British Telly

Steve Wright, Edna O’Brien and Sven-Göran Eriksson are also remembered in Lives Well Lived. Plus: a night of Oasis. Here’s what to watch this evening

6pm, BBC Two

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Chris McCausland and Katherine Ryan are some of the comedians ready to win. Plus: the Beyond Paradise festive special. Here’s what to watch this evening

9pm, Channel 4

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I have never understood the association of ghost stories with Christmas. Is it because it is still a part-pagan festival? Is it because we don’t like to let ourselves be too happy? Or is it because the whole family is likely to be home and you need to remind yourself that there could be more malevolent forces out there than in here, whatever the toxic dynamics? Perhaps it’s just because it gets dark so early.

Whatever the reason, here is another half-hour shiver from Mark Gatiss, adapted this time not from the output of his beloved MR James, but from a more unexpected source. A Ghost Story for Christmas: Woman of Stone is based on a short story called Man-size in Marble by E Nesbit. Yes, that E Nesbit! The Railway Children E Nesbit! She was a prolific writer of novels and short stories, for adults as well as children; Man-size in Marble was published as part of her Grim Tales collection (for grownups) in 1893.

Gatiss frames his version around Nesbit, played by Celia Imrie, in bed and suffering from the lung cancer that would kill her in 1924, but still the glamorous, sociable and mesmeric figure she always was. “I rather like lying in bed smoking Old Virginia and making phantoms in the air,” she says to the young Dr Zubin (Mawaan Rizwan), making his daily visit. He has read only The Railway Children, so she tells him one of her other tales and puts him in it. “Every ghost story should have a rational medical man to offset the nonsense …”

After eight years, the Brockmans are back and on fine form. Plus: a turkey crown and Christmas cracker battle it out. Here’s what to watch this evening

9.40pm, BBC OneIn news guaranteed to make you feel old, Sue and Pete Brockman (Claire Skinner and Hugh Dennis) are now grandparents. Eight years after we last visited the family, the whole gang are back together. However, the course of family Christmas never runs smooth, and this one is no exception, with celebrations menaced by neighbours, hyenas and that old festive favourite, the replacement bus service. Phil Harrison

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Merry Christmas! It’s time for another adventure with our cheese-munching inventors. Plus: Gavin & Stacey returns for the big finale. Here’s what to watch today

6.10pm, BBC OneFeathers McGraw is back and that spells trouble for Wallace and Gromit in this eagerly awaited return for the claymation legends. But what has the villainous penguin got in store for our heroes? When Wallace invents a “smart gnome” that seems to have a mind of its own, he finds himself in trouble. But who is really controlling Norbot? As ever, Aardman’s work is effortlessly charming and the fine voice cast includes Reece Shearsmith, Peter Kay and Diane Morgan. Phil Harrison

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Woman of Stone is the spine-chilling tale of two marble effigies that come to life. Plus: a magical night of Doctor Who music. Here’s what to watch tonight

10.15pm, BBC TwoHold on to your steaming mug of mulled wine as Mark Gatiss adapts an E Nesbit story for a suitably festive fright. It tells the tale of two Victorian newlyweds Jack (Éanna Hardwicke) and Laura (Phoebe Horn) who move to a charming village but are disturbed by a warning from the housekeeper, Mrs Dorman (Monica Dolan), about a local legend: two marble effigies that come to life every Christmas Eve. But, Dorman insists, “It’s just a story, sir … a silly story.” Hollie Richardson

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Si King celebrates the life of his best mate, who died of cancer this year. Plus: it’s the All Creatures Great and Small Christmas special. Here’s what to watch this evening

9pm, BBC Two

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When Mark Gatiss was young, he loved combing through the TV schedules at Christmas time looking for anything supernatural.

"I was always very disappointed if there wasn't a ghost or a monster," he says.

Gatiss, an actor and writer perhaps best known for co-creating BBC series such as Sherlock and Dracula, remembers that TV in the 1970s usually had "something lurking in the shadows".

Like the 1974 drama The Treasure of Abbot Thomas, part of the BBC strand A Ghost Story for Christmas. That film sees an antique collector haunted by a ghost, described in the drama as "a thing of darkness and slime". For Gatiss, it was love at first fright.

Gatiss' latest contribution to A Ghost Story for Christmas is Woman of Stone - based on the 1893 story Man-Size in Marble by author Edith Nesbit - about a newlywed Victorian couple warned of a local legend about a pair of marble knights who rise from their slumber on Christmas Eve.

"It scared the wits out of me," Gatiss remembers about the first time he read the story.

Earlier films in the BBC festive series have adapted the tales of Charles Dickens and Arthur Conan Doyle.

But in a first for the strand, this year's Ghost Story for Christmas is based on a story by a female writer – Edith Nesbit, best known for novels The Railway Children and Five Children and It.

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Other films in the series have also sought to challenge expectations.

Gatiss' 2013 film The Tractate Middoth, starring Sacha Dhawan as a librarian haunted by a mysterious book, featured an ethnically-diverse cast - but Gatiss doesn't see this as "colour-blind casting".

Mawaan Rizwan's role in Woman of Stone, meanwhile, took inspiration from George Edalji, a solicitor of Indian descent who lived "in the middle of rural England in the Victorian age," Gatiss says, "but you just don't get these stories, you're not told them."

New Sky comedy Bad Tidings is good, silly fun for the family. Plus: saying goodbye to cult hit Inside No 9. Here’s what to watch this evening

7.30pm, Sky Max

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Real-life testimonies about the miracle of blood will have you weeping. Plus: Strictly’s not over just yet! Here’s what to watch this evening

9.20pm, BBC One

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The actor embarks on a journey through British myths and rituals. Plus: Nashville gets festive in Country Music Christmas. Here’s what to watch this evening

10pm, BBC ThreeA festive special with a decidedly pagan twist as This Country star Charlie Cooper embarks on another gentle but earnest investigation of the ancient myths and rituals that underpin Britain’s calendar. Charlie is a little disillusioned with modern attitudes to Christmas, so he explores everything from a barrel-burning festival in Devon to a morris dancing event in Surrey. What he finds is that, just under the surface, our collective attachment to these celebrations remains surprisingly strong. Phil Harrison

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Steven Frayne stuns with new tricks. Plus: Alison Hammond dons the tinsel to meet some gorgeous pooches. Here’s what to watch this evening

9pm, Sky Max

The magician known to his mum as Steven Frayne but to the world as Dynamo returns. It’s hard to know where he can go after last year’s terrifying stunt in which he was apparently buried alive. It seems the answer is back to his roots: he will be out and about, travelling the country and stunning passersby in the street with his undeniably startling sleight of hand. But he hasn’t lost his taste for the grand spectacle – expect a death‑defying finale. Phil Harrison

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The beloved TV baker enlists celebrity friends – Oti Mabuse, Nick Grimshaw and Amanda Holden – to create warming seaside snacks. Plus, the gorgeous finale of My Brilliant Friend. Here’s what to watch this evening

8pm, BBC One

She turns 90 next year, but the star baker Mary Berry is still at it with the help (or hindrance) of some celebrity friends. Oti Mabuse, Nick Grimshaw (pictured) and Amanda Holden join in as she makes almond snowballs for the cold-water swimmers and stocking-filler boozy apricots and ginger flapjacks for the annual Christmas carols celebration in aid of the search-and-rescue charity the RNLI. Expect to lust after turkey pasties and clementine creme brulee, too. Hollie Richardson

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cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/23199192

The BBC will mark 50 years since the production of 'Life on Earth,' the David Attenborough series that set the template for natural history content.

Tom Hardy stepped in to help the crew of Guy Ritchie’s new TV series The Associate after a construction company went into liquidation.

The Venom star, 47, recently filmed scenes for the series in London when about 50 freelance building workers were left unpaid.

According to The Times, the company contracted to build the sets went bust, leaving £250,000 in wages outstanding just before Christmas.

The company’s chief executive reportedly informed workers last week that their pay would likely be delayed until after the New Year, causing widespread distress.

It wasn’t until Hardy stepped in and offered to cover the workers’ wages that Paramount intervened to resolve the issue and ensure payments were arranged.

A source told the news outlet: “He offered to [pay], but the production and Paramount have sorted the payment.”

A two-part film takes us through the biggest event of the summer. Plus: who will win Sports Personality of the Year? Here’s what to watch this evening

10pm, BBC Four

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It’s a dicey time for the British TV industry. The BBC may not currently be facing the hostility of the previous government, but its output is being winnowed down by cuts; the chunk taken out industry-wide by Covid-19 has never really been put back; the pockets of the once-shiny new streamers are less deep than they used to be, and more desperate for returns on investment; and the majority freelance workforce that make the shows we love are seriously struggling for security and a future. The model needs to change.

Despite all that gloom, 2024 has still seen some amazing work come to screen. We’ve had tense crime series, globetrotting thrillers, glitzy entertainment shows, heartfelt comedy, imaginative sci-fi and brilliant period drama. We’ve had shows so good they explain why clever, creative people choose unstable careers and crazy hours to make them. Join us in celebrating the most entertaining UK TV series of the year

1. Inside No. 9
2. Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light
3. Doctor Who Series 14
4. Slow Horses Series 4
5. Baby Reindeer
6. KAOS
7. Supacell
8. Alma’s Not Normal Series 2
9. Rivals
10. We Are Lady Parts Series 2
11. One Day
12. Mr Bates vs the Post Office
13. Blue Lights Series 2
14. Big Boys Series 2
15. Taskmaster Series 17 & 18
16. Shardlake
17. Day of the Jackal
18. Passenger
19. Ludwig
20. Until I Kill You
21. The Red King
22. The Traitors Series 2
23. Red Eye
24. Renegade Nell
25. Gladiators

Agree? Disagree? Any omissions?

For anyone who is weary of the usual feelgood festive films – Love Actually, Elf, Miracle on 34th Street and so on – a more offbeat offering involving a bunch of bus drivers and a joyfully amateur retelling of the space horror Alien may just appeal.

The documentary Alien on Stage tells the unlikely story of how the bus drivers, plus friends and relatives, decided that rather than put on their usual pantomime they would have a bash at Ridley Scott’s classic – and how, despite shaky sets, dodgy special effects and uneven acting (to put it kindly), they ended up in London’s theatreland.

The documentary has attracted a cult following at film festivals around the world and is available to a wider audience this Christmas on Apple TV+ and Prime Video and streaming services in the US and Canada.

Its makers, Danielle Kummer and Lucy Harvey, said they were delighted it had been released in time for Christmas and felt it had the ingredients of a seasonal feelgood film.

Harvey said: “One of the joys of Alien on Stage is how it unintentionally mirrors the UK’s beloved Christmas tradition of pantomime. You’ve got larger-than-life characters, unexpected comedy, a sense of community involvement and that playful mix of seriousness and silliness.”

Kummer said: “There’s something special about showing it to the people who will truly get the uniquely British humour and charm that runs through it.”

The athlete swaps the city for quieter climes. Plus: will Eddie Redmayne’s assassin come a cropper as The Day of the Jackal ends? Here’s what to watch this evening

8pm, BBC OneWith the help of his daughter Briannah and property expert Alistair Appleton, it’s time for athlete Linford Christie to make a dash for the countryside. Linford has been a city boy all his life so can rural tranquility compete with the buzz of the town? During the course of this special, the Christies take a tour of the Chilterns and enjoy outdoor dining at the more bucolic end of the Thames.

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This fascinating documentary digs deep for genetic secrets. Plus: Shetland reaches its sombre conclusion. Here’s what to watch this evening

9pm, BBC Four“We will never get dinosaur DNA,” says one scientist in this fascinating documentary. But even allowing for this disappointingly defeatist attitude, the process surrounding DNA is becoming increasingly mind-boggling, to the point where it now seems that the genetic secrets of our deep past could help humanity navigate the future. The story is engagingly told, mainly thanks to the charismatic biologist Eske Willerslev for whom this field has become a labour of love. Phil Harrison

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Will we discover what the mysterious hum is in The Listeners? Plus: James Acaster’s very funny standup show. Here’s what to watch this evening

9pm, BBC One This series about a mysterious hum only audible to a select few has been a creepy treat. At the heart of it is a mesmerising performance from Rebecca Hall as Claire, a woman whose torment has gradually turned into a form of need as the hum takes over her world – and offers her a new form of belonging to replace everything she has lost. As the group of initiates is threatened by the outside world, can Claire control her impulses? Phil Harrison

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It’s the glorious final season of emotional comedy Somebody Somewhere. Plus: Charles Dance is Michelangelo in Renaissance – The Blood and the Beauty. Here’s what to watch this evening

10pm, Sky Comedy

Of all the underwatched series of recent years, this tale of a woman finding her feet after leaving the big city to return to her smalltown Kansas childhood home is top of the list. It’s a poignant, belly-laugh-packed emotional journey that’s crude, sweet, heartbreaking and has such an artsy vibe it wouldn’t feel out of place at Sundance. Its glorious final season begins with a double bill in which Sam (Bridget Everett) looks into dog adoption while her erstwhile roommate Joel moves in with his boyfriend, Brad. Brace for an hour of glorious TV that runs the gamut from weepy to joyful – and features the filthiest rendition of She’ll Be Coming Round the Mountain you’re ever likely to hear. Alexi Duggins

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A suite in the ultra-exclusive Gstaad Palace costs up to £18,00 a night! Plus: Dua Lipa at the Royal Albert Hall. Here’s what to watch this evening

9pm, Channel 4

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The second season of the “Star Wars” series “Ahsoka” is moving its film production from Los Angeles to the United Kingdom, and at present, its studio Lucasfilm does not have any film or series projects currently slated to film in LA, IndieWire has confirmed.

A studio insider disputed the idea that all film and TV production for Lucasfilm would relocate to the UK, adding that no hard and fast decision has been made.

Lucasfilm has a long UK history dating back to George Lucas’ original “Star Wars” trilogy as well as films like “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny.”

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many streaming series on Disney+ were shot in Los Angeles County at Manhattan Beach Studios including “The Mandalorian,” “Obi-Wan Kenobi,” and the just-released “Skeleton Crew.” Lucasfilm utilized Industrial Light & Magic’s “volume stage” technology — stages with wraparound digital LED screens encompassing the set — with technicians based on the West Coast. Other shows like “The Acolyte,” “Andor,” and “Willow,” which didn’t make use of the tech, were generally shot in the UK.

In the case of “Ahsoka” Season 2, which is tentatively set to begin filming in April 2025, IndieWire has learned the show will utilize multiple different film techniques. The first was shot entirely on volume stages.

The great chatterbox meets the queen of Christmas. Plus: Holly Willoughby revives an 80s gameshow. Here’s what to watch this evening

10.15pm, BBC Two

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