BBC programming has been announced for this year’s Christmas and New Year period, including new series, one-off specials and returning favourites.
Call the Midwife, Death in Paradise, Mrs Brown’s Boys, Motherland and Ghosts. are among the Beeb’s festive highlights.
A dramatic Christmas in Albert Square will mark Danny Dyer’s final appearance as Mick Carter, while there will be specials of Two Doors Down, The Cleaner, and Detectorists. Inside No. 9 has produced its second ever Christmas special, and Happy Valley and His Dark Materials are back for third and final seasons. There is also a brand-new two-part drama called Mayflies, which stars Martin Compston, Tony Curran, and Ashley Jensen.
The entertainment slate includes Michael McIntyre’s The Wheel, Blankety Blank, Strictly Come Dancing, The Hit List, Would I Lie to You, University Challenge, QI, Festive House of Games and The Graham Norton Show.
Additionally, comedian Mo Gilligan will host That’s My Jam, a music game show featuring celebrities taking on supersized musical challenges.
There will be a new adaptation of Coppélia which combines enchanting animation and live action dance in a modern take on the much-loved ballet and Choreographer and director Matthew Bourne’s Nutcracker offers a distinctive contemporary take on the classic Christmas tale plus one of the world’s leading forensic investigators, Professor Dame Sue Black, will deliver this year’s Christmas Lectures from the Royal Institution.
Dame Mary Berry will be joined by Angela Hartnett, Monica Galetti and Rylan Clark for her Ultimate Christmas feast, while Sally Phillips will host her own one-off program My Life at Christmas, which will feature three celebrities talking about their memories of past Christmas celebrations.
Dynasties II, Snow Dogs in the Wild, and the brand new Frozen Planet II: Worlds of Wonder will all be available for natural history enthusiasts, while Oti Mabuse will read the story of the first Christmas from the Gospel according to St Luke in On Christmas Night.
A one-off program featuring Sir Cliff Richard and Sara Cox will celebrate his incredible 64-year career, while Top of the Pops and Jools Holland’s Hootenanny both return.
There will be animated adaptations of Charlie Mackesy’s The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse and Julia Donaldson’s The Smeds and the Smoos, while other shows suitable for children include a new take on the classic pantomime Dick Whittington and David Walliams’s Gangsta Granny Strikes Again!
Additionally, Live at The Apollo, Great British Sewing Bee, MasterChef, The Repair Shop, and Antiques Roadshow will have festive specials. Mark Gattis will be starring as Jacob Marley in a filmed version of his stage production of A Christmas Carol and will also be bringing to the Beeb his latest ghost story, Count Magnus.
Charlotte Moore, BBC’s Chief Content Officer, noted of the line-up:
“Nothing brings people across the UK together like Christmas on the BBC and this year we’ve got a world-class line-up like no other. Get ready to escape and be entertained with an incredible range of new festive shows across every genre, live or on demand, there’s something for everyone.”
