Deciding what to watch over the Christmas holidays can be a tricky task. When it seems like every TV show ever made is bringing out a festive special and the schedule is packed, breaking down the shows actually worth your time is a real task.
As a TV writer, I spend my life watching monumental amounts of the stuff. I also felt a certain amount of overwhelm myself when faced with this year’s Christmas line-up, wishing for a return to the days where I decided what I was going to watch by circling it with highlighter pens in the Radio Times as a kid.
The top 3 TV shows to watch this Christmas
Call the Midwife
(Image credit: BBC / Neal Street Productions / Olly Courtney)
When is it on TV? Part one will air at 8:15pm on Christmas Day, followed by part two on Boxing Day at 8:30pm on BBC One.
I sometimes struggle to put into words just how much I love Call The Midwife. I’ve watched every season multiple times, I’ve read Jennifer Worth’s beautifully written memoirs the show is based on. I want to be a district midwife in 1950s London – I definitely missed my era.
From the moment I first saw Jessica Raine as Jenny Lee, walking nervously up the steps to Nonnatus house all the way back in 2012, I’ve been obsessed. While some have accused the show of being overly saccharine and a little twee, I totally disagree.
While there are moments of this, Call The Midwife is at its heart, a gritty, feminist powerhouse, shining a much-needed light on issues affecting women and their (lack of) bodily autonomy, choice and available care, both past and present.
While not everyone gets a happy ending in the show, it’s true that many do. If, like me, you’re a fan of characters you get invested in having their stories wrapped up with a neat bow, then it’s absolutely perfect for you.
It’s also a testament to the show that every season seems fresh – there’s so many stories to tell when it comes to women’s issues, it could probably continue for ever and not feel jaded or repetitive.
Plus, the series goes all out for Christmas. If Christmas were to be a TV show, it would be Call the Midwife. It’s the best way to end your turkey and tinsel-filled day, and brings the warm and fuzzies to the coldest, deadest of hearts.
Amandaland
(Image credit: BBC/Merman/Natalie Seery)
When is it on TV? Christmas Day at 9.15pm on BBC One.
A spin-off from the monumentally excellent Motherland, the Amandaland Christmas special is not to be missed for so many reasons.
Let’s go back to the start. If you haven’t watched Motherland, you don’t really need to have seen it to enjoy Amandaland, but it will help. Also, why haven’t you watched it?
Motherland came to end in 2022 and is quite simply, one of the most perfectly written, hilarious things to land on our screens, and I promise your life will be richer for seeing it. Despite it being about parents, you also don’t have to be a mother to love it.
Anyway, in Motherland, the character of Amanda (Lucy Punch) is the epitome of the person we love to hate. Plus, everyone knows an Amanda – perfect parenthood is easy for an Amanda.
While she gleefully makes other mothers feel rubbish about their lack of gentle parenting and non sugar-free, Hygge lifestyles, an Amanda’s total and utter lack of self-awareness is humorously shocking.
When I heard Amanda was getting her own spin-off, I let out a little scream. And the initial, six-episode run this year did not disappoint.
However, while she remains self-centred and self-indulgent, Amanda faces the challenges of us mortal parents in the show, and there’s a perfect amount of character development to keep you invested.
The Christmas special will show how Amanda’s relationship with her mum (a delightfully awful Joanna Lumley,) has built her as a person. Plus, it offers the gift of an Absolutely Fabulous reunion in the form of Jennifer Saunders joining the line-up.
There’s plenty of reasons for you to tune in and I guarantee you will laugh out loud, and marvel at Lucy Punch’s glorious acting skills. Amandaland also follows Call The Midwife in the TV schedule, so that’s you’re entire evening sorted.
The Traitors
(Image credit: BBC/Studio Lambert/Cody Burridge)
When is it on TV? Season 4 begins on New Year’s Day at 8pm on BBC One. Episode 2 follows at 8pm on January 2, and episode 3 airs at 7.45pm on January 3.
Now, you’ll know just how unusual it is for me to include a reality show in the top TV you need to watch, when I tell you I absolutely despise reality shows.
But The Traitors? Well, it has my entire heart. I was looking for something to watch with my children, and a colleague suggested it as peak family viewing.
I was less than thrilled, but by the closing of the very first episode, it was indeed top of my “peak family viewing” watch list and will not ever be knocked from that perch, I’m telling you now.
Also, during the recent celebrity edition of the series, I’m totally unembarrassed to say that when the celebrity winner burst into unexpected tears at the end, I joined in – fat, stress hormone releasing tears rolled down my cheeks after days of being overly invested in a reality show I never thought I’d like.
For starters, could there be anyone anymore more perfect than Claudia Winkleman to front this series? That’s a rhetorical question.
So perfectly does she encapsulate the gothic, treacherous vibe of the show, it’s like she was born and grew up in The Traitors castle and has been keeping the contestants in check her entire life.
This series brings endless, delectable drama that I just can’t get enough of. I love living vicariously through the lives of the contestants, as they get to flex their amateur acting skills and throw out (and keep on top of,) massive lies.
It’s perfect. It’s escapism in its purest form. I absolutely cannot wait.
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.womanandhome.com ’
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