Get ready for an iconic festive season!
The BBC has announced its full Christmas line-up for 2023, with a mix of content to get everyone in the festive spirit, from Christmas specials we all know and love to family favourites for everyone to enjoy.
The full schedule covers the entire festive period across TV channels and iPlayer, with highlights including Strictly Come Dancing, Death in Paradise, Charles III: The Coronation Year and Doctor Who.
There will also be TV favourites returning for Christmas specials, including Ghosts, Call the Midwife and The Graham Norton Show.
Charlotte Moore, BBC’s Chief Content Officer, said: ‘This year’s Christmas line-up on the BBC is an extravaganza of must watch shows! Join us as we welcome a brand new Doctor and wave goodbye to our beloved sitcom Ghosts.
“Alongside a spectacular range of entertainment, drama, comedy and factual programming across the festive fortnight. It’s essential viewing for everyone as we bring friends and families together across the UK.”
At the forefront of the Christmas schedules is, of course, Doctor Who. On Christmas Day, Ncuti Gatwa will take the reins of the TARDIS as the Fifteenth Doctor in his first adventure, alongside companion Millie Gibson.
Alongside this is the finale of epic comedy Ghosts, which will see the restless spirits and Button House residents give the show one big send-off.
In a moment fans have been waiting for since February, it will also be revealed which unlucky Walford resident is the dead body at Christmas on EastEnders.
Jamie Dornan’s The Tourist will return, along with Agatha Christie’s Murder is Easy. Tabby McTat will also join the festive line-up, based on Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler’s hit book.
Meanwhile, viewers will be transported back to 1968 in the Call the Midwife Christmas special and new series Beyond Paradise will take viewers to Devon as it makes its Christmas special debut, alongside a feature length Death in Paradise.
Kit Harington and Freddie Fox star in Mark Gatiss’s adaptation of Arthur Conan Doyle’s Ghost Story for Christmas: Lot No. 249.
Sir David Attenborough will be investigating the discovery of a lifetime in Attenborough and the Giant Sea Monster and in Charles III: The Coronation Year, viewers will get an insight into the life of King Charles III and Queen Camilla in the first year of his reign.
A variety of of entertainment shows will have festive specials, including The Graham Norton Show, The Hit List, The Weakest Link, Blankety Blank and Would I Lie To You.
Featuring Rylan Clark, Peter Crouch, and Nicole Scherzinger, Michael McIntyre returns for another spin of The Wheel.
For the first time in MasterChef history, the tables will be turned on five of the country’s top food critics in MasterChef: Battle of the Critics 2023. The MasterChef fun continues as Gregg Wallace and John Torode welcome back four of the most memorable celebrities from past series in Celebrity MasterChef: Christmas Cook-Off 2023.
But the foodie goodness doesn’t stop there, as Nigella Lawson is back with her love of Amsterdam’s food and culture at Christmas in Nigella’s Amsterdam Christmas, and Dame Mary Berry heads to Scotland for a magical Mary Berry’s Highland Christmas.
The Hairy Bikers are also back on their bikes after two years in The Hairy Bikers: Coming Home For Christmas.
Get ready for a belly of laughs to enjoy over the festive period, with Mrs Brown’s Boys making a return with two episodes as Mammy tries to enjoy a peaceful Christmas before the whole gang start the New Year by attempting a tough new health and fitness regime.
There will be even more laughs as new festive editions of Not Going Out, Live at the Apollo and Bad Education all return for Christmas specials.
There will be musicals galore this Christmas, with Nottingham’s Kanneh-Masons visiting Salzburg to walk in the footsteps of Austria’s most famous musical family, the Von Trapps, in The Hills Are Alive With The Kanneh-Masons.
Elsewhere, Top Of The Pops returns for a review of 2023 hosted by Clara Amfo, and there is music from RAYE at the Albert Hall.
Heading into the new year, Ricky Astley Rocks New Year’s Ever will be partying into 2024, while Jools Holland and his Rhythm & Blues Orchestra take centre stage for another Jools’ Annual Hootenanny.
There will also be family friendly network premieres, including Toy Story 4, The Addams Family 2, The Witches and the live action The Lion King.
Looking for something to watch? Visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to see what’s on.