The Sunday Times - UK (2021-12-19)

19 December 2021 45

THE BEST TV FROM PRIME VIDEO AND BEYOND... MONDAY 20 DECEMBER

What We Were Watching

(BBC4, 8pm)

Grace Dent slips on her

finest velveteen frock

for a flick through some

magazine called Radio

Times (never ’eard of it ...)

and a joyful reprise of what

we were watching during

the Christmas holidays

in 1991. The aptly named

Noel Edmonds ruled the

Christmas schedules then;

bearded and red-faced, he

dispensed his largesse live to

viewers on the 25th in Noel’s

12 Christmas Presents and

returned on Boxing Day for

a celebrity edition of Telly

Addicts. It was a time of Miss

Marple and Detective Chief

Inspector Wexford, of film

premieres (back when that

meant something), of Top of

the Pops and Only Fools and,

of course The Queen, ever

steadfast at 3pm.

Helen Stewart

Party on down (BBC2, 9.30pm)

ON DEMAND

Whatever Happened To
The Likely Lads? (Britbox)

There is a school of thought

that insists this edition of Dick

Clement and Ian La Frenais’
masterful comedy, originally

broadcast on December 24,

1974, is the finest Christmas

television sitcom episode ever
made. The final small-screen

School Of Chocolate (Netflix)

Still missing Bake Off? Try this

American confection in which

eight top pastry chefs are

challenged by chocolatier

Amaury Guichon to create

show-stopping, gravity-

defying pastries. Come for the

stunning illusion cakes and

mind-boggling galettes but stay

for all the showboating hubris,

the internecine squabbling and

delicious just deserts.

Andrew Male

instalment of five series that

had begun ten years earlier, it

captures two former school

pals, Bob and Terry (Rodney

Bewes and James Bolam), now

middle-aged yet still holding

on to a friendship that is close

to threadbare. This particular

episode is so powerful because

the series’ themes of ageing,

nostalgia and melancholy are

so exquisitely bound up in the

trappings of the season.

Andrew Male

Evidently turkey town: John Cooper Clarke can see Mandy’s future (BBC2, 10pm)

We Wish You A Mandy

Christmas (BBC2, 10pm)

Mandy (Diane Morgan) has

little time for Christmas,

and her creator, too, seems

to have a sulky, mocking

attitude to its traditions and

demands. Here, just two

minutes extra make the

episode a “special”, and

Morgan’s couldn’t-care-less

plot is yet another reworking

of A Christmas Carol. As the

heroine drinks herself into

a festive stupor while her

best friend, Lola (Michelle

Greenidge), also languishes

alone, three ghosts appear

on her doorstep. Johnny

Vegas reminds her of a

childhood family meal;

Pearce Quigley takes her

flying through the present-

day sky; and John Cooper

Clarke steals the concluding

scenes, offering a troubling

glimpse of her future.

John Dugdale

Jamie — Together At

Christmas (C4, 8pm)

After showing off his tear-and-

share party-catering skills last
week, tonight Jamie Oliver

showcases his ideas for a

sit-down family Christmas

dinner. No turkey here:
instead, Oliver pushes a mixed

roast of pork, chicken and

beef — unfortunately, not

stuffed inside each other in
decadent Roman style.

Elsewhere, there is a less

meat-heavy vegetable crown,

a smoked salmon starter with
an “easy rainbow remoulade”

and a twist on bread-and-

butter pudding, all served up

for the delectation of Oliver’s
adoring family in an idyllic

Christmas setting. After all

this time, he still makes it

look so easy.
Victoria Segal

Love Not War — A Christmas

Concert (Sky Max, 8pm)

Filmed on November 21 this

year at London’s Troxy venue,

this event brought together

Bastille, Elbow, Ellie Goulding,

Miles Kane, Corinne Bailey

Rae and Rudimental to

perform in aid of Choose Love

and War Child, charities that

support refugees and children

living in conflict zones.

Would I Lie To You?

(BBC1, 8.30pm)

With a sleigh bell remixed

theme tune to indicate

festivity, the popular panel

show tonight poses seasonal

posers such as “Did Angela

Rippon high kick Terry

Wogan at a BBC Christmas

party?” and whether or not

Dame Judi Dench made a

cushion for Jim Broadbent.

Two Doors Down

(BBC2, 9.30pm)

This droll Scottish comedy

brings the residents of Latimer

Crescent together for drinks at

a nervous Michelle and Alan’s.

Watch beyond the end credits,

when renowned Glaswegian

glamourpuss Elaine C Smith

brings the house down as

dowdy whinger Christine.

Helen Stewart

CRITICS’ CHOICE

Was this the fabled

golden age of TV?

Last Train To Christmas

(Sky Cinema Premiere,

10am/8pm)

Rail travel becomes time travel

in this comic drama (debuting

on Sky). Michael Sheen’s

character, a selfish nightclub-

owner with Peter Stringfellow

hair, boards a train in the

1980s but soon finds that

every carriage exists in a

different decade of his life.

His journey of self-discovery

lasts rather too long, and its

route is limited by a TV-movie

budget, but there are droll

and crafty ideas all along the

way. Dir: Julian Kemp (2021)

South Pacific (BBC2, 3.50pm)

Following 1956’s Carousel

(1.45pm) in a double bill of

Rodgers and Hammerstein

musicals on BBC2 today, this

colourful take on the pair’s

tale of love and war gives us

classic songs amid Hawaiian

locations. The suave Rossano

Brazzi and the ever-zestful

Mitzi Gaynor lead the cast.

Dir: Joshua Logan (1958)

Aykroyd and Murphy (SCD, 10pm)

FILM CHOICE

Moana (BBC1, 3.05pm)

A tonic on a winter’s day, this

Disney cartoon is remarkably

sunny even by the studio’s

standards. The heroine of its

mythic tale is a Polynesian

girl on a seafaring quest and

the images of Pacific islands

and crystal-blue water are

glorious. Also good for your

spirits are the film’s catchy

songs (by a team including

Lin-Manuel Miranda) and the

exuberance of Moana’s chief

ally: a hefty demigod with the

voice of Dwayne Johnson.

Co-dirs: Ron Clements, John

Musker (2016)

Trading Places

(Sky Cinema Drama, 10pm)

Starring Eddie Murphy and

Dan Aykroyd as men exploited

by a pair of Wall Street

schemers, this comedy is a

Christmas film that banks on

acerbic humour and largely

divests itself of schmaltz. Its

cast and its ambience could

hardly be more redolent of

the 1980s, but its screwball

plot has an ageless appeal.

Dir: John Landis (1983)

Edward Porter