From All Creatures Great and Small to Call The Midwife: Eight TV shows to watch this Christmas
As we officially enter the cosier season, it’s time to start looking ahead to Christmas. What better way to enjoy the festive period than curled up with a glass of mulled wine in front of the television? There’s a whole array of programmes to enjoy with the whole family.
From laugh-out-loud comedies to heartwarming dramas, we’ve rounded up some of the best TV shows to watch over the festive season.
ALL CREATURES GREAT AND SMALL
Ever since All Creatures Great and Small premiered back in the dark days of 2020, the Channel 5 reboot of James Herriot’s novels has delivered a festive episode each year.
This Christmas will see series favourites Siegfried Farnon (Samuel West), Mrs Hall (Anna Madeley), James Herriot (Nicholas Ralph), Helen Herriot (Rachel Shenton) and Tristan Farnon (Callum Woodhouse) return to our screens for more adventures in the Yorkshire Dales.
Set in 1945, the first peacetime Christmas after the war, the special episode finds Helen feeling under the weather, leaving James to take on responsibility for the Darrowby Nativity play.
Meanwhile, Siegfried heads back to Mrs Stokes’ farm to check on Hilda the goat, who’s up to her usual mischief and gives him the run-around once again.
Broadcast details for the All Creatures Great and Small Christmas special will be announced by Channel 5 in due course.
AMANDALAND
Motherland fans are in for a special treat this Christmas, as the spin-off series Amandaland, starring Lucy Punch, is making a surprise return with a festive special.
Adding to the excitement, Dame Joanna Lumley, who stars as Amanda’s glamorous mother, will be joined by her Absolutely Fabulous co-star Jennifer Saunders for the one-off special.
Actress and comedian Saunders, 67, will play Joan, the sister of Dame Joanna’s character Felicity and aunt to the protagonist Amanda, played by Punch.
The festive episode will be followed by a second series of the hit BBC comedy, which will return to iPlayer and BBC One in 2026.
Broadcast details for the Amandaland Christmas Special will be confirmed in due course.
CALL THE MIDWIFE
The nuns and midwives of Nonnatus House are back with another festive special, this time set in both Hong Kong and Poplar.
The return comes as the hit drama, which follows a group of nurse midwives working in London’s East End, begins filming for its 15th series.
When senior members of the Nonnatus House staff head to Hong Kong on a mercy mission, the younger midwives are left to cope alone.
As the Christmas action shifts between the sun-drenched Far East and a snowy East End, Sister Julienne finds herself unexpectedly energised about the Order’s future. After years of resisting change, she chooses to embrace it, work with it, and see what love can do.
The two-parter will be followed by eight new hour-long episodes, airing from January 2026 on BBC iPlayer and BBC One.
Broadcast details for the Call The Midwife Christmas Special will be confirmed in due course.
THE SCARECROW’S WEDDING
For children, adaptations of Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler’s stories have become a Christmas staple and this year is no exception.
The Scarecrow’s Wedding is the latest adaptation from the BBC and Magic Light Pictures.
The half-hour animated special features an all-star voice cast, with Gavin and Stacey star Rob Brydon voicing Reginald Rake, Hamnet actress Jessie Buckley as Betty O’Barley, and The Paper star Domhnall Gleeson as Harry O’Hay.
The story, about two devoted scarecrows planning a wedding to remember, will be narrated by Slow Horses actress Sophie Okonedo.
The Scarecrow’s Wedding will air on BBC iPlayer and BBC One this Christmas.
A GHOST STORY FOR CHRISTMAS: THE ROOM IN THE TOWER
Sherlock star Mark Gatiss has been writing and directing adaptations of E.F. Benson’s ghost stories since 2013.
The Room in the Tower, starring Tobias Menzies and Dame Joanna Lumley, will be Gatiss’s eighth ghost story for Christmas on the BBC.
Additional cast include The Crown’s Nancy Carroll, Endeavour’s Ben Mansfield and Gatiss’ recent Bookish co-star Polly Walker.
Set in the inter-war years, the short television film, follows Roger Winstanley, who has been haunted by an unsettling, recurring dream: An invitation to spend the night in the house of an acquaintance, where an unseen terror lurks and the figures who populate the dream seem to age in real time.
Broadcast details for the A Ghost Story for Christmas: The Room in the Tower will be confirmed in due course.
THE NIGHT MANAGER SEASON 2
Nine years after the first season aired, the highly anticipated second is finally returning to our screens.
Inspired by the characters in John le Carré’s best-selling novel, the new season sees Tom Hiddleston return as former British intelligence operative Jonathan Pine.