UK Christmas 2024 TV Guide: Festive Specials, New Drama, Comedy, Original Films, & Kids
New Doctor Who, Gavin & Stacey, Outnumbered, Taskmaster and dramas from Harlan Coben to A Ghost Story for Christmas are all on their way.
Television at Christmas? In my house it’s at least as important as the tree, twice as important as the turkey and wholly overshadows any inclination for goodwill to all mankind. (If anybody walks in front of the screen to demonstrate their new jumper/slippers/iPhone case during this year’s Wallace and Gromit film, they’re going to need more than goodwill.)
Christmas viewing used to be planned with the precision of a military campaign, using colour-coded highlighter pens, a bumper copy of Radio Times and a supply of Cool Mint Matchmakers to keep up strength. Now, thanks to catch-up streaming, there’s no need to know when something’s on, you just have to know that it is on. Therefore: the list below. It’s designed to cover a broad church of viewing, and will be updated with new entries and details as the TV schedules are confirmed, so feel free to check back at regular intervals for more.
CHRISTMAS SPECIALS
Doctor Who “Joy to the World”
What to expect from Steven Moffat’s first Doctor Who Christmas special since 2017’s “Twice Upon a Time”? The Doctor, a time-travelling hotel, a weapons manufacturer, a woman named Joy (played by Derry Girls and Bridgerton’s Nicola Coughlan), a Silurian (played by Sherlock’s Jonathan Aris) and a T-Rex (played by some very clever pixels). That’s what we know so far about the hour-long festive episode, which was directed by Riverdale and Bridgerton’s Alex Pillai. Come back when the credits roll for our review. Dec 25, 5.10pm.
Gavin & Stacey “The Finale”
In 2019, Nessa got down on one knee to declare her love for Smithy, the father of her son and the man she once violated with a hotel toilet brush in the very first episode of Ruth Jones and James Corden’s beloved BBC comedy. The credits rolled before we heard his answer, but this Christmas, we’re about to find out what he said in Gavin & Stacey’s “The Finale”. Set five years after the proposal cliffhanger, the new 90-minute special reunites Matthew Horne, Joanna Page, Larry Lamb, Alison Steadman, Rob Brydon and co. Gavin and Stacey have been married for 17 years, Neil the baby is now 16, and while the story is being kept mostly under wraps, the cast have teased an emotional final episode. Dec 25, 9pm.
Outnumbered Christmas Special 2024
The Brockmans are back for the first time since 2016, and rumour has it they’ve welcomed a grandchild to the family – as well they might have, seeing as eldest son Jake is now pushing 30, and Ben and Karen are firmly in their 20s. Unlike the Gavin & Stacey special (see above), this one’s actually set at Christmas as Sue and Pete try to recreate an old-fashioned family Christmas in their downsized home with their adult children. Claire Skinner, Hugh Dennis, Tyger Drew-Honey, Daniel Roche and Ramona Marquez all return for the latest instalment of Guy Jenkin and Andy Hamilton’s much-loved comedy. Dec 26, 9.40pm.
Taskmaster New Year’s Treat
It’s the time of year when non-comedian celebrities get to try their hand at herding cats, nailing jelly to a wall, or whatever silly, fun tasks they’ll be doing for the approval of Greg Davies. 2025’s quintet include footballer David James, money expert Martin Lewis, All Saint Melanie Blatt, presenter Professor Hannah Fry, and The Royle Family actor Sue Johnston. Read a bit more about them all here and bring on the silliness. 9pm, Dec 29.
Call the Midwife
There won’t be one 90-minute special for long-running BBC drama Call the Midwife this year, but two hour-long specials written by series creator Heidi Thomas. It’s 1969 in Poplar, and the funfair’s in town, along with a dangerous flu strain, an escaped prisoner, and a visit from Mrs Higgins’ grandson. Expect mince pie contests, a carol concert and emotional drama. 8pm, Dec 25 & 7.30pm, Dec 26.
Charlie Cooper’s Myth Country
The actor-writer is back for a wintry special of his folk legend investigation series, this time focusing on ancient festive celebrations and spooky traditions in the British Isles, from Solstice and beyond.
Death in Paradise & Beyond Paradise
There’s a new sheriff in town in Death in Paradise, as the 2024 Christmas special introduces Don Gilet to the island of Sainte Marie as Londoner DI Mervin Wilson, the replacement for Ralf Little’s DI Neville Parker. He’s joined by Ghosts’ Jim Howick and Waterloo Road’s Angela Griffin in a tropical murder mystery involving multiple victims dressed as – who else – Father Christmas. 8.30pm, Dec 22.
Cornish-set spinoff Beyond Paradise will also return for a Christmas special ahead of its third series, starring Kris Marshall, Sally Bretton and the gang. 9pm, Dec 27.
Great British Christmas & New Year Bake Off
It’s a soaps-themed celebrity Christmas Bake Off this year, with contestants including Coronation Street’s Shobna Gulati, Emmerdale’s Sheree Murphy and Chris Bisson, and EastEnders’ Dean Gaffney and Natalie Cassidy (whose daughter Eliza, fun fact, was on Junior Bake Off in 2022). The New Year special will feature former contestants as detailed here.
All Creatures Great and Small
This Channel 5 cosy drama will be back ahead of series six for a Christmas special set in the wintry Yorkshire dales.
Gone Christmas Fishing
Bob Mortimer and Paul Whitehouse’s cosy fishing format goes to France for its 2024 festive special, including a very special guest. Maybe it’s dog Ted, who has a memoir to plug.
Would I Lie to You at Christmas?
Rob Brydon, Lee Mack and David Mitchell are back with special guests rumoured to include TV chef Rustie Lee, Doctor Who’s Lenny Rush, and comedians Laura Smyth and Jimmy Carr.
Richard Osman’s House of Games: Festive Week, QI, Only Connect, University Challenge…
If it’s a BBC Two quiz show, then it probably has a Christmas version.
A Christmas Carol – The Read With Anne Marie Duff
Bad Sisters’ Anne-Marie Duff reads the Charles Dickens festive novella in this special BBC Four literary showcase.
ALSO
Antiques Roadshow Christmas Special, Bullseye, Casualty, Celebrity Mastermind, Deal or No Deal, EastEnders, Have I Got Sport For You?, Jools’ Annual Hootenanny, MasterChef, Mrs Brown’s Boys, Madame Blanc Mysteries, Mary Makes Christmas, My Life at Christmas with Anita Rani, Never Mind the Buzzcocks, Sister Boniface Mysteries, Stacey’s Crafty Christmas, Strictly Come Dancing, The Chase, The Chelsea Detective, The Great Christmas Sewing Bee, The Good Ship Murder, The Piano, The Repair Shop at Christmas, The Young Offenders, The Weakest Link, The 1% Club, Top of the Pops: Review of the Year 2024, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?, Wheel of Fortune.
ORIGINAL FILMS
That Christmas
Based on the children’s book by Love Actually creator Richard Curtis, That Christmas is an animated British story coming to Netflix on December 4. Featuring the voices of Succession’s Brian Cox, Bad Sisters’ Fiona Shaw, Man Like Mobeen’s Guz Khan, Doctor Who’s Jodie Whittaker, Love Actually’s Bill Nighy and loads more home-grown stars, it’s a caper about turkeys, Santa, loneliness and community. Dec 4.
The Night Before Christmas in Wonderland
Sky is bringing an animated mash-up of the North Pole and Lewis Carroll’s Wonderland to screens this Christmas, featuring the voices of Gerard Butler and Emilia Clarke in a story about Santa visiting Alice (of Wonderland fame), the Queen of Hearts, the White Rabbit and the whole gang. Dec 13.
Wallace and Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl
It’s over 30 years since dastardly jewel thief Feathers McGraw was stopped in his tracks by Wallace and Gromit, and now he’s back and looking for revenge. This new 70-minute film from Nick Park and Aardman animations will air on BBC One on Christmas Day, and with voice guest stars Peter Kaye, Sir Lenny Henry, Diane Morgan and more, it promises to be a real treat. See the trailer here. 6.10pm, Dec 25.
Bad Tidings
Written by Ghosts and Yonderland’s Martha Howe-Douglas and Larry Rickard is a new Sky Christmas original starring comedians Lee Mack (Not Going Out, Would I Lie to You?) and Chris McCausland (Strictly Come Dancing). It’s the story of two warring neighbours who come together to protect their street from burglars after a power cut leaves their neighbours’ homes vulnerable. It sounds a bit Home Alone, a bit Deck the Halls, and a lot of British comedy fun. Rebekah Staton and Sarah Alexander co-star.
DRAMA
Doctor Who: The War Games
An enhanced and colourised version of 1969 Doctor Who serial “The War Games” is coming to BBC Four in a new 90-minute format with updated visual effects courtesy of Bad Wolf and Benjamin Cook. Fans can watch the Second Doctor (Patrick Troughton) and companions Zoe and Jamie uncover the mystery behind the War Lord, a villain who’s abducted soldiers from different historical periods for his own twisted experiment, with updated sound and a new score “alongside recovered footage not seen since the original broadcast,” according to the press release. Dec 23.
Black Doves
This six-episode Netflix spy thriller has a top cast including Happy Valley’s Sarah Lancashire, Atonement’s Keira Knightley and This is Going to Hurt’s Ben Whishaw. It’s the story of a spy (Knightley) whose romantic affair leads her into the London underworld. It was created by Joe Barton, who’s behind The Lazarus Project, Half Bad: The Bastard Son and the Devil Himself and Giri Haji. Dec 6.
A Ghost Story for Christmas: Woman of Stone
Mark Gatiss’ festive horror anthology series is back in 2024 with his adaptation of E. Nesbitt story “Man-Size in Marble”, retitled “Woman of Stone”. It’s the story of a newlywed couple spooked by their housekeeper’s tale of tomb effigies that come to life. It can’t be real… can it? The half-hour stars Black Mirror and Mr Bates vs the Post Office’s Monica Dolan, with The Sixth Commandment’s Éanna Hardwicke, and Call the Midwife’s Pheobe Horn. 10.15pm, Dec 24.
Strike: The Ink Black Heart
Tom Burke and Holliday Grainger return as Cormoran Strike and Robin Ellacott in the BBC’s sixth adaptation of JK Rowling’s ‘Robert Galbraith’-written series of detective novels. This time, the four-parter is about a popular cartoonist being trolled by a mysterious online figure. Dec 16.
SAS: Rogue Heroes Series 2
Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight is back on BBC One with six new episodes of World War II-set action and adventure following the exploits of a very special military unit, inspired by true stories. 9pm, Jan 1, 2025.
The Split: Barcelona
The Defoe family return for a final visit in this two-part Spanish-set capper to the BBC’s popular legal drama starring Nicola Walker and Stephen Mangan.
Harlan Coben’s Missing You
After Stay Close and Fool Me Once, a fresh Harlan Coben adaptation arriving on Netflix on New Year’s Day has become a new tradition. Five-episode thriller Missing You will be the latest, starring Slow Horses’ Rosalind Eleazar as detective Kat Donovan, whose life is turned upside down when the ex-fiancé who disappeared almost two decades earlier suddenly pops up on an online dating site. Expect twists. Jan 1, 2025.
Out There
Martin Clunes stars in this six-part ITV crime drama about a man who gets dragged into a County Lines drug-dealing gang while trying to protect a youngster from their grasp.
Playing Nice
James Norton and Niamh Algar play parents who struggle with a terrible decision once they learn that the toddler they’re raising isn’t biologically theirs after their babies were accidentally switched at birth. This four-parter will air on ITV.
FAMILY & KIDS
Tiddler
The BBC’s now-traditional Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffer animated adaptation is back, and this year, it’s the Hannah Waddingham (Ted Lasso)-narrated story of Tiddler, a little fish who gets lost in a big ocean. Dec 25.
Quentin Blake’s Angel Pavement & Loveykins
Two new Quentin Blake stories are being added to CBBC’s box of treasures. Dec 1.
Beauty and the Beast: The CBeebies 2024 Christmas Panto
Another BBC family tradition, the CBeebies panto this year is the story of Belle and her beastly captor who turns out to have hidden depths. Dec 7.
The Famous Five: Mystery at the Prospect Hotel
The new adaptation of Enid Blyton’s kids’ adventure classics kicks off a second series with “Mystery at the Prospect Hotel”.
ALSO
The Primrose Railway Children, My Life: The Snowman and Me, Blue Peter’s Christmas Spectacular, Nikhil & Jay and the Christmas Wish, Cooking Buddies Christmas Special, CBeebies Bedtime Stories Christmas Specials.
ENTERTAINMENT
Doctor Who at the Proms 2024
Filmed at the Royal Albert Hall this summer, a chance for Doctor Who fans to enjoy the musical extravaganza hosted by Catherine Tate and featuring all manner of Who monsters and guest stars. Dec 24.
Cunk on Life
Diane Morgan returns to BBC Two for more straight-faced comedy as character Philomena Cunk explains, well, everything in this feature-length one-off special.
Edward Scissorhands: Matthew Bourne’s dance version of Tim Burton’s classic
Ballet choreographer Matthew Bourne presents his take on the 90s Tim Burton movie, coming to Sky Arts this Christmas.
Gladiators Celebrity Special
TV presenter Louise Minchin and comedians Rob Beckett, Joel Dommett and Ellie Taylor will feel the power of the Gladiators in this celebrity New Year special ahead of the rebooted show’s second series.
The Traitors Series 3
Claudia Winkleman, a Scottish castle, cloaks, subterfuge, breakout stars and elaborate betrayals. This BBC One reality format will be back for more in early 2025. 8pm, Jan 1, 2025.
ALSO Jack in Time for Christmas, Country Music Christmas, Miracles (Dynamo), National Lottery New Year’s Eve Concert, Sophie Ellis Bexter’s New Year’s Disco, The Graham Norton Show New Year’s Eve.
FACTUAL
Inside No. 9: The Party’s Over
A behind-the-scenes documentary celebrating nine brilliant series of Reece Shearsmith and Steve Pemberton’s inventive BBC Two storytelling anthology. This doc followed the making of the final series, including the guest star and Easter egg bonanza finale.
The Story of Panto with Gyles Brandreth
The One Show, Celebrity Gogglebox and panel show star will talk us through the history of the festive theatrical form for Sky Arts. Oh no he won’t! Etc.
Wham! Last Christmas Unwrapped
The BBC welcomes a doc special going behind the scenes on George Michael and Andrew Ridgley of Wham!‘s enduring festive hit “Last Christmas”.
Gavin & Stacey: A Fond Farewell
Go behind the scenes on the final ever episode of Ruth Jones and James Corden’s Gavin & Stacey in this BBC making-of doc.
The Royal Institution Christmas Lectures
A literal institution at Christmas time. Bribe your kids to watch it with promises of unlimited screentime and unsurveilled access to the Cadbury’s Celebrations. This year on BBC Four, they’ll learn about food and nutrition from Dr Chris Van Tulleken, of Ultra Processed People fame.
ALSO
Inside No. 9: The Party’s Over, Maria Meets Rylan, Nutcracker: Backstage with English National Ballet
Written by
Louisa Mellor is the Den of Geek UK TV Editor. She has written about TV, film and books for Den of Geek since 2010, and for…