Doctor Who Christmas Special
Other than hoards of presents, Christmas brings with it a whole host of great television. Female First takes a sneaky look at the festive highlights.
Christmas Eve
On Christmas Eve viewers are treated to Christmas at the Riviera (ITV1, 9pm) which will probably make you happy that youre at home in England rather than in this farcical hotel.
Put on your dancing shoes and enjoy the hour long special of When Joseph met Maria (BBC1, 7pm) which sees the winners of last years How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria and this years Any Dream Will Do come together for this entertainment extravaganza.To keep you away from trying to guess what your presents are, a moral lesson is learnt in the 1999 adaption of the Christmas classic, A Christmas Carol(Channel 4, 7:15pm) as well as the gorgeous Johnny Depp and his companions in Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (BBC1, 8:30pm) racing to save the governors kidnapped daughter and save Captain Jack Sparrows beloved ship.
Christmas Day
As Christmas Day draws to an end and the house is strewn with discarded wrapping paper, plus you feel like youve eaten enough food to last you well into 2008, you might want to settle down and watch Kylie Minogue make a special guest appearance in Doctor Who (BBC1, 6:50pm) as the Time Lord gets a sinking feeling when he finds himself going down with the Titanic.
As usual, the Queen delivers her annual speech (BBC1 & Channel 4, 3pm) with an alternative on Channel 4 at 8:05pm.Soap fans are in for a treat as cheating love rats Max and Johns deception comes out in Eastenders (BBC1, 6:20pm & 8pm) and Coronation Street (ITV1, 8pm) and there is a dramatic showdown in Emmerdale (ITV1, 6:50pm) as Perdy confronts Gray over Matthews proclaimed innocence.As if you didnt get enough for Christmas, families can enjoy a whole host of quality films throughout the day. Kids films include the fishy tale Finding Nemo (BBC1, 3:10pm) followed immediately by the second film featuring our favourite ogre Shrek 2. (BBC1, 4:40pm) The Polar Express (ITV1, 5pm) will also premiere on
Hopeless romantics will be happy to hear that Gone With The Wind will make a welcome appearance on BBC2 (11:15am) giving us all the chance to shed a little tear over a young Clark Gable and Vivien Leigh as lovers torn apart by the American Civil War.
If Love Actually (ITV1, 9:30pm) and Speed ( BBC1, 11:25) dont leave you loved up or revved up, The Motorcycle Diaries (Channel 4, 10:35pm) surely will, as it follows the real-life journey of Ernesto Guevara through South America, inspiring him to change from light-hearted student to revolutionary. We all know the feeling of the morning after the night before, so on Boxing Day there are plenty of reasons to snuggle under a blanket on the sofa and watch TV.
Kids movies dominate most of the early viewing with BBC1 offering detective work in Spy Kids, (11:05pm) Petrol-Fuelled drama in Herbie: Fully Loaded (3:10pm) and monster laughs as a human girl finds herself trapped inside scream factory Monsters Inc. (5:35pm) and ITV contributing with feline fun in Garfield (5.35pm)
James Bond makes his usual Christmas appearance in Moonraker (ITV1, 3pm) as Roger Moore investigates the disappearance of a space shuttle. Whilst over in The Terminal (BBC2, 7pm) Tom Hanks finds that a coup has taken place in his country, thus rendering him stateless, so he is confined to the JFK airport lounge by security.
Novel adaptions look set to keep drama fans entertained with Noel Streatfields, Ballet Shoes (BBC1, 8:30pm) which follows the trials and tribulations of adopted three sisters and Charles Dickens, The Old Curiosity Shop (ITV, 9pm) which sees Little Nell Trent and her gambling Grandfather trying to escape loan sharks.
If, on the other hand, you just want to sit back and have a laugh whilst you nurse your Christmas hangover, there are plenty to great shows looking to do just that. ITV1 takes a light hearted look back at festive TV in Now Thats What I Call Christmas Television (7:30pm) whilst over on BBC2 from 10pm-12:25am is The Graham Norton Christmas Show, Never Mind The Buzzcocks and Comedy Connections.
If you fancy putting your feet up and learning about the monarchy for six hours, Channel 4 has a whole host of documentaries for you which looks at The Queen Mother in Love (7pm) The Queens Wedding (10pm) and The Queens Sister (11:05pm), as well as David Starkeys documentary which argues whether the monarchys image may be stuck in the past at 8:30pm.
New Year
If youre not heading to a booze-fuelled bash for the New Years Countdown then there are some little gems on TV to see you into 2008.
The Spice Girls are Giving You Everything (BBC1, 7pm) in a one-off documentary providing an insight into life in the band as they prepared to go on their reunion tour. As if that wasnt enough, Take That offer to take you into 2008 from the O2 arena (ITV1, 11:15pm) featuring support from special guests; The Sugarbabes.
Girl With A Pearl Earring is the film of choice over on BBC2 at 9:35pm as a 17-year-old girl becomes a maid in the household of a local artist only to become drawn into his creative world, much to the jealousy of his family.
Theres a Monty Python-fest over on Channel Four as The Secret Life of Brian (Channel 4, 8pm) looks at the ways in which the controversial 1979 film caused uproar amongst religious groups. Then at 9pm we get a chance to see what all the fuss is about as The Life of Brian is played in its full glory before What The Pythons Did Next at 10:45. You might be happy when the festive season finally comes to an end for another year, but in order to go out in style, New Years Day is jam packed with delights for your eyes and ears and what a better way to end it than with the way in which it all began; drooling over Johnny Depp, this time appearing alongside Kate Winslet in Finding Neverland (BBC2, 5:30pm)
Childrens screen classics such as Bedknobs and Broomsticks, (BBC1, 12:20pm) Singin in the Rain, (Channel 5, 3:10pm) The Flintstones (ITV1, 2:25pm) and Mary Poppins (ITV1, 4:05pm) are set to entertain the kids and adults alike.
Richard Hammond races away the winter cobwebs in The Best of Top Gear (BBC2, 9:10pm) alongside pals Jeremy Clarkson and James May before jetting off to meet Evel Knievel in this tribute to the American stunt legend. (BBC2, 11:20pm)
For all you property day dreamers out there, A Multi Million-Pound Place in the Sun follows a family with a £1.5 million budget before the 2005 fantasy adventure, Fantastic Four (which we can probably all relate to a lot better!) premieres on Channel 4 at 8:10pm and finishes just in time for gangster thriller Bonnie and Clyde (ITV1, 11:15pm) which precedes Queen of the Damned at 1:20am for all you blood-thirsty late-nighters. Female First- Ruth Harrison
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