SATURDAY 14 DECEMBER 2024

SAT 19:00 The Box of Delights (p00xgmt3)
In Darkest Cellars Underneath

Kay has shrunk to the size of a half-a-crown piece and with Mouse's help has travelled swiftly to the Prince Rupert Arms.


SAT 19:30 The Box of Delights (p00xgmxs)
The Spider in the Web

More knobbling and scrobbling force Kay to search for Abner's headquarters. Kay and Peter fly to Chester Hills to unravel the mystery of the kidnappings.


SAT 20:00 The Box of Delights (p00xgmzw)
Beware of Yesterday

It is Christmas Eve, Abner Brown is convinced that the missing box is at the Bishop's Palace.


SAT 20:30 The Box of Delights (p00xgn5r)
Leave Us Not Little, Nor Yet Dark

Kay is trapped in the dungeons below. Can he find his magic box and prevent Abner's terrible plans?


SAT 21:00 State of Happiness (m002474g)
Series 3

Monopoly

Nyman Diving tests the new ROV, leaving the divers disgruntled. They are missing out on the extra wages for deep dives. On the platform, Komponent’s drilling cabin is installed, and Rein is in charge of training a new, young drilling engineer.

In Norwegian with English subtitles


SAT 21:45 State of Happiness (m002474j)
Series 3

The Future of Norway

Toril has gone missing, and the Nyman family is in crisis. Randi regrets giving in to her desires.

Christian concludes that he has to resign from his job at the shipping company to focus on his family. Fredrik is heavily disappointed, but discovers that young Marie has potential.

Rein realises that the new technology will leave more people unemployed, himself included. He takes an interest in politics, and the newly formed right wing party FrP. At the same time, Komponent has another breakthrough, succeeding in steering a drilling platform by remote control.

Anna realises that Norway needs her and applies for a job at the recently established Oil Fund.

In Norwegian with English subtitles


SAT 22:35 This Cultural Life (m0024zk3)
Peter Kosminsky

Having started out as a current affairs journalist, Peter Kosminsky made his name by telling contemporary social and political stories in the form of television drama. Warriors was about British soldiers in the peace-keeping force in Bosnia; The Government Inspector dramatised the events surrounding the death of Dr David Kelly; and The State explored the radicalisation of British Islamists. Kosminsky is also acclaimed for his television adaptations of Hilary Mantel’s Wolf Hall trilogy. He has won six Bafta awards, including one for his outstanding contribution to British television.

Peter talks to John Wilson about the huge influence of his parents. He recalls how his left-wing father and his mother, who had been a kindertransport child, shaped his interest in social justice from the perspective of the outsider, the refugee and the disenfranchised.

Seeing Ken Loach's 1975 BBC television drama Days of Hope was a another turning point and revealed to the 18-year-old Kosminsky the huge emotional power of the medium of television drama. He also explains how a letter from a British soldier in response to his 1999 drama Warriors led to his acclaimed and controversial Channel 4 series The Promise, 11 years later.


SAT 23:20 Mad About the Boy: The Noel Coward Story (m001ty3t)
Noel Coward grew up in poverty and left school when he was only nine years old. He was queer in a very straight world. And yet, by the age of 30, he was the highest-paid writer in the world and a star on the Broadway stage, writing, directing and acting in some of the finest plays and movies of all time. This is his inspirational story, told in his own words and music, and unique home movies.


SAT 00:50 Porridge (b00787tv)
Series 3

Pardon Me

The betting stakes are high when the parole board sits and old Blanco is the odds-on favourite to be freed. But when freedom is offered to him Blanco, who has been in prison for 17 years for a crime he always claimed he didn't commit, refuses. Fletcher, seeing how adamant his old friend is, decides to help out.


SAT 01:20 As Time Goes By (p045tmnk)
Series 1

Relationships

After their visit to Norwich, it becomes clear that Alistair is in love with Jean, not Judy. Meanwhile, Jean aims to get back at Lionel for what happened at the lecture.


SAT 01:50 As Time Goes By (p045tmrl)
Series 1

The Picnic

Realising how absurd it is that Judy and Alistair have feelings for Jean and Lionel instead of each other, the elders plan a picnic to show them that they are meant to be together.


SAT 02:20 Timeshift (b06csy8c)
Series 15

The Engine that Powers the World

The surprising story of the hidden powerhouse behind the globalised world, the diesel engine, a 19th-century invention that has become indispensable to the 21st century. It's a tortoise-versus-hare tale in which the diesel engine races the petrol engine in a competition to replace ageing steam technology, a race eventually won hands down by diesel.

Splendidly, car enthusiast presenter Mark Evans gets excitedly hands-on with some of the many applications of Mr Diesel's - yes, there was one - original creation, from vintage submarines and tractors to locomotive trains and container ships. You'll never feel the same about that humble old diesel family car again.

SUNDAY 15 DECEMBER 2024

SUN 19:00 Countryfile (m001q835)
Dame Judi Dench Special

In a special episode, Dame Judi Dench reveals her love of the countryside – and Scotland in particular. From picnics to camping, saving the arts in rural communities and a lifelong passion for wildlife, the legend of stage and screen joins Charlotte Smith in the grounds of Inveraray Castle to reflect on the impact the countryside has had on her and her family.

Dame Judi is a talented watercolourist, inspired by the Scottish landscape. So how will she take to oils? She’s joined by her grandson Sam to check in on a tartan that’s being created for her, in which every thread tells a personal story.

Adam Henson meets Dame Judi’s partner David Mills, an award-winning farmer who gave up dairying to create the British Wildlife Centre on his Surrey farm. It was Judi’s love of otters that brought the two together. And wildlife film-maker Hamza Yassin takes her to a secret location in a bid to help Dame Judi fulfil a lifetime ambition – to see golden eagles in the wild.


SUN 19:55 Five to Eleven (m00263ts)
Dame Judi Dench

Judi Dench reads The Cultivation of Christmas Trees by TS Eliot and The The Cherry Tree Carol Poem by Anon.


SUN 20:00 Who Do You Think You Are? (m0010st7)
Series 18

Dame Judi Dench

Shakespearean actor, movie star and national treasure Dame Judi Dench's journey begins with her father Reginald Dench, who never spoke of his experiences during the First World War, as she tries to find out how he won his gallantry medals. Judi’s investigations then take a truly epic turn, leading her to 16th-century Denmark and nobility. Judi also discovers, to her delight, some incredible Shakespearean links.


SUN 21:00 Talking Pictures (b04grt22)
Dame Judi Dench

Sylvia Syms presents rarely seen footage from the BBC archives that explores the life and career of one of Britain's best-loved actors, Dame Judi Dench.


SUN 21:35 Dame Judi Dench Remembers... Mr and Mrs Edgehill (m00263tv)
Dame Judi Dench looks back on her role in 1985s Mr and Mrs Edgehill, a one-off drama based on a Noel Coward short story, which saw her and Sir Ian Holm playing husband and wife Eustace and Dorrie Edgehill.

Set around the start of World War II and filmed in Sri Lanka, the story follows the Edgehills as they change their plans to return home to the UK and instead take on a new set of responsibilities – a little too enthusiastically in the eyes of the British government.

Here, Dame Judi recalls her experience of filming on the beaches of Sri Lanka, working with a close friend and creating the character of Dorrie, who turned out to be one of her favourites.


SUN 21:45 Mr and Mrs Edgehill (p00zybfc)
Eustace and Dorrie Edgehill have decided to leave Samola, a British protectorate in the Pacific. After the failure of his latest harebrained scheme, no-one is likely to give Eustace a job now. Or are they?


SUN 23:10 Theatre 625 (p032khkr)
Talking to a Stranger

Gladly, My Cross-Eyed Bear

Alan (Michael Bryant) has a proposition for his confused father as the police visit the Stephens home in the aftermath of Sunday’s tragic events.


SUN 00:40 Theatre 625 (p032khkt)
Talking to a Stranger

The Innocent Must Suffer

The final part of the John Hopkins quartet goes back in time to Sunday morning when Mrs Stephens (Margery Mason) is busy preparing lunch as she has done for the past 30 years. Terry (Judi Dench) makes an unexpected visit that causes tensions to rise to the surface, and tragedy strikes.


SUN 02:15 Countryfile (m001q835)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 today]


SUN 03:10 Talking Pictures (b04grt22)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:00 today]

MONDAY 16 DECEMBER 2024

MON 19:00 Top of the Pops (b0b9b1xw)
Christmas 1985

Gary Davies, Janice Long, Dixie Peach, John Peel and Steve Wright present the most popular hits of 1985, with stars in the studio and on video, first broadcast on 25 December 1985.


MON 19:55 Steptoe and Son (p031d1nn)
A Perfect Christmas

Classic comedy. Albert and Harold plan a Christmas abroad - in their own inimitable style.


MON 20:40 Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads? (b007894q)
A Special Christmas Edition

Bob and Thelma are determined to enjoy the Christmas festivities to the full. Terry passes his driving test and drives Bob and Thelma to a Christmas party as their minicab driver, and waits for them outside. Inevitably, Terry creates a problem or two for Bob which starts the season off on quite the wrong foot.


MON 21:25 Smith and Jones: The Homemade Xmas Video (m0001jgj)
Mel Smith and Griff Rhys Jones star in a festive special about a family with a video camera. Christmas usually means a little overindulgence, but to the Aldershot family, it is an orgy of hitherto uncharted proportions.


MON 22:00 Leonardo da Vinci (m00264cg)
Series 1

Part One: The Disciple of Experience

Leonardo da Vinci grows up in a Tuscan village surrounded by nature, then he moves to Florence, where the Renaissance is in full bloom, to apprentice as an artist and craftsman. He shows extraordinary talent but at times struggles to finish commissions. Later, in Milan, he joins Duke Sforza’s court, begins writing treatises and paints a monumental fresco depicting the Last Supper.

A film by Ken Burns, Sarah Burns and David McMahon


MON 23:50 A Ghost Story for Christmas (m0012xmb)
The Mezzotint

1923. Edward Williams, gentleman and amateur golfer, lives an untroubled life as the curator of a small university museum. His speciality is the topography of the British Isles. So when an art dealer sends him details of an interesting engraving - a mezzotint - of an old country house, he’s intrigued.

When the picture arrives, however, it seems perfectly ordinary - until Williams notices a figure in the picture where there was none before. A cloaked figure, with a skull-like head and legs that are horribly thin. Soon, within the mezzotint, the figure seems to be on the move across the moonlit lawn towards the house with murderous intent.

Long-forgotten secrets rise to the surface as Williams and his friends summon all the rational forces at their command to confront the impossible.


MON 00:20 A Ghost Story for Christmas (m001tw46)
Lot No 249

It’s 1881, and Old College, Oxford plays host to three very different academics. Abercrombie Smith is a model of Victorian manhood, clean of limb and sound of mind. Monkhouse Lee is a delicate and unworldly student from Thailand. And occupying the rooms between them is the strange and exotic Edward Bellingham, whose unnatural researches into the secrets of ancient Egypt are the talk of the college. Can Bellingham’s experiments truly bring the breath of life to the horrifying bag of bones that is the mysterious Lot No 249?


MON 00:50 Steptoe and Son (p031d1nn)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:55 today]


MON 01:35 Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads? (b007894q)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:40 today]


MON 02:20 Smith and Jones: The Homemade Xmas Video (m0001jgj)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:25 today]


MON 02:55 Who Do You Think You Are? (m0010st7)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 on Sunday]

TUESDAY 17 DECEMBER 2024

TUE 19:00 Top of the Pops (b008ptfg)
Christmas 1978

Noel Edmonds presents a special Top of the Pops from 1978, with Darts, Abba, Boney M, Brotherhood of Man, Father Abraham, Bee Gees, Brian and Michael, Brighouse and Rastrick Brass Band, Wings, Showaddywaddy, Rose Royce, Olivia Newton-John and John Travolta and Legs & Co.


TUE 20:00 Porridge (b0078956)
Christmas Special: The Desperate Hours

Classic sitcom. Fletcher plans to add a bit of Christmas spirit to the festive season at Slade Prison in the form of his very own homemade liquor. But when prison officers Mackay and Barraclough uncover the stash of 'Chateau Slade', Fletcher seems in danger of spending Christmas in solitary.


TUE 20:45 The Two Ronnies (b04k5znq)
1982 Christmas Special

Seasonal entertainment from 1982 with Ronnie Barker and Ronnie Corbett, plus special guest David Essex.


TUE 21:30 Sorry! (p00y5zly)
Series 7

Winter's Tales

Timothy shows Mother, Father and Pippa round his new home. Mother gets a chance to put Pippa off Timothy for life.


TUE 22:00 The Heart of the Paris Games (m00264rl)
Series 1

Part 1: The Final Countdown

With access to the Paris 2024 organising committee, French film-makers Jules and Gédéon Naudet document the behind-the-scenes preparation for the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

The cameras track not only committee president Tony Estanguet, but also the technicians, athletes, engineers, officials, security details, volunteers and creatives as they prepare to host 28 days of competition in front of millions of spectators and billions of television viewers.


TUE 23:00 The Heart of the Paris Games (m00264rq)
Series 1

Part 2: Let the Games Begin

With incredible access to the Paris 2024 organising committee, film-makers Jules and Gédéon Naudet document what was going on behind the scenes during the 28 days of competition in the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games.


TUE 00:00 What We Were Watching (m000cr9j)
Christmas 1979

Join Grace Dent on a televisual trip back in time to Christmas 1979 as she immerses herself in the sights, sounds and schedules of 40 years ago. As well as exploring what the nation’s viewers enjoyed watching on the box of delights, Grace sees if she can beat the year’s Mastermind grand finalist, and how well she fares on the Generation Game’s famous conveyor belt game.

With the 1970s a much-maligned period, it’s a surprise to find that the festive fortnight’s top shows had women winning when it came to seasonal goodwill. Penelope Keith and Wendy Craig led the way in sitcoms, Barbara Woodhouse had everyone on their best behaviour, and the most exciting music shows featured classic performances from Kate Bush and Debbie Harry’s Blondie. It was also the year that Tommy Cooper nearly killed off Michael Parkinson on live television, and The Black Stuff boys first went job hunting.

Of course, not all of Auntie Beeb’s programme presents stand the test of time quite so well. Basil Brush has a bizarre duet with Sasha Distel, Kenny Everett’s Blankety Blank appearance is far from being in the best possible taste, and the BBC’s female children’s presenters put dignity to one side as they compete in a beauty contest featuring high kicks and sparkling leotards.


TUE 01:00 Top of the Pops (b008ptfg)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 today]


TUE 02:00 Mad About the Boy: The Noel Coward Story (m001ty3t)
[Repeat of broadcast at 23:20 on Saturday]

WEDNESDAY 18 DECEMBER 2024

WED 19:00 Top of the Pops (m0012ty3)
Christmas 2002

Richard Blackwood and Lisa Snowdon present the pop chart programme's Christmas special from 2002, with the year's top-selling singles and the Christmas Number One. Including performances by Gareth Gates, Atomic Kitten and Girls Aloud.


WED 20:00 Blackadder (b00gfzhq)
Blackadder's Christmas Carol

Seasonal comedy special. Christmas Eve, 1850. Ebenezer Blackadder is a decent, kind, generous human being - until he gets a glimpse of his loathsome ancestors.


WED 20:45 'Allo 'Allo! (b007bjwp)
Series 2

The Gateau from the Chateau

The Resistance decide that their operations will be inhibited by General von Klinkerhoffen's personal control of the district and decree that he must be blown up. The Colonel comes to a similar conclusion, deciding on poison, while Herr Flick elects to terminate the general's appointment with a poisoned dart.


WED 21:30 Victoria Wood with All the Trimmings (b007bs2x)
Victoria Wood serves up a great big Christmas pudding of a show, stuffed full of stars in plum roles. An impressive list of celebrities pop up in a series of pastiches, ranging from a big band show from the 50s to a period Dickens saga. There is also a tale about a northern brass band and a documentary aboard a cruise liner.

The all-star cast includes Alan Rickman, Julie Walters, Pete Postlethwaite, Celia Imrie, James Bolam, Delia Smith, Richard E Grant, Derek Jacobi, Bill Patterson, Geraldine McEwan, Billie Piper, H from Steps, Michael Parkinson, Robert Lindsay, Hugh Laurie, Hannah Gordon, Lindsay Duncan, Bob Monkhouse, Betty Boothroyd, Angela Rippon, Alan Titchmarsh, Roger Cook and Imelda Staunton as well as other surprise guests.


WED 22:25 Three Salons at the Seaside (p0d2pngh)
A visit to three Blackpool hairdressing salons, where an elderly community carries on its daily life oblivious to the hordes of tourists on its doorstep.


WED 23:05 Christopher Lee's Ghost Stories for Christmas (b00783cp)
Series 1

The Stalls of Barchester

Christopher Lee reads the disturbing Victorian ghost stories of writer MR James. A century ago, it was James's habit to read one aloud by candlelight every Christmas Eve to a select group of students in his study at King's College, Cambridge. Lee tells the fearful tale of intrigue, murder and the haunted Stalls of Barchester.


WED 23:35 Christopher Lee's Ghost Stories for Christmas (m002641j)
Series 1

Number 13

Actor Christopher Lee reads another chilling Victorian ghost story written by MR James. A professor staying at an old hotel is driven to investigate the macabre goings-on in the room next door to his. Who, or what, is the inhabitant of room 13?


WED 00:05 Christopher Lee's Ghost Stories for Christmas (b00783g2)
Series 1

A Warning to the Curious

Christopher Lee reads a chilling tale by Victorian writer MR James. A horrific account, based on a true story, of the discovery of the last of the legendary East Anglian Crowns.


WED 00:35 'Allo 'Allo! (b007bjwp)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:45 today]


WED 01:25 Top of the Pops (m0012ty3)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 today]


WED 02:25 Victoria Wood with All the Trimmings (b007bs2x)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:30 today]

THURSDAY 19 DECEMBER 2024

THU 19:00 Top of the Pops (m001g4xm)
Christmas 1993

Mark Franklin and Tony Dortie present a Christmas Special of the pop chart programme, first broadcast on 25 December 1993 and featuring 2 Unlimited, Snow, The Bluebells, Ace of Base, Gabrielle, Take That with Lulu, Meat Loaf and Mr Blobby.


THU 20:00 The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (m0016dk8)
Enticed to India, assorted ageing Brits seek to stretch finite finances, get swifter treatment or find independence. However, their hotel home, run by over-eager optimist Sonny, is not quite as advertised, and the unfamiliar world proves challenging.


THU 21:55 Victoria and Abdul (m000h9xb)
Period drama. Adbul Karim is whisked from his clerk's job at an Accra prison to present a ceremonial coin to Queen Victoria for her golden jubilee, along with his more reluctant companion Mohammed. The queen, who is tired of her fawning courtiers, takes a liking to the young man and developing a fascination with all things Indian, promotes him to become her Munshi, or teacher, much to the resentment of her family and household.


THU 23:40 In Conversation (b05zvqqx)
Judi Dench in Conversation with Richard Eyre

Judi Dench was already an acclaimed stage actress when she was first nominated for an Academy Award for Mrs Brown in 1997. Since then she's had a further five Oscar nominations and a win for Shakespeare in Love. Add Golden Globes and BAFTAs and she is, quite rightly, one of Britain's most lauded screen actresses as well as the definitive 'M' in the James Bond movies.

In conversation at the BFI Southbank with Richard Eyre, who directed her in Iris and Notes on a Scandal, Judi Dench looks back at highlights of an extraordinary career on film, a journey that is still taking her to new heights.


THU 00:40 Mark Kermode's Secrets of Cinema (m0001ky5)
Mark Kermode's Christmas Cinema Secrets

In a special seasonal edition of his acclaimed series, film critic Mark Kermode celebrates one of the most perennial of all genres: the Christmas movie. Mark unwraps a glittering selection of Christmas cinematic treats, from much-loved classics to hidden gems, Hollywood blockbusters to international films, and reveals the film-making techniques and storytelling secrets that make them so successful.

Mark demonstrates how, as with all great genres, a key to the success of the Christmas movie lies in its adaptability. Christmas cinema embraces a remarkable range of styles and themes, from fairy tale fantasy to high-octane action, family drama to horror. But a great Christmas movie does more than simply set its story in the festive season. It captures something magical – the Christmas spirit – and in this programme, Mark shows you how.


THU 01:40 What We Were Watching (m000cr9j)
[Repeat of broadcast at 00:00 on Tuesday]


THU 02:40 Three Salons at the Seaside (p0d2pngh)
[Repeat of broadcast at 22:25 on Wednesday]


THU 03:20 A Ghost Story for Christmas (m0012xmb)
[Repeat of broadcast at 23:50 on Monday]

FRIDAY 20 DECEMBER 2024

FRI 19:00 Top of the Pops (m000l424)
Christmas 1989

Jakki Brambles, Bruno Brookes and Gary Davies present the pop chart programme, first broadcast on 25 December 1989 and featuring Bros, The Beautiful South and Jason Donovan.


FRI 20:00 Top of the Pops (b07g8qs0)
Simon Bates presents the pop charts show, first broadcast on 17 December 1981. Includes appearances from Duran Duran, Godley & Creme, the Snowmen, Cliff Richard, Rod Stewart, Status Quo, the Human League and Zoo.


FRI 20:35 Top of the Pops (b086xg81)
David Jensen presents the weekly chart show, first broadcast on 23 December 1982. Includes appearances from The Maisonettes, David Bowie & Bing Crosby, Incantation, Shakin' Stevens, Imagination, ABBA, Keith Harris & Orville, Renee & Renato and Modern Romance.


FRI 21:05 Country Music Christmas (m0025k1v)
2024

Country music’s biggest stars get together for a night full of festive classics, celebrating the joy of the holidays in true Nashville style.

Amy Grant and Trisha Yearwood co-host and perform Sing Your Praise to the Lord and Santa Claus Is Coming to Town during this year’s edition. Grant also takes the stage to perform Tennessee Christmas, and Yearwood performs a medley of Christmas classics. In addition to music from the night’s hosts, the programme also includes performances from a range of country music’s most beloved artists.


FRI 21:50 Dolly Parton at the BBC (m0013wts)
Dolly Parton is one of the biggest and best-loved music stars on the planet. Here, we celebrate all things Dolly with a look back at some of her greatest performances on the BBC, incorporating all her biggest hits and finest moments.

From Jolene and 9 to 5, to Islands in the Stream and Here You Come Again, this collection showcases the enduring songwriting talents and the sense of humour that first made her name back in the 1970s.


FRI 22:50 Dolly Parton: Here I Am (m000crhq)
A landmark documentary that explores the extraordinary life and music of Dolly Parton.

Featuring incredible archive footage and exclusive interviews with Dolly and stars like Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin, this film lifts the lid on the songwriting genius behind I Will Always Love You, Jolene, 9 to 5 and a host of other chart-topping hits.

From her humble beginnings to her global success, the film discovers how a young girl from the Smoky Mountains conquered Nashville to become the queen of country music.


FRI 00:20 Glastonbury (b04d8xv8)
2014

Dolly Parton

From the Glastonbury Festival, the complete set by the undisputed queen of country music Dolly Parton from the Pyramid Stage in the now-traditional legends spot on Sunday afternoon. As the Somerset sunshine shone, and in front of one of the biggest and most enthusiastic crowds that the Pyramid Stage has ever seen, Dolly performed a rousing and crowd-pleasing set including self-penned classics such as Jolene, Coat of Many Colours, 9 to 5, Islands in the Stream and I Will Always Love You. A legendary moment that the Glastonbury crowd and hopefully Dolly Parton will never forget.


FRI 01:30 Top of the Pops (m000l424)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:00 today]


FRI 02:30 Top of the Pops (b07g8qs0)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:00 today]


FRI 03:05 Top of the Pops (b086xg81)
[Repeat of broadcast at 20:35 today]