards, can Lord Grantham and his family (and their inestimable serving staff, of course) maintain their sang froid? ITV, 8.30pm

50. THE TOURIST

After being run off an outback road by a giant truck, a man (played by The Fall’s Jamie Dornan) wakes up in hospital with no memory of who he is or what he’s doing in Australia. He’d better find answers fast as shady figures begin chasing him in this opener for a six-part thriller series… BBC1, 9pm, and Sun 2 Jan, 9pm