the times | Saturday December 18 2021 saturday review 49
Christmas Eve
BBC1 BBC2 ITV
6.00am Breakfast 9.00 CBeebies
Presents: The Night Before Christmas
(r) 9.50 The Farmer’s Llamas (r) 10.20
Room on the Broom (r) 10.50 The
Gruffalo (r) 11.15 The Gruffalo’s Child
(r) 11.40 FILM Brave (PG, 2012)
Animated fantasy 1.05pm BBC News
at One; Weather 1.20 BBC Regional
News; Weather 1.30 FILM Frozen (PG,
2013) Animated fantasy adventure
with the voice of Kristen Bell
3.00 FILM Abominable (U, 2019)
Animation featuring the voice of
Chloe Bennet. See Film Choice
4.30 FILM Dolittle (PG, 2020)
Fantasy adventure starring Robert
Downey Jr. See Film Choice
6.00 Shaun the Sheep: The Flight
Before Christmas. See Viewing Guide
6.30 BBC News at Six; Weather
6.55 BBC Regional News; Weather7.00 The Repair Shop at Christmas
The experts restore four
beloved festive treasures —
a very special mechanical doll, a
traditional German decoration,
an ageing harmonium and a
train set all the way from Kenya8.00 EastEnders Whitney is in shock
as she uncovers the truth8.30 Top Gear: Driving Home for
Christmas Chris Harris,
Paddy McGuiness and Freddie
Flintoff choose cars for each
other, before setting off on a
yuletide trek across Britain.
See Viewing Guide9.30 I Can See Your Voice Christmas
Special Paddy McGuinness
hosts the mystery singing game
show in which Jimmy Carr,
Alison Hammond, Amanda
Holden and Leona Lewis
attempt to spot good vocalists
without hearing them10.30 The Vicar of Dibley Vicar
Geraldine learns that there
is a heavy price to be paid
for festive kindness (r)11.15 BBC News11.40 Weather11.45 Midnight Mass from St Chad’s
Cathedral, Birmingham1.00am FILM Lost at Christmas (12,
2020) Romantic comedy starring
Natalie Clark, Kenny Boyle, Sylvester
McCoy and Frazer Hines 2.35 The NFL
Show. Including Tennessee Titans v
San Francisco 49ers 3.10 Weather for
the Week Ahead 3.15 BBC News6.20am Sign Zone: Walking with Jim
Moir (r) (SL) 6.50 Nadiya’s Fast
Flavours (r) (SL) 7.20 The Polar Bear
Family and Me (r) 8.20 Heaven Made
(r) 9.20 FILM Fixing Up Christmas
(PG, TVM, 2021) Festive romance
starring Marshall Williams 10.45 A
Taste of Christmas with Andi Oliver (r)
11.45 Homes Under the Hammer (r)
12.15pm Bargain Hunt (r) 1.05 Great
Alaskan Railroad Journeys. Michael
Portillo travels north from Skagway to
Carcross. Last in the series (r) 1.35
FILM To Catch a Thief (PG, 1955)
Alfred Hitchcock’s mystery starring
Cary Grant 3.20 FILM North By
Northwest (PG, 1959) Hitchcock
thriller 5.35 Dad’s Army. Captain
Mainwaring’s brother visits (r)
6.15 Carols from King’s. The annual
celebration. See Viewing Guide6.00am Good Morning Britain 9.00
Lorraine 10.00 Loose Women 11.00
FILM Nativity Rocks! (U, 2018) Family
comedy starring Simon Lipkin
12.55pm ITV News; Weather 1.10
Regional News; Weather 1.20 The
Brits Are Coming (r) 2.20 Michael
Bublé’s Christmas in the City (r) 3.25
Shrek the Halls (r) 3.55 Tipping Point:
Lucky Stars Christmas Special.
Celebrity edition of the quiz, in which
contestants answer questions to win
turns on an arcade-style machine.
Featuring Anton Du Beke, Scarlett
Moffatt and Bobby Norris 4.55 ITV
News; Weather 5.15 Regional News;
Weather 5.30 The Chase Celebrity
Christmas Special. With Lesley
Joseph, Judge Jules, Jenni Falconer
and Patrick Kielty 6.30 Gino’s Italian
Family Adventure: A Festive Feast7.00 Emmerdale Manpreet feels
floored by her discovery7.30 Royal Carols: Together at
Christmas The Duchess of
Cambridge hosts carols
from Westminster Abbey, an
event blending Christian,
secular and multi-faith
moments. See Viewing Guide8.30 Coronation Street
Nina declines Asha’s invitation
to spend Christmas
with the Alahans9.00 Bradley & Barney: Breaking
Dad at Christmas The Walshes
head to Iceland for an epic
Christmas adventure, with
Barney taking his dad well out
of his comfort zone with some
extraordinary activities10.00 Spitting Image: Christmas
Special Festive edition with the
latex lookalikes, including Elton
John. See Viewing Guide10.30 Christmas Comedy Club with
Lost Voice Guy The Britain’s Got
Talent winner hosts this festive
special with guests Bill Bailey,
Rosie Jones, Omid Djalili
and Joel Dommett11.30 ITV News; followed by Weather11.45 Christmas Carols on ITV12.45am The Jonathan Ross Show.
With Bradley Walsh, Roisin Conaty,
Andrew Garfield, Tom Hollander and
Leona Lewis (r) 1.40 Paul O’Grady’s
Saturday Night Christmas Line Up (r)
2.30 FYI Extra 2.45 Moneyball (r) (SL)
3.40 Unwind with ITV 5.00 CITV7.30 Christmas University
Challenge Corpus Christi,
Cambridge take on
St Anne’s, Oxford (5/10)8.00 Gardeners’ World Winter
Specials Monty Don creates a
winter interest container filled
with seasonal favourites, and
Joe Lycett talks to Carol Klein
about his new found love of
gardening. Last in the series9.00 Vienna Blood When a fanatical
monk, Brother Stanislav, has
been found brutally murdered
in his monastery, suspicion
falls on a religious Jew,
Isaak Korngold, who had
reprimanded the monk for
spreading anti-Semitic rhetoric.
See Viewing Guide (3/3)10.30 A Ghost Story for Christmas:
The Mezzotint Adaptation of
MR James’s supernatural tale.
See Viewing Guide11.00 FILM Amazing Grace (U, 2018)
Concert recording of Aretha
Franklin’s 1972 gospel album, a
film that remained unreleased
at the time and only saw
the light of day in 2018,
after the singer’s death12.30am Carole King and Friends at
Christmas. The singer-songwriter
performs festive classics (r) 1.30
The Carpenters at the BBC (r) 2.05
Sign Zone: The Hairy Bikers Go North
for Christmas (r) (SL) 3.05-4.05 Inside
the Christmas Factory (r) (SL)8.00 The Greatest Snowman
Sue Perkins follows Johnny
Vegas, Laurence Llewelyn-
Bowen, Dani Dyer, Liam Charles
and Cherry Healey as they
compete in an epic snowman-
building competition9.30 8 Out of 10 Cats Does
Countdown Christmas Special
Jon Richardson and Sarah
Millican take on Lee Mack and
Jason Manford, joined by
guests Nick Mohammed and
Joe Wilkinson in this festive
edition hosted by Jimmy Carr10.30 The Last Leg Christmas Eve
Special Adam Hills, Josh
Widdicombe and Alex Brooker
are joined by guests Joanna
Lumley and Big Zuu for
a merriment-packed
Christmas edition11.30 Friday Night Dinner: 10 Years
and a Lovely Bit of Squirrel
A celebration of sitcom
Friday Night Dinner (r)1.00am Friday Night Dinner (r)
2.20 The Secret World of Toys at
Christmas (r) 3.15 Hollyoaks Omnibus
5.15 Countdown (r) 5.55 FILM Rugrats
in Paris: The Movie (U, 2000)
Animated adventure with the
voice of Christine CavanaughChannel 4 Channel 5
6.20am FILM The Little Penguin
Pororo’s Racing Adventure (U, 2013)
Animated adventure 7.30 FILM
The Rugrats Movie (U, 1998)
Animated comedy 9.05 Quentin
Blake’s Clown (r) 9.30 FILM Christmas
Encore (PG, TVM, 2017) Romantic
drama starring Maggie Lawson and
Brennan Elliott 11.20 Channel 4 News
Summary 11.25 The Bear (r) 11.55
We’re Going on a Bear Hunt (r)
12.30pm Father Christmas (r) 1.00
A Baby Reindeer’s First Christmas (r)
2.00 FILM It’s a Wonderful Life (U,
1946) Fantasy drama starring James
Stewart. See Film Choice (b/w) 4.40
Channel 4 News 5.00 The Snowman
(r) 5.35 The Snowman and the
Snowdog. Sequel to The Snowman (r)
6.00 FILM Home Alone (PG, 1990)
Family comedy with Macaulay Culkin6.00am Milkshake! 9.15 Friends (r)
10.05 FILM A Gingerbread Christmas
Romance (PG, TVM, 2018)
Romantic drama starring Tia
Mowry-Hardrict and Duane Henry
11.55 FILM Scrooge (U, 1970) Musical
adaptation of Charles Dickens’
A Christmas Carol starring Albert
Finney and Alec Guinness 2.15pm
FILM Christmas with the Kranks
(PG, 2004) Festive comedy starring
Jamie Lee Curtis and Tim Allen
4.20 FILM Deck the Halls (PG, 2006)
Two neighbours feud over who has
the best Christmas lights and end up
resorting to desperate measures
to outdo each other. Comedy starring
Danny DeVito and Matthew Broderick
6.10 Ball & Boe: Back Together
at Christmas. Michael Ball and
Alfie Boe perform at the O2 Arena8.00 World’s Most Expensive
Christmas Cruise
Cameras explore the
Seven Seas Splendor as it sets
sail on its maiden Yuletide
voyage this Christmas9.00 All Creatures Great and Small
Christmas Special James and
Helen question their future
together in the run-up to
Christmas Day, while things
look grave for one of
Darrowby’s animals.
See Viewing Guide (7/7)10.10 1979: Britain’s Biggest 70s Hits
A look at the biggest-selling
singles of 1979, the best pop
videos, and the artists who
appeared in them (10/10)11.35 70s Greatest Electro Pop
A look back at some of the
best synth pop artists and
tracks of the 1970s12.35am 70s Greatest Novelty
Records (r) 1.30 Most Shocking
Celebrity Moments 2017 (r) 3.55
Entertainment News on 5 4.10
Friends (r) 4.55 House Doctor (r) (SL)
5.20 House Doctor (r) (SL) 5.45
Cruising with Jane McDonald (r)A shock for Whitney (8pm) Classic film To Catch a Thief (1.35pm) A festive Spitting Image (10pm) The Greatest Snowman (8pm) Michael Ball and Alfie Boe (6.10pm)
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