Christmas films may be iconic (Love Actually and The Holiday, anyone?), but Christmas TV was made for sitting down with a blanket and a cup of tea.
The BBC has just announced this year’s Christmas programming, and we’re in for a treat as hit shows such as Motherland and Call The Midwife are getting festive specials, while Happy Valley is set to return for its third and final season.
Also on the roster include a special screening of Michael McIntyre’s The Wheel, in which he will spin a yuletide wheel with guests like Alesha Dixon and Bear Grylls.
There will also be a Strictly Come Dancing Christmas special, Richard Osman will host new episodes of the Festive House of Games, and The Graham Norton Show will return with a New Year’s Eve edition.
The new season of Happy Valley marks the end of the show’s six-year hiatus and we will finally be able to watch the third and last season of the hit crime drama.
Sarah Lancashire will return as Sergeant Catherine Carwood in the multi-BAFTA award winning hit show, which will involve Tommy Lee Royce (James Norton) and Catherine’s now-16-year-old grandson Ryan (Rhys Connah).
According to the BBC, after Catherine discovers the remains of a gangland murder victim in a drained reservoir, it sparks a chain of events that leads her straight back to Royce, and Ryan has his “own ideas” about the sort of relationship he wants with Royce, who is his father.
Elsewhere, Motherland: Last Christmas will see the mums and Kevin (Paul Ready) get back together as they prepare for a blended Christmas celebration.
The BBC’s schedule also includes some original films, such as an adaptation of Charlie Mackesy’s best-selling book, The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse.
The story will follow the unlikely friendship of (you guessed it) a boy, a mole, a fox and a horse travelling together in the young boy’s search for home. An uplifting Christmas tale indeed which might make a nice change of pace from, you know, murders in the Yorkshire Dales.
Here’s a full rundown of the shows added to the BBC Christmas TV schedule:
BBC One
- The Boy, The Mole, The Fox and The Horse
- The Smeds and the Smoos
- Motherland: Last Christmas
- Happy Valley
- The Hit List Christmas Special
- The Weakest Link Christmas Special
- That’s My Jam
- Sam Ryder Rocks New Year’s Eve
- The Cleaner: A Clean Christmas
- Ghosts Christmas Special
- Mrs Browns Boys – Christmas & New Year Specials
- Two Doors Down Christmas Special
- Strictly Come Dancing Christmas Special
- Blankety Blank Christmas Special
- Michael McIntyre’s Christmas Wheel
- The Graham Norton Show New Year’s Eve Special
- MasterChef Christmas Specials
- Pointless Celebrities Christmas Special
- Would I Lie To You Christmas Special
- Question of Sport Christmas Special
- BBC Sports Personality of the Year 2022
- The Great British Sewing Bee: Celebrity Christmas Special
- Antiques Roadshow Christmas Special: Toys and Childhood
- Mary Berry’s Ultimate Christmas
- Frozen Planet II: Worlds of Wonder
- Dynasties II (Macaque)
- Gangsta Granny Strikes Again!
- CBeebies Christmas Show 2022 – Dick Whittington
- Mayflies
- Call The Midwife Christmas Special
- Strike: Troubled Blood
- EastEnders Christmas Special
- Animal Park at Christmas
- Countryfile – Christmas at Rockingham
- My Life at Christmas – with Sally Phillips
- Songs of Praise
- On Christmas Night
- Dogs In the Wild: Meet The Family
BBC Two
- Carols from King’s Christmas Eve
- Top Of The Pops: Review of 2022
- Cliff at Christmas
- University Challenge
- Richard Osman’s Festive House of Games
- QI
- Live at the Apollo – Christmas Special
- Jools’ Annual Hootenanny
- Frankie Boyle’s 2022 New World Order
- Inside No. 9
- Detectorists
- Matthew Bourne’s Nutcracker!
- Stephen Sondheim’s Old Friends
- Charlie Mackesy: The Boy, Mole, Fox, Horse and Me
- A Ghost Story for Christmas: Count Magnus
- Coppélia
- Marie Antoinette
- Mortimer and Whitehouse: Gone Christmas Fishing
- Snow Dogs: Into the Wild
BBC Three
- Bad Education: Reunion
BBC Four
- Mark Gatiss in A Christmas Carol
- The Royal Institution Christmas Lectures 2022
CBBC
- Malory Towers Christmas Special
- One Zoo Three Christmas Special
- Dodger Christmas Special
CBeebies
- CBeebies Bedtime Story
- Marvel’s Spidey and his Amazing Friends – A Very Spidey Christmas
- Bluey
- Supertato Christmas Special
- Nick Cope’s Popcast
- Something Special