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Christmas TV 2018: The 10 best specials and shows to watch

From left: Zog, Les Misèrables, The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina - PA/BBC/Netflix
From left: Zog, Les Misèrables, The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina - PA/BBC/Netflix

You may have your Christmas lunch planned to the minute, enough board games (and sherry) to keep harmony between the in-laws, and enough tubes of wrapping paper to build a small fort – but nothing is as conducive to a smooth-sailing Christmas as a good television schedule. It’s the holy grail of cold winter evenings, an antidote to feuds and boredom.

This year, we’re in luck. There’s a roster of excellent festive adaptations not only from the BBC, but also ITV and Netflix. So, here are our top 10 picks for those long nights ensconced on the couch...

1. Les Misèrables (BBC One), Sunday 30 December, 9pm

Sure to be one of the most popular prime-time dramas of the year, this six-part adaptation of Victor Hugo’s French historical novel by award-winning screenwriter Andrew Davies (Bridget Jones’s Diary, House of Cards) stars Dominic West, David Oyelowo and Lily Collins.

Lily Collins as Fantine in the BBC's new adaptation of Les Misèrables - Credit: Robert Viglasky/BBC
Lily Collins as Fantine in the BBC's new adaptation of Les Misèrables Credit: Robert Viglasky/BBC

It’s an 18th-century epic of revolution and survival among the Parisian underclass, following a man (Jean Valjean, played by West) who has been unfairly condemned to 20 years in prison for stealing bread to save a starving child. Die-hard fans of the musical, be warned: this miniseries will be song-free.

2. Watership Down (BBC One), 22 December, 7pm and 23 December, 7.20pm

When Richard James’s classic novel came out in 1972, its tale of courage, love and loyalty enchanted children and adults alike. Almost five decades later, and in the wake of the notoriously haunting animated film, Tom Bidwell gives us the book’s first small-screen adaptation.

Clover (voiced by Gemma Arterton) in the new BBC adaptation of Watership Down - Credit: BBC/PA
Clover (voiced by Gemma Arterton) in the new BBC adaptation of Watership Down Credit: BBC/PA

The BBC’s two feature-length episodes are directed by Noam Murro, and see Hazel and Fiver (two rabbits voiced by James McAvoy and Nicholas Hoult) set out from their native Sandleford Warren in search of a better life, facing adversaries and predators along the way. This may even rival Lassie for emotional clout, so keep the tissues near.

3. Luther (BBC One), New Year’s Day, 9pm

Idris Elba as the brooding detective Luther - Credit: BBC
Idris Elba as the brooding detective Luther Credit: BBC

We’ve been waiting four long years for Idris Elba to return as John Luther, the enigmatic and damaged detective chief inspector who solves depraved crimes on London’s streets. The award-winning series began in 2010, and by 2015’s series four (a mere two-part special), we saw Luther trying to find out what happened to Alice Morgan (brilliantly played by Ruth Wilson), a psychopath and his unlikely love interest. Catering to cliché, might series five see Morgan return from the dead?

4. The Dead Room (BBC Four), Christmas Eve, 10pm

Mark Gatiss has form with Christmas ghost stories. In 2013, he directed a haunting adaptation of MR James’s story The Tractate Middoth, with one clear aim: “I want it to be as frightening as possible.” This year, he’s having another crack at bringing a chill to your family gathering with The Dead Room.

It’s a new story, written by Gatiss himself, about a veteran radio host called Aubrey Judd (Simon Callow), who presents a long-running horror series, and begins to suspect that fiction is infiltrating fact...  Keep a stiff drink to hand.

5. Torvill & Dean (ITV), Christmas Day, 9.15pm

The real Torvill and Dean celebrate their gold medals at the 1984 Winter Olympics in Sarajevo, Yugoslavia - Credit: Steve Powell/Getty Images
The real Torvill and Dean celebrate their gold medals at the 1984 Winter Olympics in Sarajevo, Yugoslavia Credit: Steve Powell/Getty Images

When Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean danced on ice to Ravel’s Boléro at the 1984 Winter Olympics, 24 million Britons were watching. After the pair scored twelve perfect sixes and won the gold medal, even the Queen sent her congratulations. This two-hour drama, written by William Ivory, casts Poppy Lee Friar (Eve, Mr Selfridge) as Torvill and Will Tudor (Game of Thrones) as Dean, and tracks the dance partners’ rise to glory. Humble beginnings, adverse events, private passion – it has all the right stuff. 

6. Zog (BBC One), Christmas Day, 4.50pm

Young Zog (voiced by Hugh Skinner) is eager, as usual - Credit: Magic Light/BBC
Young Zog (voiced by Hugh Skinner) is eager, as usual Credit: Magic Light/BBC

Any parent who’s unfamiliar with Julia Donaldson and Axel Sheffler’s The Gruffalo, that monstrous but oddly appealing bear-buffalo hybrid, has a chance to get back ahead of the curve. This new animated special is based on the pair’s 2010 rhyming book, and follows Zog, a little dragon desperate to be the best student at school, but prone to misadventure. Hugh Skinner voices him, while Kit Harington is Sir Gadabout the Great and Sir Lenny Henry lends his liquid voice to the narration.

7. Chilling Adventures of Sabrina: A Midwinter’s Tale (Netflix), from Friday 14 December

The return of the Spellman family was one of Netflix’s more left-field moves this year. This was less a straight Sabrina the Teenage Witch reboot than a mélange of woke politics, Nineties nostalgia and surprisingly intricate Satanic theology. Crafty move, to attract both the millennials and Generation Z.

Sabrina (Kiernan Shipka), Aunt Hilda (Lucy Davis) and Aunt Zelda (Miranda Otto) are back - Credit: Diyah Pera/Netflix
Sabrina (Kiernan Shipka), Aunt Hilda (Lucy Davis) and Aunt Zelda (Miranda Otto) are back Credit: Diyah Pera/Netflix

Floored by its success, the Netflix executives clearly locked the set doors before Kiernan Shipka (Sabrina), Miranda Otto (Aunt Zelda), Lucy Davis (Aunt Hilda) and the rest of Greendale could leave. This one-off festive special is available a fortnight before Christmas, and will nicely bridge the gap to series two – already due on April 5.

8. The ABC Murders (BBC One), Boxing Day, 9pm

John Malkovich will play Hercule Poirot for the first time this Christmas - Credit: Rii Schroer
John Malkovich will play Hercule Poirot for the first time this Christmas Credit: Rii Schroer

This is one of Agatha Christie’s most exhilarating Poirot stories. In the 1936 novel, a serial killer is travelling the length of Britain, striking at locations in alphabetical order, and leaving only an ABC Railway Guide behind. David Suchet starred as Poirot in the 1992 adaptation; this time John Malkovich is the picky, prissy but razor-sharp detective, and he’s joined by Rupert Grint and Tara Fitzgerald. Screenwriter Sarah Phelps looks likely to make the thriller as dark and chilling as she can.

9. Strictly Come Dancing Christmas Special (BBC One), Christmas Day, 5.30pm

The Silver Star trophy is up for grabs once more. This year in Strictly’s seasonal special, hosts Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman usher six former contestants in front of the judges. There’s EastEnders’ Jake Wood, TV presenter Anita Rani, England cricketer Michael Vaughan, Love Island’s Caroline Flack, former JLS star Aston Merrygold and – facing an uphill struggle – ex-MP Ann Widdecombe, recipient of the most “1”s in the show’s history.

Ann Widdecombe in full dance-floor flow, back in 2010 - Credit: PA/Guy Levy/BBC
Ann Widdecombe in full dance-floor flow, back in 2010 Credit: PA/Guy Levy/BBC

That said, you never know. As is the case with the series 16 final, due to air on December 15, the result will be entirely in the public’s hands...

10. Doctor Who Special (BBC One), New Year’s Day, 7pm

Last but very much not least, the annual Doctor Who Christmas special has moved to New Year’s Day. Showrunner Chris Chibnall is, as ever, keeping the tightest of lips about where and when Jodie Whittaker’s Doctor and her minions will be going. His synopsis doesn’t give much away:

Wrap up warm: the Doctor is back on New Year's Day - Credit: Ben Blackall/BBC
Wrap up warm: the Doctor is back on New Year's Day Credit: Ben Blackall/BBC

"As the New Year begins, a terrifying evil is stirring, from across the centuries of Earth’s history. As the Doctor, Ryan, Graham and Yaz return home, will they be able to overcome the threat to planet Earth?"

Well, what’s new? Aside from the year, of course – and the resolutions you’ll soon be trying to keep.