Day 22: What to watch?

This Christmas is going to be a quiet one for me. Just immediate family. No screaming children, no awkward conversations with the elderly, no bucket-loads of presents under the tree which will only be disappointing on Christmas day because only two of those are for you. One of the benefits of having a quiet Christmas though I feel is the fact that you can, largely, do whatever you want. What do I want to do? Get stuck into some Christmas TV. We've got Christmas Downton Abbey, a spot of Call the Midwife and a whole selection of literary adaptations ready for us to consume. Here are just a few to put into your diary for Christmas this year:

Christmas Eve:

8pm, Channel 4 - The Snowman and the Snowdog. So I've already gone on about this sequel to the Raymond Briggs classic for a whole blog post, but just a reminder - tune in!

Christmas Day:

8.20am, Channel 4 - Horton Wears a Who! What's Christmas without some Dr Seuss? Who cares about the Grinch, let's watch an adaptation of a book that I have no idea what it's about but has a wonderfully ambiguous title.

9am, Channel 5: Gone With the Wind - Now here's a book that epitomises the term 'brick'. In the modern world we live in now, film producers of the likes of Potter and Lord of the Rings have managed to condense the contents of some of the longer books on offer for the screen. It seems that in the earlier days of film - 1939 to be precise - this wasn't possible. Thus, we have Gone With the Wind - an absolute epic that lasts 238 minutes and will air from 9am to 1.15 on Christmas Day for your enjoyment.

4.35pm, BBC1 - Room on the Broom - This year, like the last five arguably, has been another stellar 365 days (366 given the leap year...) for diamond duo, Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler. To celebrate, BBC1 are showing the acclaimed Room on the Broom (which is now a stage production I have you know). The story from the creators of The Gruffalo follows a kind witch who invites a number of unusual guests to join her on her broom, but her cat isn't very happy about it. A top voice cast of British actors from Martin clunes and Gillian Anderson to Sally Hawkins and David Walliams, from Rob Brydon and Timothy Spall to Simon Pegg who narrates the tale from start to end.

7.30pm, BBC1 - Call the Midwife. If you're going to watch one program this Christmas (aside from Downton Abbey), then this is the one. I don't care if the fact that this was adapted from a seemingly unexciting misery memoir, this is totes emosh stuff that must be watched. Even Vanessa Redgrave thinks so, who narrates it, thus giving it its important additional credibility.

4.20pm, Watch - Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. So I know everyone loves Johnny Depp and Tim Burton and that the recent version of Roald Dahl's classic is pretty good viewing, but nothing will beat the magic and fear conjured up by Gene Wilder in the 1971 adaptation.

27th December:

9pm, 27th December - Restless. It's 27th December and you're feeling 'restless' and despondent. Turkey curry is pretty tasty but it's just not going to make you feel any better about the fact that the day you have been preparing for for weeks has gone and all those cheering decorations in shop windows need to come down to be replaced by bright red 'sale' signs. Need to feel a bit better? Let's all make a pact that we will sit down and enjoy a William Boyd adaptation featuring an all star cast from Downton's Michelle Dockery to Hayley Atwell, star of last year's Boyd adaptation, Any Human Heart. Michael Gambon, Rufus Sewell and Charlotte Rampling turn up too in what promises to be a great two-part drama. I wish I could join you all but with Restless sitting on my wishlist, I'm desperately trying to stop myself tuning in before I read the novel. It shall be on record, though. Who am I kidding? It's not even New Year yet, I'll probably tune in too!