It's the time of year for giving, for receiving, for spending time with family and eating cold turkey sandwiches. But it is also the time of year to binge watch your telly.
Here are a few recommendations for your viewing pleasure over the next few days.
CHRISTMAS TV SPECIALS:
There are a huge number of TV Specials on the box this year from Mrs Brown to the long awaited return of Gavin and Stacey. Here are some to look out for.
Mrs Brown's Boys - Christmas Day & New Years Day
Mrs Browns Boys has not one but two specials over the festive period. The first will air on Christmas Day (RTE 1 @ 10pm or BBC 1 @ 10:15pm), the second is on New Year's Day at 10:30pm.
In the Christmas Day episode, It’s a Wonderful Mammy, Mrs Agnes Brown wishes she’d never been born… within earshot of angel Clyde, played by Coronation Street star Kevin Kennedy.
While in New Year’s Day’s Orange is the New Mammy a murderer called Peggy Piper is released from prison…which could put Agnes’s friend Winnie in danger, as she was a witness!
Gavin and Stacey – BBC 1 @ 8:30pm
The Shipmans head to Wales for the year's Christmas celebrations, with a nervous Bryn doing the cooking.
Meanwhile, Pam is finding Gwen's place to be rather lacking.
Elsewhere, Gavin and Stacey's baby is now 10-years-old, while Smithy and Nessa's is 12-years-old.
Expect a little chaos for the family on Christmas Day
Call The Midwife - Christmas Day at 7pm
The period drama has become a staple of the Christmas Day viewing schedule, and this year’s festive special – which finished filming as long ago as May – will mark the start of the ninth season of the hit show.
Miriam Margoyles returns to the cast following her Call the Midwife debut in 2018’s Christmas special, as the team travel to an idyllic Scottish island to provide much needed support for the residents. Jenny Agutter (Sister Julienne), Linda Bassett (Nurse Crane), Judy Parfitt (Sister Monica Joan) and Fenella Woolgar (Sister Hilda) also star.
Christmas Day Bake Off – Channel 4 @ 8pm
Prue, Paul, Noel and Sandy return to the tent not once but twice over the festive period with two exciting specials.
The first sees favourites from previous seasons – including 2017’s Yan and Tom as well as Briony and Terry from 2018 – return to the tent, and will apparently feature a performance from Status Quo.
The second festive edition will form part of New Year’s Day’s TV offering, and will see the cast of hit sitcom Derry girls put their baking skills to the test.
Strictly Come Dancing - Christmas Day at 4:40pm
Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman return to host another festive extravaganza this year.
Six famous faces from previous series – including Joe Sugg and Gemma Atkinson – will pull their dancing shoes on one more time as they bid to impress the studio audience and take home the special Christmas trophy.
SPECIAL CHRISTMAS DRAMAS
A Christmas Carol - 22nd-24th December at 9pm
Few literary works have been adapted with quite as much regularity as Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, and with good reason – the 19th century fable remains the king of all Christmas stories.
This time it’s Guy Pearce’s turn to follow in the footsteps of Albert Finney, Patrick Stewart and Michael Caine and declare “Bah, humbug!” The Australian actor is joined in this three-part special by Charlotte Riley, Stephen Graham, Andy Serkis and Vinette Robinson.
Worzel Gummidge - St Stephen's Day at 6:20pm, 27th December at 7pm
The classic children’s sitcom is set for a festive reboot, with Mackenzie Crook replacing Jon Pertwee as the eponymous scarecrow who comes to life. Based on the classic children’s books by Barbara Euphan Todd, it will consist of two hour-long episodes.
Both were written by Detectorists star Crook himself, with a slew of comedy legends – including Michael Palin, Zoë Wanamaker, Steve Pemberton and Vicki Pepperdine – joining him in the cast.
The Trial of Christine Keeler - 29th-30th December at 9pm
The Christmas period wouldn’t be complete without a new prestige drama from the BBC – and this year we’ll be treated to a historical series based on an infamous 1960’s scandal.
The six-parter, which boasts an impressive cast including Sophie Cookson, James Norton, Ellie Bamber and Ben Miles, focuses on the woman at the heart of the Profumo Affair – Christine Keeler. It tells a human story about the sexual and cultural politics of an iconic moment in history.
WHAT TO WATCH ON NETFLIX
The ultimate binge is a Netflix series so here are a few to crash out in front of this Christmas:
YOU Season 2
When we last saw Joe (Penn Badgley) his heart was tragically broken and his past just caught up with him in the form of long-lost ex-girlfriend Candace (Ambyr Childers) -- a woman now hell-bent on teaching him a lesson. Season two finds him on the run from Candace -- leaving New York City for his own personal hell: Los Angeles. He’s fresh out of an intense relationship that ended in murder. The last thing he expects is to meet an incredible new woman but he’s falling in love again — with a woman named Love (Victoria Pedretti). Is history repeating? Or will this time be the real thing? Joe’s just crazy enough to risk finding out.
The second season is set to release on Netflix on December 26, 2019.
6 Underground (Now on Netflix)
What's the best part of being dead? It isn't escaping your boss, your ex, or even erasing your criminal record. The best part about being dead...is the freedom. The freedom to fight the injustice and evil that lurk in our world without anyone or anything to slow you down or tell you “no.”
6 Underground introduces a new kind of action hero. Six individuals from all around the globe, each the very best at what they do, have been chosen not only for their skill, but for a unique desire to delete their pasts to change the future. The team is brought together by an enigmatic leader (Ryan Reynolds), whose sole mission in life is to ensure that, while he and his fellow operatives will never be remembered, their actions damn sure will
A Christmas Prince: The Royal Baby (Now on Netflix)
Christmas brings the ultimate gift to Aldovia: a royal baby. But first, Queen Amber must help her family and kingdom by finding a missing peace treaty.
