After stuffing yourself with your roast of choice, all the trimmings and a mince pie or six, kicking back and binge-watching Christmas TV is what the long winter nights are made for. We’ve gathered together the best of the TV shows on this Christmas into the only TV guide you’ll need!
The soaps
Have you even been watching Christmas TV if you haven’t had a dose of drama from Albert Square, Weatherfield or Emmerdale?
Emmerdale (Christmas Day at 5:50pm, ITV1)
This year in the Dales, Christmas Day is all about Robert Sugden. Tipped to be a strange cross between Groundhog Day and A Christmas Carol, Robert looks to be forced to revisit his past sins, of which there are many! The episode will feature a surprise cameo from a figure from Robert’s past, present or future, and apparently will also set up a turning point in his romance with Aaron Dingle. Robert aside, it’s rumoured Cain and Moira will put their past differences aside to re-unite. How will you be able to look away?!
Eastenders (Christmas Day at 9pm, BBC1)
Max Branning, Radio Times
Christmas in Albert Square and the season of peace and goodwill seem like opposites that will never attract. Lauren and Abi Branning are set to depart Walford for good, and Max Branning’s links to James’s revenge plan will put him and his daughters at centre stage this Christmas. Plus, it looks like The Queen Vic is under threat of being built over – what is Walford coming to?!
Coronation Street (Christmas Day at 8pm, ITV1)
Guess who’s back, back again? Carla’s back, tell a friend! After departing the cobbles earlier this year following her disastrous attempt to marry Nick Tilsley, Carla Connor is back in Corrie. Most of the details are being kept carefully under wraps, but we’re to expect to see a different side to the formidable boss lady, most notably she’s swapping her trusty glass of red for ribena! Some things never change, though – she’ll still be besties with Corrie veteran Roy Cropper.
Get the full TV schedule for all your favourite soaps over the Christmas period on Radio Times
Crime & murder mysteries
McMafia (Starts on New Year’s Day at 9pm, BBC1)
McMafia, BBC Pictures, SL
Kicking off an 8-part thriller that should keep us going into January and beyond, McMafia is inspired by Misha Glenny’s book of the same name. James Norton stars as Alex Goldman, the English-raised son of Russian exiles linked to the mob. After a personal tragedy hits, Goldman must join the family business, confronting the Russian mob, Mexican cartels and Pakistani drug lords to protect everything he loves.
Maigret in Montmartre (Christmas Eve at 8:30pm, ITV1)
Maigret in Montmartre will be the fourth outing for Mr Bean actor Rowan Atkinson in the role of French detective Jules Maigret. Montmartre sees the detective plunged into the 1950s Parisian underworld yet again as he investigates the death of stripper, Arlette, and attempts to uncover the past of a mysterious Countess. Will he solve the murders and the mystery? You’ll have to tune in to find out!
Christmas specials
Call The Midwife (Christmas Day at 7:40pm, BBC1)
This year’s Call the Midwife special sees the Nonnatus House team in the thick of the Big Freeze. The winter of 1963 is one of the coldest on record, so a slightly chillier affair than the trip to South Africa they took for last year’s festive Christmas TV special! How will the midwives care for their patients while battling the adverse weather conditions?
Doctor Who (Christmas Day at 5:30pm, BBC1)
The Doctor Who Christmas special is a Christmas day staple. Peter Capaldi reprises his role as The Doctor for the final time before Jodie Whittaker takes over next year. In Twice Upon A Time, The Doctor must face his past to decide his future. We’ll see him team up with the first Doctor, played by David Bradley, refusing to face his inevitable regeneration.
The Great British Bake Off (Christmas Day at 2:30pm and Boxing Day at 3:05pm, Channel 4)
The Great British Bake Off: Xmas Special – (Val, Paul, Becca and Selasi)
Following a successful transition to Channel 4 in the autumn, GBBO is back for Christmas! The two special episodes will feature favourites from former series including Selasi, Val, Benjamina and Rav, taking on a series of festive challenges. What a treat!
Strictly Come Dancing (Christmas Day at 6:30pm, BBC1)
Not only does the final of the fifteenth series take place the weekend before Christmas on 16th December, the show will be back for a Christmas TV special. A little like GBBO, stars of Strictly past are returning to the dancefloor. Judy Murray, Kimberley Walsh, Katie Derham, Jeremy Vine, Colin Jackson and Robbie Savage will be donning their dancing shoes once more for the festive special.
Victoria (Christmas Day at 9pm, ITV1)
Hot on the heels of series 2, which aired in the autumn, comes the Christmas special! Jenna Coleman and Tom Hughes will be returning as Victoria and Albert, but we’ll also be graced with the presence of Prince Ernest (David Oakes), Harriet, Duchess of Sutherland (Margaret Clunie) and downstairs favourites Skerrett (Nell Hudson) and Francatelli (Ferdinand Kingsley). The feature length special is sure to be a feast of festivity – the Victorians did basically invent Christmas as we know it, after all!
Period dramas
Little Women (Starts Boxing Day at 8pm, BBC1)
Heidi Thomas, who created Call the Midwife, is the brains behind this most recent adaptation of Louisa May Alcott’s classic. Set in the American Civil War in the mid-1800s, Little Women follows four sisters – the beautiful Meg, tomboy Jo, musician Beth and charming artist Amy as they adapt to adult life when their father leaves them in when he goes to fight in the war. Thomas has recruited famous faces like Angela Lansbury, Michael Gambon and Emily Watson to be the stars of the March family.
The Miniaturist (Starts Boxing Day at 9pm, BBC1)
The Miniaturist, BBC Pictures, SL
Billed as the biggest festive drama of the year, The Miniaturist is adapted from Jessie Burton’s bestselling 2014 novel. It was her debut, too! The two-parter follows the story of Nella Oortman as she begins life as the wife of wealthy Dutch merchant, Johannes Brandt, in 17th century Amsterdam. Gifted a doll’s house replica of their home by her husband, Nella enlists a miniaturist to help her furnish the house as a mirror of the real-life counterpart. In doing so, she begins to cover her new family’s unusual secrets, and nobody is safe.
Feel good TV
Mary, Mel & Sue’s Big Thank You (Christmas Eve at 7pm, BBC1)
They’re back, at last. Mary, Mel and Sue have re-united post-Bake Off for a Christmas TV special. Our favourite three ladies are bringing some much needed festive cheer to an area that has fallen on tough times of late. The trio have set themselves the task of opening a new community centre for the locals, and will be hosting a Christmas party for residents, as only Bez, Mel and Sue know how!
Sue Perkins and the Chimp Sanctuary (New Year’s Day at 9pm, BBC1)
There’s a theme to the feel-good Christmas TV we’ve picked out this year – Sue! Sue Perkins travelled to America to make this hour-long special about a group of female chimpanzees. The ladies have been recently retired from a laboratory in New Mexico to a US national sanctuary in rural Louisiana. Sue follows the chimps as they adjust to life outside the lab and learn to live in the beautiful forest sanctuary that is now their home.
Family fun
The Highway Rat (Christmas Day at 4:45pm, BBC1)
The Highway Rat is based on books by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler (the pair behind The Gruffalo). It’s voiced by an all-star cast, headed up by David Tennant and Rob Brydon. The titular rat has something of a sweet tooth, craving buns, biscuits, and all things sugary – but will his penchant for pudding lead to his demise?
Grandpa’s Great Escape (New Year’s Day at 6:55pm, BBC1)
Grandpa’s Great Escape, BBC Pictures, SL
Adapted from the book by David Walliams, Grandpa’s Great Escape sees WW2 pilot Grandpa moved into an old people’s home. Miss Dandy (the manager of Twilight Towers), however, has her own agenda in running the old folk’s home. Grandson Jack is soon roped in to help Grandpa with his “Great Escape”.
