Christmas means … the best telly of the year! Which is great. But Christmas also means spending quality time with friends and family.
So that you don’t have to be a slave to the TV schedules, we’ve picked out all the highlights so you can plan ahead and focus on enjoying Christmas with extra presence.
Netflix
Love Actually
It’s cheesy, it’s a classic, it’s Love Actually on Netflix. Grab a mince pie and a blanket and watch Hugh Grant dance around Number 10.
From 14 December
Bright
The latest film from Netflix Originals imagines an alternate present day in which humans, orcs, elves and fairies have been coexisting since the beginning of time. Will Smith plays a human cop who, along with his orc partner, stumbles on a powerful object and finds himself embroiled in a prophesied turf war. Could be the perfect Christmas action film (after ‘Die Hard’, of course).
From 22 December
The Crown, Season 2
Need an excuse for a duvet day? Season 2 of Netflix’s The Crown went live last week. Claire Foy is back as young Queen Elizabeth II, who faces up to her jealous husband and deals with rumours of his infidelity. You might just want to make sure you’ve finished your Christmas shopping before you start.
Live now
TV
Doctor Who
Set in a suitably wintery Arctic snowscape, this uplifting 60-minute special will bid farewell to Peter Capaldi as the Twelfth Doctor and welcome in Jodie Whittaker as the first woman to wield the sonic screwdriver.
Christmas Day, 5.30pm, BBC 1
Nigella’s Christmas Table
Would it even be Christmas without Nigella on the box? This year, she’s bringing us festive inspiration from her own table. From devilled eggs to roast duck, watch her whip up a feast for the eyes as well as the stomach.
Aired Monday 11 – so catch it on iPlayer now.
The Miniaturist
Take a trip to seventeenth-century Amsterdam in this TV adaptation of Jessie Burton’s best-selling novel. Eighteen-year-old Nella is given an extraordinary wedding gift from her new husband: a doll’s house replica of their home. All appears well until the figurines in the miniature house begin to mimic – almost predict – Nella’s life with eerie accuracy. Oooh!
Part One: Boxing Day, 9pm, BBC 1
Part Two: 27 December, 9pm, BBC 1
YouView TV from Plusnet
With YouView TV from Plusnet, you can catch up on the best TV from BBC iPlayer, the ITV Hub, All 4, Demand 5 and more whenever it suits you. With YouView+ you can even pause and rewind live shows.
As the old saying goes, the family that binges together stays together. You can watch Netflix through your YouView box, so why not gather the whole family on the sofa and let the marathon begin?