For a lot of us, if the run-up to Christmas wasn’t already busy enough as it is, there’s often not a moment to breathe on the big day itself between presents being opened, travelling to see people, entertaining guests, slaving over a hot stove for hours, and eating plenty of food.
Sometimes though, you may find yourself twiddling your thumbs with some time to spare, and that’s why the distraction of festive television is so brilliant.
For others, sitting around to watch the TV is an important part of Christmas itself.
No matter what your situation is, there’s some cracking things to watch on Christmas Day and Boxing Day this year – with classic seasonal films, to festive specials of our favourite shows, and a few family-friendly additions all on the agenda – so, just like we did last year, we have once again rounded-up the best of the bunch to create our TV guide.
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Here’s five of our picks.
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Call The Midwife
BBC One
Christmas Day – 7:55pm
Call The Midwife / Credit: BBC
Beloved BBC drama Call The Midwife is a show that’s become very well-known for its Christmas specials over the years – and 2022 is absolutely no different.
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In this upcoming festive special, as the midwives of Nonnatus House return to our screens to deliver another round of December babies, we’ll get to see the return of Rhoda Mullucks, whose baby was born with birth defects after Dr Turner prescribed her medication – a season 6 plot that tackled the Thalidomide scandal.
You can catch Call The Midwife on BBC One at 7:55pm on Christmas Day.
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Strictly Come Dancing
BBC One
Christmas Day – 5:10pm
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Strictly Come Dancing Christmas Special / Credit: BBC
We’ve all come to expect Strictly Come Dancing Christmas special at this point, haven’t we?
After the iconic ballroom dance competition programme has been bringing us smaller, festive editions of the show we all know and love since 2004, it’s back again this Christmas Day, with celebrity contestants Larry Lamb, Rosie Ramsey, Nicola Roberts, Rickie Haywood-Williams, Alexandra Mardell, and George Webster taking to the floor to impress judges the judges and battle it out for the Christmas glitter ball trophy.
The contestants will also be performing a group routine alongside the professional dancers, and there’ll be some merry musical performances from special guests too.
You can catch Strictly Come Dancing on BBC One at 5:10pm on Christmas Day.
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Ant and Dec’s Christmas Limitless Win
ITV1
Christmas Day – 9:05pm
Ant and Dec’s Christmas Limitless Win / Credit: ITV
Everyone’s favourite TV duo Ant and Dec are back on our screens once again this Christmas Day
This time, with another festive special of their nail-biting game show Limitless Win – with a handful of famous faces all trying their best to climb up the endless money ladder in the hopes of raising funds for some really worthy causes.
Comics Katherine Ryan and Jimmy Carr will be on one team, and will be competing against TV regulars Rylan Clark and David Walliams as they take on the bigger-than-ever money ladder in this tense and nerve-wracking episode.
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You can see Ant and Dec’s Christmas Limitless Win on ITV1 at 9:05pm on Christmas Day.
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The Greatest Snowman
Channel 4
Boxing Day – 7:30pm
The Greatest Snowman / Credit: Channel 4
The Greatest Snowman is back.
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After what was a successful first run last year, Sue Perkins is back hosting another festive special of Channel 4’s snowman-building competition, and fresh from his victory as a contestant in 2021, Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen is also returning to judge other celebrity competitors’ creations, and offer them some artistic tips and advice.
Joined on the judging panel by Swedish sculpting sisters Sara and Emilie Steele, and renowned British sculptor Taslim Martin, this year’s contestants are reality star Gemma “The GC” Collins, choirmaster Gareth Malone, Inbetweeners star Joe Thomas, and DJ Yinka Bokinni.
You can watch The Greatest Snowman on Channel 4 at 7:30pm on Boxing Day.
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The Big Fat Quiz of the Year 2022
Channel 4
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Boxing Day – 9pm
The Big Fat Quiz of the Year 2022 / Credit: Channel 4
What’s the festive season without The Big Fat Quiz of the Year?
It’s fair to say that 2022 has been quite the year, with the country seeing three prime ministers, two monarchs, a Platinum Jubilee, a State Funeral, and a nation divided over whether Harry Styles actually did spit on Chris Pine or not – but now, Jimmy Carr is back to test how much we actually remember from it all.
The comedian will be joined by Stephen Merchant, Katherine Ryan, Richard Ayoade, Maisie Adam, Jonathan Ross and Rose Matafeo as they take on the ultimate pub quiz that’s always a firm-favourite in households nationwide.
You can watch The Big Fat Quiz of the Year 2022 on Channel 4 at 9pm on Boxing Day.
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Fancy something extra?
Prince Andrew: The Musical
Channel 4
29 December – 9pm
Prince Andrew: The Musical / Credit: Channel 4
Okay, so while this isn’t airing on either Christmas Day or Boxing Day, some things are just too good to exclude off the list because, as bizarre as it sounds, a musical about the life and times of Prince Andrew is hitting our screens.
We may not have asked for it, and we definitely didn’t see it coming, but the simply-named, Prince Andrew: The Musical, has actually become a reality.
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Written by and starring Kieran Hodgson as Prince Andrew himself, with original music co-written by Freddie Tapner, the one-hour comedy special sees a cast of upcoming comics perform a “satirical send-up of the life and times of Prince Andrew” set to a musical score – with a story centring on the key events, relationships, and controversies of his life.
You can watch Prince Andrew: The Musical on Channel 4 at 9pm on Wednesday 29 December.
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Featured Image – Channel 4 & BBC
TV & Showbiz
Liam Gallagher says he’s ‘ready’ to make a surprise appearance at the World Cup final
Danny Jones
Liam Gallagher has said that he is “ready” to play at the World Cup final should England make it all the way to the last two later this month.
He may have just been having some fun on social media as usual, but you never know – after all, we never actually thought we’d see him and his brother reconcile, but look how that turned out…
In his words, he may have “Irish blood”, but the Manchester-born Britpop and rock icon has an English heart, and after one person online said it’d only be right for him to fly out for the conclusive fixture if Thomas Tuchel’s side make it all the way, he gave a typically off-the-cuff response:
You could argue there’s not much in this besides an impromptu comment from a famously keyboard-happy lead singer, but stranger things have happened.
For instance, it may have come after a gradually increasing barrage of old tweets, pestering and a bit of positive peer pressure in full view of the public eye, but we did at long last get to witness an Oasis reunion with the ‘Live ’25’ world tour; however surreal it felt, it’s soon set to be relived in a documentary.
This reply comes as a response to LG’s initial post on X, in which he wrote: “It’s hard work that singing Harry Kane cmon ENGLAND cmon WONDERWALL.”
It also isn’t the only time he stoked the fire of this still only pie-in-the-sky idea, either, as after another user similarly asked if he’d fly out and sing it at the final, he simply responded, “Oh I’ll show Harry how it’s done.”
He’s not the only one to have made a rather big public proclamation this tournament, either.
The England and Man United legend set himself up for a fall.
As for the 53-year-old musician, he also jokingly quipped at the expense of those less keen on the idea with just as straightforward a clap-back: “Stop crying your heart out.”
Now, obviously, we’re taking this one with a big pinch of salt (enough to season ‘some lasagneee’, you could say), but who knows? There’s been plenty of big and strange showbiz stuff happening at this year’s competition in North America.
Maybe we all need to just keep tagging the Burnage boys, FIFA, England and the official World Cup page as much and hope for at least some kind of Oasis-centric surprise.
Come on, just imagine how much this would go OFF if even one of the Gallagher brothers was in the crowd, let alone this unthinkable hypothetical…
ITV to be bought out by Sky in transformational British broadcasting deal worth £1.6 billion
Danny Jones
In a watershed moment for British broadcasting, Sky has reached a transformational agreement worth more than £1.6 billion to buy out ITV in a landmark takeover deal.
With Sky already owned by US telecommunications corporation Comcast, this is set to be one of the biggest shakeups in TV and streaming for some time.
Talks actually started last November, but the process to complete a buyout like this has obviously taken a significant amount of time and money already.
It’s also worth noting that the deal is still pending full approval from the relevant regulators; nevertheless, it’s fair to say that it could change the face of the British media giants – who are based here in Greater Manchester over at MediaCity – but might signal a significant overhaul of our media landscape.
The Sky Group have assured there will be no immediate change to popular shows and will not be put behind a paywall at present (for now, anyway), with ITV still under a free-to-air service until 2034 as part of its public licensing contract.
Aquisitons/mergers of this size like this don’t come around very often, at least not across this side of the pond, with the growing Disney’s growing multinational monopolisation being one of the biggest examples of conglomerates mopping up major networks and huge brands over the past decade.
Writing in a statement, Sky said: “The UK media market is undergoing a profound and rapid transformation, and as competition for audiences intensifies, scale matters more than ever in order to compete with global streaming giants and YouTube in the UK.
“Viewers will continue to enjoy the shows they know and love, such as Coronation Street, Emmerdale, Love Island, I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here!, This Morning, Loose Women, Lorraine and News at Ten – alongside major live sporting events.”
That lattermost example feels particularly poignant at the moment, as this also means that the likes of ITV’s impressive World Cup coverage will come under the Sky umbrella in the near future.
ITV agrees sale of media and entertainment business to Sky for up to £1.6bnhttps://t.co/UtgO9REejy
It’s being seen as an ambitious attempt to shake up traditional terrestrial telly and digital platforms, with the ‘old guard’, as it were, having to move forward and fast to keep up with the mercurial market becoming evermore dominated by streaming services.
Of course, there are plenty raising questions and concerns over yet another domestic institution becoming deeper and deeper entwined with big American business; on the other hand, former ITV chairman Sir Peter Bazalgette, who still owns shares, says the deal was “essential” for its survival.
ITV will also receive £1.2bn in cash and Sky’s Love Productions business in return for ownership of their media and entertainment arm, whose shows include the Great British Bake Off.
Moving forward, ITV will also get a further £200m in 2028 if they meet revenue targets when it comes to advertising, with Sky promising to spend over £2.1bn on content from ITV Studios over a five-year period. You can read the full update from ITV right HERE.
Emily Sergeant -
21st December 2022 
