Christmas TV guide 2020: The best TV shows, specials and movies to watch on New Year's Day
Baby, it’s looking bleak outside - or at least it is when it comes to Christmas TV. Thanks to a certain party-pooping virus, production schedules have veered more drunkenly than an egg-nogged reindeer. And, pandemic aside, there’s been a touch of festive laziness from the terrestrial channels, an overreliance on familiar stodge.
It’s certainly no vintage year, then. But among the grim lockdown specials and hurriedly ‘regifted’ repeats, there’s some hope. From a chilling account of real-life murders which will make you never want to hear the phrase “Gap Yah” again to a sumptuous, gossipy period drama, this lot should haul you up and dust you down from any post-prandial slumps.
Maybe just an episode more?
New Year’s Day TV guide 2020
Doctor Who: Revolution of the Daleks (BBC One), 6.45pm
Following the events of the last series, The Doctor (Jodie Whittaker) is trapped in an alien Alcatraz. Not only must she escape from its high-tech confines, but she’s also got to stop an old foe from realising their dastardly plans. Luckily, she’s got help in the form of Captain Jack Harkness (John Barrowman). All together now: “EXTERMINATE! EXTERMINATE!”
Chitty Flies Again (Channel 4), 7.30pm
Some may pine for David Walliams’s spikier Little Britain personae, but there’s no denying he makes a pleasantly wholesome TV presenter. Here he fronts a one-off documentary celebrating the 50th anniversary of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and its iconic flying car. Walliams tries his hand at building a levitating automobile himself in this soothing watch. Come Fly With Me this is not.
The Serpent (BBC One), 9pm
Just when you thought it was safe to head out into the big wide world again, The Serpent comes along to remind you that backpacking isn’t all banana pancakes and questionable kafkans. Based on a series of horrific murders on the hippie trail in the 1970s, it dramatises the hunt for the killer, conman Charles Sobhraj. A taut, terrifying watch, this will be one of the most talked about shows of the New Year.
Dancing on Thin Ice with Torvill & Dean (ITV), 9pm
Unleashed from the studio ice rink, these veteran dancers are given a chance to fulfill a lifelong dream: dance the Bolero in the great outdoors. Lo and behold, ITV have granted their Christmas wish and packed them off to Alaska to find some virgin ice. Climate change has other ideas, though, and they are forced to hunt far and wide for a suitable lake. There’s Attenborough-light finger-wagging about humanity’s impact on the planet, but mostly it’s smooth sliding.
If you missed it...
The Vicar of Dibley in Lockdown (BBC One)
Following a repeat of a classic episode, an all new three-part series from the parish of Dibley aired on December 7. The 10-minute episodes follow the exploits of Geraldine Granger (Dawn French) as she tries to provide solace to her flock during lockdown. Aside from a brief Comic Relief skit, it’s French’s first time in the dog-collar in over a decade - and lockdown provides plenty of fodder for her kind-hearted clumsiness. Expect plenty of cringe-inducing Zoom calls. All three episodes will be broadcast as a half-hour special later in the month, but you can catch up on BBC iPlayer now.
The Goes Wrong Show: The Nativity (BBC One)
The Goes Wrong theatre troupe have had huge success in recent years, mucking up a bank robbery, A Christmas Carol, and Peter Pan. So why not the birth of Christ? Many of the original Mischief members return to bring their madcap pratfalls and sugar-high antics back to the small screen. The plot, such as it is, follows the Cornley Polytechnic Drama Society’s rendition of the greatest story ever told. Things quickly descend into wire-tripping farce with joyous predictability. Catch up on BBC iPlayer.
Motherland: Christmas Special (BBC Two)
Sharon Horgan, Helen Linehan and Holly Walsh’s sitcom about the trials, tribulations and red-wine hangovers of middle-class parenting returns for a Christmas special after two series. It’s never going to be the most hardest-hitting programme of the year. But there’s warmth and more than a little heart to their take on the perils of playdates and school-gate scheming. Your enjoyment will probably depend on how close a fly-on-the-wall documentary it feels like, though.
Black Narcissus (BBC One)
An excellent excuse to crack out the nun gags - “What’s the most fun a monk can have? Nun” - this three-part adaptation of Rumer Godden brooding novel looks like it will scratch the psycho-drama itch in the absence of any Agatha Christie adaptations. Gemma Arterton plays Sister Clodagh, a nun tasked with establishing a mission in remote 1930’s Himalaya. Brace for lashings of expansive scenery and cloistered desire.
The Masked Singer (ITV)
The US import may have come from Fox Broadcasting, but its campy fun is about as far from that channel's shouty news coverage as its possible to get. Featuring celebs straining their vocal cords through elaborate costumes, this schlocky series returns for a second season. Who is behind the Octopus mask? Who cares? In their heart of hearts, even its producers will admit that this is switch-your-brain-off TV. And it’s all the better for it.
