Christmas 2017: What to watch on TV today, Christmas Day
From Doctor Who to Call the Midwife and Mrs Brown's Boys, check out all the best shows to watch on TV this Christmas Day
Here's your definitive Christmas Day TV line-up – what will you be watching?
The Highway Rat, 4.45pm BBC1
There's a moral to this story based on Gruffalo author Julia Donaldson’s children’s book, The Highway Rat. The film involves one greedy rat who encounters a very clever duck and it’s all narrated by Rob Brydon. It also includes the voices of David Tennant, Tom Hollander and Frances de la Tour.
Doctor Who, 5.30pm BBC1
The Doctor Who Christmas special, Twice upon a Time, marks the end of Peter Capaldi and Steven Moffatt’s time on the show and promises an absorbing adventure. Mark Gatiss plays a British captain and the first ever female Doctor, Jodie Whittaker, arrives following the Doctor’s regeneration.
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Emmerdale, Coronation Street/Eastenders: 5.50pm, 8.00pm ITV/9.00pm BBC1
We're in for some unusual drama on Emmerdale according to show boss Ian McLeod, while in Weatherfield we've got Corrie's Billy on the edge of a cliff in the boot of a car. Albert Square doesn't disappoint with the drama explosives, delivering an action-packed episode with evidence that looks set to trigger Max Branning's downfall. There's nothing like a soap Christmas to put your disappointing roast potatoes into perspective.
Strictly Come Dancing, 6.30pm BBC1
The Strictly Come Dancing Christmas special is back on our screens, welcoming back dancers of Strictly past including Colin Jackson, Robbie Savage and Kimberly Walsh. There’ll be a Charleston from Judy Murray - described by Bruno Tonioli as a ‘Christmas miracle’ - a performance by the professionals at Buckingham Palace, and a huge festive feel-good factor.
The Great Christmas Bake Off, 7.40pm C4
You might have gone overboard on the mince pies and Quality Streets, but you can still watch festive sweet treats being made. Paul Hollywood and Prue Leith set four former Bake Off contestants a series of seasonal challenges. Val Stones, Beca Lyne-Prikis, Paul Jagger – renowned for his spectacular bread lion from series six – and the wonderful Selasi Gbormittah will be returning to a very festive looking Bake Off tent.
Call the Midwife, 7.40pm BBC1
It's been a long time since Call the Midwife was on TV, but the popular period drama will be returning to the BBC towards the end of Christmas Day. With the Christmas episode set during 'the Big Freeze' of winter 1963, a Boxing Day blizzard disrupts the festivities of the midwives and nuns of Poplar.
Upstart Crow: a Christmas Crow, 8.25pm BBC2
The Christmas special for Ben Elton's William Shakespeare comedy Upstart Crow shows David Mitchell's William Shakespeare preparing to show Eighth Night to Queen Elizabeth I (Emma Thompson). The Tudor comedy's first seasonal special shows the Bard juggling his tricky family with the London theatre scene.
Victoria, 9.00pm ITV
This two-hour long festive special starring Jenna Coleman as Queen Victoria and Tom Hughes as Prince Albert promises lots of action and lots of snow as the Queen's husband gets seriously into the Christmas spirit. Much of the drama's first Christmas special is filmed in Yorkshire, and Harewood House in Leeds is used for the scenes in Buckingham Palace.
Mrs Brown's Boys, 10.00pm BBC1
Brendan O'Carroll's Irish mammy returns to the BBC at 10pm on Christmas Day, and O'Carroll's off-the-cuff comments are, as usual, the comedic highlights of the Mrs Brown's Boys annual Christmas special. Almost all members of Brendan O'Carroll's extended family are featured as Grandad shares his suspicion that the house is haunted and Rory undergoes plastic surgery.
