SATURDAY 13 DECEMBER 2025
SAT 19:00 Jackanory Gold (p031d162)
Series 2
Judi Dench with The Tailor of Gloucester
Judi Dench reads the classic story of The Tailor of Gloucester by Beatrix Potter.
SAT 19:15 Jackanory (m001dzq1)
Looking-Glass House
First instalment of a special seven-part Jackanory series devoted to Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures through the Looking Glass. First broadcast in 2001 and read by writer, dramatist and actor Alan Bennett.
SAT 19:25 All Creatures Great and Small (p031d0l0)
Series 7
Old Dogs, New Tricks
James is not pleased when, under Mrs Pumphrey's relentless pressure, Siegfried accepts that Tricki Woo should stay at Skeldale.
SAT 20:15 All Creatures Great and Small (p031d0l3)
Series 7
Hampered
Mrs Pumphrey's great-niece Angela comes to stay, and Tristan starts to take an unprecedented interest in Tricki-Woo's diet.
SAT 21:05 All Creatures Great and Small (p031d0l9)
Series 7
Promises to Keep
'Our Gracie' is treated for a mild skin disorder, and the partners attend a wedding.
SAT 21:55 Mystery Road: Origin (p0dp7sm7)
Series 1
Episode 3
Ordered off the investigation, but still probing, Jay finds that family takes many forms, while a murder from Mary’s past stirs anger.
SAT 22:50 Mystery Road: Origin (p0dp7thj)
Series 1
Episode 4
A confessed killer is in jail, but there are doubts they are truly guilty. Jay links Jack to a corporate fraud, and Max faces a new 'Ned Kelly'.
SAT 23:45 Yes, Prime Minister (b0074qxj)
Series 1
A Victory for Democracy
Classic sitcom about a beleaguered PM. Jim Hacker begins to wonder whether the government runs the Foreign Office, or vice versa.
SAT 00:20 Yes, Prime Minister (b0074rvl)
Series 1
The Bishop's Gambit
Classic political comedy. Jim must recommend the appointment of bishops to the Queen, but he is not keen on the two offered by the church.
SAT 00:50 All Creatures Great and Small (p031d0l0)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:25 today]
SAT 01:40 All Creatures Great and Small (p031d0l3)
[Repeat of broadcast at
20:15 today]
SAT 02:30 All Creatures Great and Small (p031d0l9)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:05 today]
SAT 03:20 Jackanory Gold (p031d162)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 today]
SUNDAY 14 DECEMBER 2025
SUN 19:00 Antiques Roadshow (b009pdct)
Series 30
Farewell to Michael Aspel
Michael Aspel says a fond farewell to the Roadshow team with his final edition of the programme.
In this special show, he looks back on the 200 episodes he hosted, meeting up with specialists and revealing surprising updates on some of the most exciting objects featured during his eight years with the series.
SUN 19:45 Michael Aspel at the BBC (m002np2w)
Before he became one of Britain’s best-loved presenters, Michael Aspel was the face of early television - donning the famous 'communal dinner jacket' as a continuity announcer in the fledgling days of broadcasting.
In this warm and revealing documentary, Aspel looks back on a career that spanned news reading, children’s favourites like Crackerjack and Ask Aspel, along with iconic shows such as This Is Your Life and Antiques Roadshow.
With stories of interviews gone delightfully wrong, encounters with silver screen legends and even his comic turns with Morecambe and Wise, this is the definitive portrait of a man who helped shape British TV.
SUN 20:30 Ask Aspel with Kate Bush (m002np2y)
Michael Aspel presents an episode of the children's request show, first broadcast in 1978 and featuring guest Kate Bush, who performs Kashka from Baghdad.
SUN 20:55 This Is Your Life (m002np30)
Bob Hope
Michael Aspel springs a surprise on one of the biggest names in show business, actor and comedian Bob Hope. Among the guests sharing their memories are Phyllis Diller, Milton Berle, Jane Russell, Carroll Baker, Arnold Palmer and President Gerald Ford.
SUN 21:35 Personal Cinema: Maggie Smith (m002np32)
In a programme first broadcast in 1970, Maggie Smith talks to Michael Aspel about her career and chooses scenes from some of her favourite films, including Way Out West, The Last Hurrah, On the Waterfront, Some Like It Hot and The Prime of Miss Jean Brody.
SUN 22:05 Remembers... (m002np34)
Michael Aspel Remembers... The Evacuees
Michael Aspel, now 92, reflects on his childhood as an evacuee during the Second World War. Sent to Chard in Somerset at the age of seven, he was separated from his siblings and didn't see his parents for over four years.
In this candid recollection, Aspel shares vivid memories of adapting to rural life, clashes with local children and the lasting impact of those formative years - stories he first touched on in the 1969 documentary The Evacuees.
SUN 22:15 The Evacuees (m002np36)
In a programme first broadcast in 1969, some of the four million people evacuated as children from British cities during the Second World War look back on their experiences. Amongst the contributors are Michael Aspel and Jonathan Miller.
SUN 22:45 What We Were Watching (m000qpgh)
Christmas 1995
Grace Dent embarks on a televisual trip back in time by setting the remote control for December 1995 and serving up an irreverent look back at the festive viewing options that faced the nation in the past.
Exploring how much what is shown on our screens has changed involves some deep diving into EastEnders’ annual festival of gloom to find that Arthur Fowler is behind bars and Pat Butcher is being lusted after by Roy and Frank. Grace also discovers that TV schedulers of the time appeared to have sex on the brain, with a surprisingly high number of seasonal shows featuring subjects and scenes that would make a family audience in 2020 blush with embarrassment.
There is also an in-depth look at infidelity in the morally questionable sitcom Goodnight Sweetheart, we join Hetty Wainthropp on her very first BBC investigation and go trapezing on a hot-air balloon with a truly spectacular Record Breakers challenge. And we remind ourselves of the genius of the late, great Rik Mayall – here reading Jack and the Beanstalk on Jackanory for an audience of real Young Ones as only he could.
SUN 23:45 Antiques Roadshow (b009pdct)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 today]
SUN 00:30 Michael Aspel at the BBC (m002np2w)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:45 today]
SUN 01:15 Ask Aspel with Kate Bush (m002np2y)
[Repeat of broadcast at
20:30 today]
SUN 01:40 This Is Your Life (m002np30)
[Repeat of broadcast at
20:55 today]
SUN 02:20 Personal Cinema: Maggie Smith (m002np32)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:35 today]
SUN 02:50 What We Were Watching (m000qpgh)
[Repeat of broadcast at
22:45 today]
MONDAY 15 DECEMBER 2025
MON 19:00 Winter Walks (m001772c)
Adrian Chiles
Follow Adrian Chiles on an intimate walk as he ruminates and reflects on life. A keen walker, Adrian explores Scarborough on the Yorkshire coast. He talks openly about his challenges with mental health, his diagnosis of attention deficit disorder and the ‘resetting’ powers of taking a stroll.
Walking alone with a 360-degree camera, Adrian starts his journey at the windswept Scalby Ness. He meets craft-recycling beachcombers before heading to the mighty headland and Scarborough Castle. After a walk through the old town, he watches the sun settle at the picturesque harbour. Adrian is in his element, meeting, chatting and enjoying the company of other people while moseying around this quaint and colourful seaside town.
Taking in the vast Jurassic headland with its historic Bronze Age and Roman settlements, Adrian reflects on mankind’s time on earth as he absorbs the vistas across North and South Bay. In a tender moment visiting St Mary’s Church, Adrian pauses for quiet contemplation and discusses the importance of his Catholic faith.
Leaving for the old town, he pays a visit to Anne Bronte’s final resting place to say thank you for the inspiration her literature has given him. On the final stretch along the beach, Adrian is energised and charmed by a group of women swimmers, bracing the February North Sea as they head out for a dip. In a powerful closing moment, Adrian extols ‘resetting and taking time to reflect’ by exploring new places and ‘breathing different air’.
MON 19:30 Porridge (b007894v)
Christmas Special: No Way Out
Christmas special of the classic sitcom from 1975. Fletcher doesn't want to spend Christmas in his cell, and through a convoluted series of events involving the building of a tunnel, he ends up in hospital for Christmas with his feet up in a quiet, comfortable private room.
MON 20:10 '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.
MON 21:00 One Foot in the Grave (p00d70c7)
Who's Listening?
Victor bemoans the commercialism of Christmas and ponders whether it ever had a deeper, spiritual meaning. He decides to help the vicar feed the homeless on Christmas Day, but it's not quite the uplifting experience he'd hoped for because they end up being held hostage by a gun-toting man.
MON 22:00 Lucy Worsley's Christmas Carol Odyssey (m000c5y4)
In this festive treat featuring the Kingdom Choir and Hampton Court Choir, Lucy Worsley reveals that there’s much more to our best-loved carols than meets the eye. She reveals how their stories add up to a special kind of history of Christmas itself. In the ancient past, the wassail, a pagan fertility ritual, gave us door-to-door carol singing. Wassailing was also an integral part of an older midwinter festival that was adopted by Christianity when it came to Britain, and was rebranded as ‘Christmas’.
Religion, however, soon turned its back on carols. They were far too frivolous for the Puritans, who wanted to ban Christmas altogether. French Catholics on the other hand didn’t mind fun and frolics, and Lucy crosses the channel to learn a French renaissance jig, written by a dancing priest in the 16th century. The tune she dances to went on to become the carol Ding Dong Merrily on High in the 19th century.
In strict Protestant Britain, the carol survived outside the Church and new ones turned up in some surprising places. Lucy visits the British Library, where she discovers an 18th-century children’s book that contains a little memory game called The Twelve Days of Christmas. Christmas carols could also be politically dangerous and subversive. British Catholics were oppressed for generations after the Reformation, but one Catholic scribe, John Francis Wade, hid a coded message of support for a Jacobite rebellion in the carol O Come All Ye Faithful.
Eventually, the Church of England couldn’t resist the power of the carol, and finally opened its doors to all of them, thanks to a chance pairing of words and music in Hark the Herald Angels Sing, performed in the programme by the renowned gospel ensemble, The Kingdom Choir. In the 20th century, Ralph Vaughan Williams’s passion for English folk music took him to the villages of Surrey. Here, Lucy meets a folk singer who tells the tale of an elderly farm labourer, Henry Garman, who sang a tune for Vaughan Williams, which became O Little Town of Bethlehem.
Finally, in the snowy Austrian Alps, Lucy discovers the simple story of a young parish priest with a poem in search of a tune. When he found one, the result was Silent Night. During the First World War, this simple carol would become a hymn for peace during the famous Christmas truce of 1914. Silent Night also reminds us that carols are, and have always been, ‘popular music’, music for the people, fulfilling an enduring need to celebrate and sing together at Christmas.
MON 23:00 Storyville (m001tv79)
Songs of Earth
The dizzyingly beautiful mountainous landscapes of Norway provide the backdrop for this immersive story of a family whose lives are linked intrinsically to their environment. Set in the valley of the Jostedalsbreen Glacier, in the north of Norway, it is a portrait of the director Margreth Olin’s parents, in particular her father and his life-long and intimate relationship to the land he lives in. Filmed across the seasons, she takes the viewer on an existential journey, from family folklore to the best place to plant a Christmas tree.
MON 00:30 Winter Walks (m001772c)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 today]
MON 01:00 Porridge (b007894v)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:30 today]
MON 01:40 'Allo 'Allo! (b007bjwp)
[Repeat of broadcast at
20:10 today]
MON 02:30 One Foot in the Grave (p00d70c7)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:00 today]
TUESDAY 16 DECEMBER 2025
TUE 19:00 Tomorrow's World (b06tgd6w)
Series 12
Christmas Special 1975
Christmas special of the science magazine programme from 1975. Raymond Baxter, William Woollard, Michael Rodd and Judith Hann invite a party of children to their workshop, where young and old can enjoy magic moments of science.
TUE 19:30 University Challenge (m001gplg)
Christmas 2022
Episode 8
Two alumni teams return to contest the first semi-final of 2022’s Christmas competition. Jeremy Paxman asks the questions.
TUE 20:00 The Two Ronnies (b04k5znq)
1982 Christmas Special
Seasonal entertainment from 1982 with Ronnie Barker and Ronnie Corbett, plus special guest David Essex.
TUE 20:45 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 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 Brittas Empire (p00gl6q9)
Series 5
In the Beginning
It's New Year's Eve 2019, and former staff of Whitbury Leisure Centre - including three millionaires and a concert pianist - are at Colin's Scottish castle for their annual tribute to the man who gave them everything.
TUE 22:30 The Kumars at No 42 (p086z8t8)
Christmas Special 2002
Christmas in the Kumar household with Trinny and Susannah, Darius and Mark Owen.
TUE 23:00 imagine... (m000ct0t)
2020
Lenny Henry: Young, Gifted and Black
Alan Yentob follows one of our best loved performers as he releases his first autobiography charting his early years in show business. In this revealing and poignant film Sir Lenny Henry meets up with his closest friends, family and colleagues to remember his sudden rise to fame aged 16 on TV talent show, New Faces, which catapulted him from working-class kid from Dudley to one of Britain’s most celebrated black performers.
imagine... also explores Lenny’s other early television breakthrough roles on Tiswas and Three Of A Kind as well as five troubling years as the only black performer in The Black & White Minstrel Show. Alongside his early achievements, Lenny also discusses his recent career reinvention as a serious actor of stage and screen and his work as a political activist campaigning for greater diversity in the entertainment and broadcasting industry.
TUE 00:15 The Two Ronnies (b04k5znq)
[Repeat of broadcast at
20:00 today]
TUE 01:00 Porridge (b0078956)
[Repeat of broadcast at
20:45 today]
TUE 01:45 Sorry! (p00y5zly)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:30 today]
WEDNESDAY 17 DECEMBER 2025
WED 19:00 Food and Drink Christmas Quiz (m002np3l)
Chris Kelly, Jilly Goolden and Oz Clarke present a festive edition of the classic food programme from 1993, with guests Patrick Barlow and Helen Atkinson-Wood. Featuring ideas for Christmas appetizers, and Jilly and Oz challenge each other to blind taste and identify different white wines.
WED 19:30 University Challenge (m001gpnw)
Christmas 2022
Episode 9
Two of the four highest-scoring winning teams from the heats return to play the second of this year’s semi-finals. Jeremy Paxman asks the questions.
WED 20:00 Parkinson (m001tv64)
Parkinson Takes a Christmas Look at Morecambe and Wise 1974
Michael Parkinson introduces a chat show compilation of Morecambe and Wise shows. Those taking part include Eric Morecambe, Ernie Wise, Tom Jones, Andre Previn, Shirley Bassey, Peter Cushing and Glenda Jackson.
WED 21:05 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 22:00 Remembers... (m002np3n)
William Nicholson Remembers... Shadowlands
Screenwriter William Nicholson recalls the making of the 1985 BBC drama Shadowlands, an exploration of faith, love and loss that saw Joss Ackland playing Narnia writer CS Lewis and Claire Bloom in the role of the poet Joy Gresham.
William shares a tale as compelling as that of the drama itself, telling how Shadowlands' success transformed his life completely. It took William to Hollywood as he became one of the UK’s most accomplished film and television writers, after years working as a documentary maker in the BBC’s Religion Unit.
WED 22:20 Shadowlands (p00jz3db)
Moving drama about love and loss, set in the 1950s. When confirmed bachelor CS Lewis responds to a fan letter from an American woman called Joy Davidman, his life is transformed.
WED 23:50 Tales of Winter: The Art of Snow and Ice (b01q6qj6)
Winter was not always beautiful. Until Pieter Bruegel painted Hunters in the Snow, the long, bitter months had never been transformed into a thing of beauty. This documentary charts how mankind's ever-changing struggle with winter has been reflected in western art throughout the ages, resulting in images that are now amongst the greatest paintings of all time. With contributions from Grayson Perry, Will Self, Don McCullin and many others, the film takes an eclectic group of people from all walks of life out into the cold to reflect on the paintings that have come to define the art of snow and ice.
WED 01:20 Food and Drink Christmas Quiz (m002np3l)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 today]
WED 01:50 Victoria Wood with All the Trimmings (b007bs2x)
[Repeat of broadcast at
21:05 today]
WED 02:40 Lucy Worsley's Christmas Carol Odyssey (m000c5y4)
[Repeat of broadcast at
22:00 on Monday]
THURSDAY 18 DECEMBER 2025
THU 19:00 Two Fat Ladies Christmas (b008l31m)
Cookery for the festive season, with Jennifer Paterson and Clarissa Dickson Wright.
THU 19:30 University Challenge (m001gpg8)
Christmas 2022
Episode 10
It’s the grand final of the Christmas competition, in which teams of notable former students compete on behalf of their alma maters. Only two alumni teams remain: who will take the series title? Jeremy Paxman asks the questions.
THU 20:00 The Read (m002np44)
Series 4
Persuasion
Bafta and Olivier Award-winning actor Monica Dolan gives a captivating reading of Jane Austen’s much-loved novel.
THU 21:05 Pride and Prejudice (m000yh1q)
The Bennet family of Longbourn are delighted to learn of the occupancy of nearby Netherfield Park by Charles Bingley, a wealthy young bachelor. Bingley develops an interest in Jane, the eldest of the five unmarried Bennet girls, but her sister Elizabeth is far from impressed by Bingley's haughty companion Mr Darcy.
THU 23:00 Whisky Galore! (m000f1nk)
In 1943, disaster strikes on the remote Hebridean island of Todday when they run out of whisky. Salvation arrives when a ship carrying 50,000 cases of whisky founders on the island's rocks. But the islanders clash with authority in the shape of Home Guard commander Captain Waggett.
THU 00:35 Shadowlands (p00jz3db)
[Repeat of broadcast at
22:20 on Wednesday]
THU 02:05 Storyville (m001tv79)
[Repeat of broadcast at
23:00 on Monday]
FRIDAY 19 DECEMBER 2025
FRI 19:00 Top of the Pops (m002np2q)
Jamie Theakston presents the pop chart programme, first broadcast on 11 December 1998 and featuring Jay-Z, Manic Street Preachers, Bryan Adams and Melanie C, Brandy, LeAnn Rimes, Emilia, Robbie Williams and Cher.
FRI 19:30 Top of the Pops (m002np2s)
Jayne Middlemiss presents the pop chart programme, first broadcast on 18 December 1998 and featuring The Beautiful South, Spice Girls, Honeyz, Ace of Base, Lutricia McNeal, Billie Piper, REM and B*Witched.
FRI 20:00 Top of the Pops (m0012tx7)
Christmas 1998
Jayne Middlemiss, Kate Thornton and Jamie Theakston present the pop chart programme's Christmas special, first broadcast on 25 December 1998. Featuring Spice Girls, Robbie Williams, B*Witched, Fat Les, LeAnn Rimes and Boyzone.
FRI 21:00 Top of the Pops (m000vbsr)
Christmas 1990
Mark Goodier and Anthea Turner present a Top of the Pops Christmas Day special, including a review of the hits that topped the charts in 1990 and featuring performances by The Beautiful South, Elton John and Kylie Minogue.
FRI 22:00 Country Music Christmas (m002ndk4)
2025
Country music’s biggest stars get together for a night full of festive classics, celebrating the joy of the holidays in true Nashville style.
Jordan Davis and Lauren Daigle co-host and perform some very special 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, including Lady A, Megan Moroney and Riley Green.
FRI 22:40 Kirsty MacColl at the BBC (m0023s35)
Described by Bono as 'the Noel Coward of our generation', singer and songwriter Kirsty MacColl's life was tragically cut short in December 2000. Signed at the age of just 19 after being the backing singer for a failed punk band, Kirsty went on to write and record songs that spanned genres, including rockabilly, pop and South American. She had hits like A New England and Days and sang a key part in one of the nation’s favourite Christmas songs, Fairytale of New York.
Respected by those who worked alongside her, including Billy Bragg, Johnny Marr, Jools Holland and many others, she left a legacy that is still valued today. This programme brings together performances that highlight the wit and intelligence of this unique performer.
FRI 23:40 Kirsty MacColl: The Boxed Set (m0023s37)
Kirsty MacColl's last television concert, filmed in Glasgow in March 2000. With songs from MacColl's last album, Tropical Brainstorm, alongside such classics as New England and Walking Down Madison.
FRI 00:30 The Story of Fairytale of New York (b0074f8x)
For the first time in 18 years, all eight members of The Pogues return to the studio where their biggest hit - and the nation's favourite Christmas song - was recorded. The song's producer Steve Lillywhite strips Fairytale down to the basics, and director Peter Dougherty reveals the tricks behind the making of the video - including how a cameo from Hollywood star Matt Dillon stopped The Pogues from almost being arrested. With contributions from Matt Dillon, Nick Cave, Jools Holland and of course Shane MacGowan and The Pogues, it lifts the lid on this seminal track and reveals the secrets behind its making.
FRI 01:30 Top of the Pops (m002np2q)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:00 today]
FRI 02:00 Top of the Pops (m002np2s)
[Repeat of broadcast at
19:30 today]
FRI 02:30 Top of the Pops (m0012tx7)
[Repeat of broadcast at
20:00 today]