Forget the tree, forget the parties, forget the dinner – Christmas TV is the most important present of all. We're still waiting to hear about release dates, but the schedule so far looks a treat.
From Steven Knight's bleak reworking of A Christmas Carol to the exciting return of Gavin & Stacey, here are our top five picks for Christmas 2019
Charles Dickens’ existential classic has enjoyed infinite versions over the years. Has it run out of things to say? Apparently not.
Maybe we can trust that Peaky Blinders writer Steven Knight, a dark and excellent force in TV writing, will offer something different. This three-part adaptation is claimed to be ‘haunting’, ‘hallucinatory’ and ‘spine-tingling’. Considering Knight’s stylistic talent, especially with bleak period dramas, he’s certain to deliver an unforgettable journey.
With Guy Pearce (Mary Queen of Scots) as Scrooge, Andy Serkis (Black Panther) as the Ghost of Christmas Past, and Stephen Graham (The Irishman, The Virtues, Line of Duty) as Jacob Marley, this could be the BBC event of the season.
Benedict Cumberbatch, David Oyelowo, Tamsin Greig and Paul Whitehouse star in this brand-new, hand-drawn animation based on Judith Kerr’s classic. The Tiger Who Came to Tea tells of a tiger (Oyelowo) who turns up, unannounced, in want of tea – but ends up guzzling the family’s food and water supplies.
The half-hour treat on Christmas Eve will dive into the whole story, and even venture into places unexplored – all to original songs performed by Robbie Williams. The young protagonist Sophie will be played by seven-year-old newcomer Clara Ross.
Part of Christmas tradition is watching the same seasonal movies every year, no matter what. And, despite its relatively short shelf life, Elf has cemented itself into the annual routine – as much as A Christmas Carol, as much as It’s A Wonderful Life.
We can’t wait to revisit Will Ferrell in jolly yellow tights, James Caan as his grumpy Scrooge of a father, and an early Peter Dinklage (ie, Tyrion from Game of Thrones) as the capitalistic children’s author Miles Finch.
Last Christmas, Mark Gatiss (Sherlock, Doctor Who) lifted and frightened a million hearts when he rebooted the classic BBC Ghost Story for Christmas with The Dead Room – heavily inspired by short-story writer MR James.
This year, Gatiss returns to haunt this most wonderful time of the year, writing and directing a TV adaptation of James’s courtroom ghost tale Martin’s Close.
Set in 1684, a complicated murder trial is presided over by the prosecutor Dolben (Peter Capaldi). John Martin is accused of killing a young girl, but that young girl has been seen after her supposed death. Knowing both the reputations of James and Gatiss, there’s bound to be a chilling, supernatural explanation…
As Nessa might say: what's been occurring, these past nine years?
The Wests and the Shipmans are spending this Christmas in Wales! And Bryn (Rob Brydon) is in charge of preparing Christmas dinner for 13 people... and he's understandably tense.
Gavin (Matt Horne) and Stacey (Joanna Page) are in their tenth year of parenthood, but they continue to find new challenges with their son. Equally, Smithy (James Corden) dedicates as much time as he can to his own son, Neil – seeing him at weekends and every second Wednesday.
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Call the Midwife has secured a slot on Christmas day every year since 2012, such is its baby-birthing, period drama popularity. 2019 is, of course, no different and serves to deliver the ninth volume in this comfortable, funny and sometimes tragic series.
Mother Mildred (Miriam Margolyes) has had divine inspiration to set up a branch house in the Outer Hebrides, which suffers a shortage of doctors and nurses. Some of the team can’t wait to join and collectively breathe the fresh Scottish air. But they face great suspicion from the isolated locals.
Meanwhile, in Poplar, a bout of influenza spreads through Nonnatus House, and Reggie (Daniel Laurie) tries to break a world record.
The BBC reaches back into Britain’s political history for an adulterous tale that scandalised the nation.
In the 60s, Secretary of State for War John Profumo was accused of having an extra-marital affair with the 19-year-old dancer Christine Keeler. As in the Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinsky scandal, Profumo strenuously denied the allegations until further evidence proved them to be true – dismantling Harold Macmillan’s Tory government.
The Trial of Christine Keeler follows these events in a six-part series, which stars Sophie Cookson (Greed, Kingsman), Emilia Fox (Silent Witness, Strangers), James Norton (Mr Jones, Little Women) and Ellie Bamber (Les Miserables).
FW Murnau tackled Bram Stoker’s classic novel in 1922 with Nosferatu; Universal kicked off their horror saga with Dracula in 1931; and Christopher Lee became the defining Hammer horror Dracula of the 50s, 60s and 70s.
Now, Sherlock writers Mark Gatiss and Steven Moffatt are re-animating the blood-sucking Count for a new, three-part BBC adaptation. What a way to kick off 2020!
This time, Dracula – here played by Danish actor Claes Bang (The Square, The Girl in the Spider's Web) – is the hero of his own story; he's not just a shapeshifting antagonist. Gatiss has also promised more blood and gore in this version, ensuring that the infamous vampire will fly into people's nightmares again.
Since Daleks were spotted on the Bristol Suspension Bridge in October, the new series of Doctor Who couldn't come soon enough.
In Jodie Whittaker’s second outing as the immortal, time- and space-travelling Doctor, series 12 sees the whole ‘fam’ returning with Yaz (Mandip Gill), Ryan (Tosin Cole) and Graham (Bradley Walsh) as well as a few familiar enemies. The Daleks had no spot in the recent trailer, but it also revealed the Judoon and the Cybermen.
We will also see guest appearances from Sir Lenny Henry and Stephen Fry.
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