Mrs Brown’s Boys Christmas Special
If you think your house is chaotic on Christmas Day, then try being in the Brown’s. This year’s Christmas special starts with the arrival of a large box for Cathy, the contents of which have Agnes intrigued. Things go downhill for Agnes when she finds out that Rory is getting plastic surgery for Christmas, then things go from bad to worse when she gets the wrong end of the stick about exactly what sort of nips and tucks Rory will be having. A death prompts Winnie to make a life-changing decision that threatens her and Agnes’ lifelong friendship, while Buster Brady’s magical new Christmas tree refuses to co-operate. See, your family isn’t so bad after all…
Mrs Brown’s Boys, Christmas Day, BBC One, 10.05pm
Singin’ in the Rain
A lush, colourful and wonderfully over-the-top classic, there are some people who will refuse to even cook the sprouts until they’ve watched Singin’ in the Rain. And who’s to blame them? There’s never a moment of dead air in Singin’, and we’re still as cheered up by Good Morning as the first time. As well as featuring magnificent performances by Gene Kelly and Debbie Reynolds, scenes are routinely stolen by Donald O’Connor as the piano-playing Cosmo, most remembered for his jaw-dropping routine in Make ’em Laugh. Take one look at Donald’s red hair and freckles, and you might guess he’s one of us — and you’re not wrong. The former vaudevillian’s family hailed from Co. Cork, and was one of the era’s greatest comic performers.
Singin’ in the Rain, St Stephen’s Day, BBC Two, 1.50pm
Carol’s From King’s 1954 airs on Christmas Eve, BBC Four, 7pmCarols from King’s 1954: A Festival of Lessons and Carols
Christmas just ain’t Christmas without a carol service, only when you were a kid, it was more a competition of who can mouth along to Adeste Fideles the most convincingly without getting a clip round the ear from a priest. As time marches on though, our adult selves are strangely drawn to the majesty of a choir, and there’s no better place to find it then on BBC Four. To mark the 60th anniversary of its first broadcast, this restored version of the 1954 service from King’s College Chapel, Cambridge University is getting pride of place in a 7pm time slot. Just think: some of these young choristers are in their 70s or 80s now, hopefully watching from a squishy armchair, remembering mouthing along nervously while trying to remember the words.
Carol’s From King’s 1954, Christmas Eve, BBC Four, 7pm
Father Ted Christmas Special
Yes, we’ve all seen it a million times. But the day we get bored of watching six priests try to escape the largest lingerie department in Ireland on Christmas Eve, is the day we are bored of life. From Ted’s Golden Cleric award (a real award? No one is quite sure) to the gang guessing what’s behind the next advent calendar (“Ruud Gullit sitting on a shed”), the episode is pure comedy magic. It showcases all that is great about Father Ted and why we still love watching it, more than 15 years after the last episode. The big gags are wonderful, of course, but it’s the little ones we come back for. “Welcome to Priest Chatback — if you’re under 18 or NOT a priest, please hang up now.”
Father Ted, Christmas Day, More 4, 8.45pm
Arthur Christmas is a kid and adult-friendly watchArthur Christmas
There’s no shortage of kids movies on TV at Christmas, but not all of them you necessarily want to stay in the room for. That’s what’s brilliant about Arthur Christmas: the perfect mix of funny, heart-warming, and enough winks to the grown-ups in the room to keep everyone happy. As the awkward, clumsy, but nonetheless good-hearted second son of Father Christmas, Arthur spends his days sorting the letters to Santa while cowering in the shadow of his older brother Steve, next in line to wear the Santa hat. Where Steve is coldly efficient, Arthur wants nothing more than to ensure every boy and girl gets what they want every Christmas. After a trip round the world to make sure one little girl isn’t left out, Arthur emerges victorious, and we emerge with tears in our eyes.
Arthur Christmas, Christmas Eve, Channel 4. 4:50pm
Far and Away
On every good Christmas TV list, there has to be at least one item that falls into the ‘so bad it’s good’ category. This year, we’re nominating Far and Away. Yes, it has some of the most atrocious attempts at Irish accents this side of Brad Pitt in The Devil’s Own. But isn’t that kind of why we love it? International superstar Tom Cruise, at the absolute height of his career, plays Joseph Donnelly, a young Irishman struggling to find his feet in the new world with his upper-class wife, Nicole Kidman. Nicole, cailín bán that she is, we can just about believe as a 18th century landowner’s daughter. But Tom? Handsomest man alive, Jerry Maguire, Cocktail-making Tom Cruise, riding a horse across the Irish countryside and getting into bare-knuckled boxing fights? Simply too much.
Far and Away, Saturday, December 27 Five, 6.15pm
Richard E Grant’s takes his Hotel Secrets series to IrelandRichard E Grant’s Hotel Secrets: Ireland
Whether or not you’re spending Christmas in the old country, it’s still nice to play the tourist with Richard E Grant’s wonderful series, Hotel Secrets. There’s no better person than Grant to go on a bit of a jaunt with, and it’s his odd knack for getting hoteliers to open up to him that makes the series so engaging. Paddy, our rep from the famous Ashford Castle in Co. Mayo, describes the ham sandwich he once made for Brad Pitt, and with the utmost reverence, reminds Richard that “I will never forget it”. In the quest to find whether Ireland is “all it’s craic-ed up to be”, Grant even manages to have a whale of a time in Belfast’s Europa, supposedly the most bombed hotel in the world.
Richard E Grant’s Hotel Secrets: Ireland, New Year’s Day, Sky Atlantic, 8pm
Bedknobs and Broomsticks
Before Angela Lansbury was the cunning detective/crime novelist we’ve all come to know and slightly fear in Murder, She Wrote (why do people seem to die when she visits?) she was the all-singing, all-dancing alternative to Julie Andrews. The 1971 Disney classic takes place in a WWII-stricken Britain, when three child evacuees are taken under the wing of Eglantine Price, an apprentice witch who can barely fly her own broomstick. Yes, the special effects might look a bit ropey in 2014, but this is the kind of movie you love for the shabby little cracks in the surface. It’s also a great bonding movie for parents and kids: proof that witchcraft is spellbinding for every age.
Bedknobs and Broomsticks, Monday, December 29 BBC One, 1.40pm
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