Christmas TV preview 2025: Paul Whitelaw's guide to the best festive viewing

The festivities begin with a new five-part adaptation of Peter Shaffer’s Amadeus (21 December, Sky Atlantic, 9pm), starring Will Sharpe as the titular musical genius and Paul Bettany as his embittered rival Salieri. Milos Forman’s Oscar-winning film adaptation from 1984 is a tough act to follow, but this version by writer Joe Barton (Girl/Haji) is full of Gothic promise.

For all sorts of complicated production reasons there’s no Doctor Who Christmas special this year, but fans can at least enjoy the – not at all Christmassy – final episode of miniseries spin-off The War Between the Land and the Sea (21 December, BBC1, 8:05pm). Speaking of spin-offs, the Death in Paradise-adjacent Beyond Paradise (21 December, BBC1, 9pm), welcomes special guest Adrian Edmondson to the fold for some Yuletide mystery capers.​

Two cult sitcoms, the fish-out-of-water ’70s PE teacher farce Mammoth and Diane Morgan’s agreeably daft Mandy (22 December, BBC2, 10pm and 10:25pm) form a neat double-bill this week. The comedy continues with Stuffed (23 December, BBC1, 9pm), a good-natured family-friendly special starring Guz Khan and Morgana Robinson as a married couple with children whose plans for a magical Lapland holiday go seriously awry. Sue Johnston, too, comes along for the ride.

Kate Winslet makes her directorial debut with Goodbye June (Christmas Eve, Netflix), a feature-length Christmas drama about four siblings and their ailing mother. If you can stomach the blatant nepotism – the writer is Winslet’s 21-year-old son Joe Anders – it’s quite a touching piece with a stellar cast including Toni Collette, Helen Mirren, Timothy Spall, Stephen Merchant and Winslet herself.

A one-off comedy drama, Finding Father Christmas (Christmas Eve, Channel 4, 7:30pm) is a sweet confection starring Lenny Rush as Chris, a teenage boy who still believes in Santa. When his dad (James Buckley) decides it’s time to gently burst that bubble, Chris sets off on a journey to prove him wrong. Stephen Fry and Professor Hannah Fry – no relation – both make guest appearances as themselves, whereas Greg Davies turns up playing another character entirely. No prizes for guessing who. Meanwhile, the always delightful Mortimer & Whitehouse: Gone Fishing (Christmas Eve, BBC2, 9pm) returns with comedy chum Dawn French in tow.

That very fine and funny BBC Scotland sitcom Two Doors Down (Christmas Eve, BBC1, 10pm) seemingly came to an end in 2023 after the sad passing of co-creator Simon Carlyle, but his writing partner Gregor Sharp has, in what must’ve been a difficult decision, decided to carry on with this Christmas special. Preview copies weren’t available at the time of writing, but it presumably carries a bittersweet undercurrent.

Mark Gatiss’ The Room in the Tower: A Ghost Story for Christmas (Christmas Eve, BBC2, 10pm) is mildly shocking. His annual adaptations of classic supernatural texts are almost always underwhelming, a reliable disappointment, but this one is actually quite effective and atmospheric. A haunting cameo from Joanna Lumley – more of whom later – adds to its unsettling waking nightmare appeal.

The BBC’s Christmas adaptations of Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler’s much-loved children’s books never disappoint, and The Scarecrows’ Wedding (Christmas Day, BBC1, 3:10pm) is no exception. A heartwarming animated tale, it’s voiced by Jessie Buckley, Domhnall Gleason, Rob Brydon and Sophie Okonedo.

Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman take their final bow as hosts in Strictly Come Dancing (Christmas Day, BBC1, 5:30pm), while Claudia’s sister, Sophie, reunites with fellow Peep Show cast-members David Mitchell, Olivia Colman, Matt King and Isy Suttie in The Great Christmas British Bake Off (Christmas Day, Channel 4, 7:55pm).

Another reliable institution, Call The Midwife (Christmas Day and Boxing Day, BBC1, 8:15pm and 8:30pm) spreads the love and pain over two snow-dappled episodes; the enjoyable Motherland spin-off Amandaland (Christmas Day, BBC1, 9:15pm) finds series regular Joanna Lumley sharing screen-time with her dear old Absolutely Fabulous cohort Jennifer Saunders (it’s a big TV Christmas for the Edmondson/Saunders/French collective); and one of the greatest films ever made receives its due in Jaws @ 50: The Definitive Inside Story (Christmas Day, BBC2, 11:15pm), an impressively researched documentary featuring insightful contributions from director Steven Spielberg and practically every single living person who was involved in its production. That’s preceded at 9:15pm by a showing of the film itself.

I’ll be back soon for an almost unbearably action-packed Hogmanay round-up, but until then – Feliz Navidad!

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