Christmas may have come and gone – but it has some serious competition from New Year’s Day, which is airing some of the very best Christmas TV.
Plenty of TV heavyweights are getting into the seasonal spirit tonight, with Doctor Who, Taskmaster, Mrs Brown’s Boys and The Great British Bake Off all kicking off 2022 with brand new specials.
Meanwhile a brand new series of outlandish guessing game The Masked Singer starts tonight, while those after a good old-fashioned thriller can catch Jamie Dornan in The Tourist. And for a nice easy watch after a long night, look no further than the Downton Abbey film!
Here are your first TV picks for 2022 – and happy new year!
Doctor Who: Eve of the Daleks – 7pm, BBC One
!["Doctor]("https://images.immediate.co.uk/production/volatile/sites/3/2021/12/Doctor-Who-series-13-TARDIS-team-314ea00.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C412" "\"Doctor")
The Christmas break wouldn’t be complete without a Doctor Who special – which is now returning in its now-usual New Year’s Day slot. Joining Jodie Whittaker’s Doctor are Aisling Bea (Home Sweet Home Alone), Adjani Salmon (Dreaming Whilst Black), Pauline McLynn (Father Ted) and, of course, Daleks!
New Year’s always seemed a fitting setting for a timey-wimey Doctor Who adventure, especially with The Doctor and her friends seemingly stuck in a time loop – let’s hope they escape in time for Jodie Whittaker’s final two specials!
The Masked Singer – 7pm, ITV
!["The]("https://images.immediate.co.uk/production/volatile/sites/3/2021/12/The-Masked-Singer-season-three-contestants-f4de540.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C413" "\"The-Masked-Singer-season-three-contestants\"")
As with last year, the bizarre part talent show, part guessing game returns during the festive period, with a whole host of new celebrities donning extravagant outfits and performing to Joel Dommett and the panel. The Masked Singer has already revealed the season 3 contestants – well their costumes at least – so get ready for another round of outlandish guesses, shock reveals and dodgy attempts to hide accents!
The Great Festive Bake Off – 7:40pm, Channel 4
!["The]("https://images.immediate.co.uk/production/volatile/sites/3/2021/11/70301_3_S5_Ep3_The-Great-British-Bake-Off-S5-Ep3-b7fe0ee.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C413" "\"how-to-apply-for-bake-off-2022\"")
After Christmas Day’s It’s A Sin special, it’s time to welcome back some former bakers in The Great British Bake Off’s annual reunion episode. Kim-Joy and Jon from series 9 and Hermine and Rowan from series 11 will be returning for three seasonal baking challenges – will we see Paul Hollywood in a festive mood when it comes to giving out handshakes?
Downton Abbey – 8:30pm, ITV
!["Jim]("https://images.immediate.co.uk/production/volatile/sites/3/2019/09/4127_D006_00013-00014_R_COMP-2-ec86f96.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C413" "\"Jim")
The well-received film spin-off finally gets its network premiere, fittingly airing on ITV where it ran for six series. The stakes are raised for this big-screen feature, with all sorts of commotion caused when the royal family descends upon the titular estate – along with an assassin…
Perfect for a rewatch ahead of the release of Downton Abbey: A New Era in March 2022.
The Tourist – 9pm, BBC One
!["The]("https://images.immediate.co.uk/production/volatile/sites/3/2021/05/TT_ir_210414_JD_0105-a05466d.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C413" "\"jamie-dornan-the-tourist-first-look-newsupdate\"")
Last year The Serpent was BBC One’s big prestige drama launch – this year it’s The Tourist, with Jamie Dornan headlining this intriguing mystery thriller.
The Tourist stars Dornan as a British man who is driven off the road in the Australian outback by a huge tank truck. When he wakes up, he has no idea who he is or why he is in Australia – but some shadowy figures pursuing him certainly do…
Taskmaster – 9pm, Channel 4
!["Greg]("https://images.immediate.co.uk/production/volatile/sites/3/2021/09/Taskmaster_series_12-7122c94.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C413" "\"Taskmaster_series_12\"")
Last year’s New Year’s Treat saw Greg Davies and Alex Horne welcome several non-comedians to the iconic house for the first time, a format that worked so well it is being replicated for the 2022 special. Strictly Come Dancing‘s Claudia Winkleman, broadcaster Adrian Chiles, Paralympic champion Jonnie Peacock, rapper and TV personality Lady Leshurr, and former Cabinet minister Baroness Sayeeda Warsi are the celebrities set to take part in ridiculous challenges in this one-off – in front of a live audience for the first time in three seasons.
Mrs Brown’s Boys – 10pm, BBC One
!["Mrs]("https://images.immediate.co.uk/production/volatile/sites/3/2021/12/mrs-browns-boys-nyd-special-2022-8756037.jpg?quality=90&crop=147px%2C0px%2C1705px%2C1136px&resize=620%2C413" "\"Mrs")
Following a Halloween and Christmas special, holidays now seem synonymous with a visit to Mrs. Brown’s. This New Year edition is titled Mammy’s Mickey, and sees the titular Uncle Mickey visit Grandad in the hopes of getting him to invest in a South African gold mine. Obviously, everyone is suspicious – everyone except Grandad that is…
Looking for something else to watch? Check out our TV Guide to see what’s on tonight.