Ahh, Christmas: a time for sitting back with the family, playing board games and watching some good festive television.
But it’s not all Gavin and Stacey and raucous Christmas specials: what do you put on when there are kids wanting to join in on the fun?
Well, we’ve got you covered. Here’s some of the best stuff coming to our screens over the festive period, guaranteed to delight for all ages.
The Primrose Railway Children
It’s not the Railway Children, but something maybe even better - the adaptation of Jacqueline Wilson’s retelling of E Nesbit’s classic. This time, it’s set in Glasgow, and our heroine is Phoebe Robinson, who lives with her mum and brother. Inevitably, her dad goes missing, and soon her search for him leads him onto the Highlands heritage steam railway. Very sweet, and the views of Scotland really are beautiful. Streaming now, BBC iPlayer
The Famous Five
Enid Blyton’s mystery-solving kids (and their dog) are back for some wholesome fun. In the summer of 1940, the kids pay a visit to the grand Prospect Hotel, only to run into their old enemy Thomas Wentworth. This time, though, he needs their help: he says he’s had a vision of the future, and he’s seen that a famous jazz singer is going to be murdered. Cue some pre-emptive crime solving. December 23, CBBC, 5.25pm
Tiddler
The BBC’s animated short of the year is always a joy and so it proves here. Adapted from the book of the same name (by the creators of the Gruffalo, no less), Tiddler tells the story of a little fish with a big imagination who finds himself stranded in the wide ocean, Finding Nemo-style. Fortunately, pretty much everybody he meets is nice. And with a cast as stacked as this – Hannah Waddingham, Lolly Adefope, Rob Brydon – it’s impossible to go wrong. BBC One, Christmas Day, 2.35pm
Doctor Who: Joy to the World
The lovely thing about Doctor Who Christmas specials is that they’re rarely scary – they’re on at 6pm, after all – but they’re always full of festive warmth. This year’s features Ncuti Gatwa (who stormed his way through his first season as the Doctor earlier in May) and actress of the moment Nicola Coughlan, who plays Joy. All she wants for Christmas is a stay at a relaxing hotel, but soon she’s battling aliens, dinosaurs and one of the Doctor’s oldest enemies. Christmas Day, BBC One, 6.10pm
Wallace and Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl
Chances are your kids weren’t born when the last Wallace and Gromit film came out – all the way back in 2005! – but this is the perfect moment to introduce them to a British institution. Wallace is back inventing again, but of course, his newly-created AI gnome Norbot is soon causing all sorts of mischief. To make things worse, Feathers McGraw (the penguin with the rubber glove on his head – one of the great screen villains) is plotting to break out of jail. Cue some bonkers shenanigans. BBC One, Christmas Day
That Christmas
It’s not all BBC stuff: the streamers are also dropping some fun content over Christmas. Case in point: That Christmas, a sort of Aardman-lite animated film from the mind of Richard Curtis that casts Brian Cox as Father Christmas and sets the action in the sleepy town of Wellington-on-Sea. Details on the plot are scarce, but when a heavy snowstorm hits, it derails everybody’s plans – including Father Christmas – and the town finds itself with a massive glut of turkeys. Streaming now, Netflix
An Almost Christmas Story
This adorably animated short film is actually based on a true story: in 2020, a baby owl was found in the Rockefeller Centre Christmas tree in New York. This casts the owl, here named Moon, as the hero, and when he finds himself in that tree, he wants nothing more than to get home. To do so, he teams up with a lost girl named Luna. Streaming now, Disney+
