Some of our night time saviours are getting a festive makeover, with a number of Christmas TV specials set to grace our screens this month. So grab your festive tipple of choice, turn on those Christmas tree lights and read on for our top picks for the 2024 festive season.
1. Call The Midwife
What a treat, it’s Christmas, and Call The Midwife will be airing not one, but two Christmas specials for 2024! All the regular, well-loved characters will return for a Christmas set in 1969 where the Nonnatus midwives are in their element, all busy delivering babies and doing the job they are most dedicated and committed to.
The funfair comes to Poplar, adding a burst of colour and excitement to the frosty landscape but there are other visitors to the borough – including influenza and the Hong Kong flu. As Poplar also prepares for a carol concert, the neighbourhood is gripped by the news of an escaped prisoner and fears grow that he may be in the local area after a spate of break-ins.
The Turner children are caught up in the fever surrounding the Blue Peter Christmas appeal to collect dinky cars and scrap metal. Trixie makes a fleeting visit to Nonnatus House and is delighted to see her brother Geoffrey, and Miss Higgins has her grandson Harry stay for Christmas. Violet hosts a mince pie competition but the Buckles’ preparations for Reggie’s homecoming are thrown into turmoil.
🕒 Part one will be shown on Christmas Day at 8pm, and part two on Boxing Day at 7.30pm, on BBC One and iPlayer.
2. All Creatures Great and Small
Channel 5’s cosiest drama is back for a festive special this year! Beloved vet James Herriot is balancing the excitement of their son Jimmy’s first birthday with the festive season alongside Helen, while the capricious Siegfried Farnon is guiding Tristan in the right direction as he embarks on an important wartime mission. Meanwhile, Mrs Hall is busy preparing for Christmas when she is shaken by unexpected news.
🕒 Showing on December 23 at 9pm on Channel 5.
3. A Nonsense Christmas with Sabrina Carpenter
Not all TV is terrestrial, and this year pop princess Sabrina Carpenter has her very own TV special on Netflix. Sabrina manages to jingles all the bells in her first-ever variety music special full of holiday hits, unexpected duets and comedic cameos, and it’ll give you that festive feeling with a bit of cheekiness on the side.
🕒 Available now on Netflix.
4. The Great Christmas Bake Off
Join the Bake Off crew for a pre-Santa trip into the Tent on Christmas Eve as celebs including EastEnders‘ Dean Gaffney, Emmerdale and Hollyoaks star Sheree Murphy and Coronation Street‘s Shobna Gulati, EastEnders‘ Natalie Cassidy and Coronation Street and Emmerdale star Chris Bisson, embark on a real soap special.
The line-up has also been announced for the Great New Year’s Bake Off for 2025, with a host of former contestants returning to the tent. These include Kevin, Norman, Nicky, James, Lea and Peter.
🕒 The Christmas special will be showing on Christmas Eve at 8pm on Channel 4.
5. Strictly Come Dancing
As the Ballroom is once again transformed into a magical winter wonderland, the celebrities behind the all-star advent calendar doors this year are officially being revealed. Expect festive cheer, jingle bells, mistletoe madness, bedazzling baubles and six celebrities all sleighing their way to Elstree in a bid to be crowned the Strictly Christmas Champion 2024.
Paralympian Billy Monger, soap star Tamzin Outhwaite, Gladiator Harry Aikines-Aryeetey, AKA Nitro, presenter Vogue Williams, comedian Josh Widdicombe and drag star Tayce will all be taking to the floor for the Strictly Come Dancing Christmas Special 2024, and we can’t wait.
🕒 Showing Christmas Day at 3.55pm on BBC One and iPlayer.
6. EastEnders Christmas Special
All roads in EastEnders have been gearing up for the fateful Christmas storyline, expected to include the lies of Cindy Beale finally spilling out for all her family to learn, while another plot will involve Denise Fox receiving a special gift. There will be two episodes on Christmas Day, making sure to leave you on the edge of your seat when both finish.
🕒 Showing Christmas Day at 7.30pm and 10.35pm on BBC One and iPlayer.
7. Big Fat Quiz of the Year
This golden favourite is back for another installment this year, with comedy legend Jimmy Carr taking the reins once more. Teams consist of Richard Ayoade, Katherine Ryan, Rob Beckett, Judi Love, Chris McCausland and Maisie Adam, and they’ll be answering all the questions they can with plenty of humour thrown in throughout the show.
🕒 Showing on Friday 27 December at 9pm on Channel 4.
8. Gavin and Stacey
It’s five years since we left Nessa down on one knee declaring her love for Smithy and asking him to marry her. And a lot has happened in those five years. In Barry, Bryn’s packing the Picasso in readiness for a trip to Essex; Stacey and Gavin are looking for new ways to spice up their seventeen year marriage and Gwen is behaving most strangely. Nessa’s started a new business venture and Neil the Baby’s about to begin an apprenticeship with his dad.
Over in Billericay, Pam is stressing out at the prospect of playing hostess, not helped by a newly retired Mick practicing his golf swings in the living room and there have been more ups and downs in Pete and Dawn’s relationship. Join the journey to Barry and Billericay and catch up with the Shipmans and the Wests for the very last time – and maybe find out what exactly did happen on that fishing trip…
🕒 Watch Gavin & Stacey: The Finale from 9pm on Christmas Day on BBC One and iPlayer.
9. Jools’ Annual Hootenanny
Ringing in 2025 in style, Jools Holland’s annual Hootenanny sees a host of musical guests, featuring songs from 2024 and across the decades for the ultimate New Year’s Eve party. This year, he is joined by Kathy Sledge, Roger Taylor, JADE, Jungle, CMAT, Paul Carrack, The Boomtown Rats, Marc Almond, Toby Lee and Ruby Turner.
🕒 Showing on New Year’s Eve at 11.30pm on BBC One and iPlayer.
10. The Weakest Link
Romesh Ranganathan brings his festive cheer to a star-studded Christmas special of The Weakest Link. Eight celebrities will initially have to work together to try to win up to £50,000 for their individual chosen charity in one of the world’s most iconic quizzes. Each round, one player will be voted the weakest link by their fellow contestants and leave with nothing. Who will be crowned the strongest link and take the prize ho-ho-home?
The festive line-up is Shaun Ryder, Kerry Katona, Phil Tufnell, Sally Lindsay, Big Has, Tim Vine, Heather Peace and Indiyah Polack.
🕒 Showing on Christmas Day at 3.10pm on BBC One and iPlayer.