Best Christmas TV shows for 2025: Your guide to the unmissable highlights across all platforms
Rowan Atkinson has serious baby trouble this ChristmasChristmas 2025 is just around the corner, so here’s an essential guide to the best TV shows over the festive period.
We also have guides to the best Christmas TV on the BBC and the top festive specials on ITV. But as well as the BBC and ITV here we also look at Channel 4, Channel 5, Netflix and Sky.
Excitingly, it’s been announced we’re getting a very special Christmas episode of The Great British Bake Off to enjoy. Plus, Rowan Atkinson is involved in baby mayhem on Netflix and ITV has possibly the biggest drama of the year coming out. And Claudia is back for a new series of The Traitors!
Here’s our picks of the best Christmas TV shows heading your way…
The Great Christmas Bake Off (Channel 4, Christmas Day, 8.00 pm)
This year’s Christmas Bake Off special sees the cast of comedy classic Peep Show reunite for the first time since it ended in 2015.
Stars David Mitchell, Olivia Colman, Isy Suttie, Matt King and Sophie Winkleman will also be donning their festive jumpers as they tackle seasonal baking challenges.
But can any of them actually bake? They will have to impress judges Prue Leith and Paul Hollywood. Meanwhile, hosts Noel Fielding and Alison Hammond will be providing plenty of mischief. Peep Show’s Robert Webb isn’t taking part.
Best Christmas TV 2025: Man vs Baby (Netflix, Thursday, December 11)
If you combine Rowan Atkinson and a baby you’re bound to have plenty of laughs. This is the follow-up to Man vs Bee, which saw Atkinson’s hapless character Trevor Bingley terrorised by a bee. Now, Trevor is a school caretaker, but his life is turned upside down when a baby is left at the school.
Trevor tries to reunite the baby with its family, but it doesn’t quite go to plan! The four-part special will be a cracker.
Best of Christmas TV 2025: Call the Midwife Christmas specials (BBC One, Christmas Day, 8.15 pm, Boxing Day, 8.30 pm)
Call the Midwife fans are in for a treat because there’s two festive specials on the way. The senior members of the team head to Hong Kong on a mercy mission, leaving the younger midwives to cope alone in Poplar. The makers have teased that Sister Julienne “suddenly finds herself excited about the Order’s future”.
Creator Heidi Thomas has revealed the cast struggled with the humidity during filming in Hong Kong. Stephen McGann (Dr Turner) especially had a tricky time because he was wearing a three-piece suit! “People would run up and help with little battery-operated fans, maybe half a dozen at a time,” said Heidi.
Red Eye series 2 (ITV1, New Year’s Day, 9 pm)
ITV has excitingly revealed the huge thriller will return this Christmas. Over eight million viewers watched the first season which starred Richard Armitage as a doctor fighting to prove his innocence. While Richard isn’t back, Jing Lusi is reprising her role as DS Hana Li for Red Eye series 2. Co-starring is Martin Compston, who is also making Line of Duty series 7.
Hana is thrown into another huge diplomatic incident when a caller threatens to blow up a British plane if anyone leaves the American embassy. So, Hana must join forces with Head of Embassy Security, Clay Brody (Compston), to solve the crisis. But can she trust Clay?
The Night Manager season 2 (BBC One, New Year’s Day, 9.05 pm)
Ever since The Night Manager, starring Tom Hiddleston and Hugh Laurie, aired in 2016 there have been rumours of a sequel. Finally, after almost a decade it’s here! The original was based on the novel of the same name by the late John le Carré. Series 2 will expand beyond the book, but it is based on the characters created by the acclaimed writer.
Loki star Tom Hiddleston reprises his role as former British intelligence operative, Jonathan Pine. Also back is Olivia Colman as Angela Burr. Meanwhile, new cast members include Coldwater’s Indira Varma as Mayra.
Pine is now living as Alex Goodwin – a low-level MI6 officer running a quiet surveillance unit in London. But a chance sighting of an old Roper mercenary leads Pine into a violent encounter with a new player: Colombian businessman Teddy Dos Santos. The BBC teases: “On this perilous new journey, Pine meets Roxana Bolaños, a businesswoman who reluctantly helps him infiltrate Teddy’s Colombian arms operation. Once in Colombia, Pine is plunged deep into a deadly plot involving arms and training of a guerrilla army.”
The Night Manager season 2 is already one of the most eagerly anticipated new dramas of 2026.
All Creatures Great and Small Christmas special (5, Christmas Eve, 9.00 pm)
James (Nicholas Ralph), Helen (Rachel Shenton), Siegfried (Samuel West), Tristan (Callum Woodhouse) and Mrs Hall (Anna Madeley) are all back. It’s a joyous time as it’s the first Christmas for them all since the end of the war. But poor Helen is ill which means James must take charge of the Darrowby Nativity play. While James is an excellent vet, how will he cope with the stage?
Plus, in an early Christmas present for fans it’s been announced there will be at least two more series. Furthermore, there will also be two more Christmas specials. And at 8 pm on Christmas Eve 5 is showing a behind the scenes documentary about the making of the series.
Best of Christmas TV 2025: Death in Paradise Christmas special (BBC One, Sunday, December 28, 8.30 pm)
Don Gilet returns as DI Mervin Wilson for a festive special which sees four co-workers enjoying the office party of a lifetime in Saint Marie. But it takes a dark turn when they wake up to find a dead stranger in their pool.
Mervin is baffled as the murder weapon was in a locked draw in Swindon thousands of miles away from the crime scene. The makers tease that a “familiar face” returns to help them crack the case. Meanwhile, Mervin is also waiting anxiously to hear back from his newly discovered brother.
The guest cast includes Pearl Mackie (Doctor Who), Josie Lawrence (Outside Edge), James Baxter (Waterloo Road) and Billy Harris (Ted Lasso). It’s notable though there’s sadly no mention of Don Warrington, so it looks like the former Commissioner isn’t in the festive episode.
Run Away (Netflix, New Year’s Day)
The latest Harlan Coben adaptation to land on Netflix is set to be another blockbuster. Following the huge success of Fool Me Once and Missing You, Run Away boasts another great cast and is based on Coben’s 2019 novel.
Missing You’s James Nesbitt plays dad Simon whose life is turned upside down when his eldest daughter Paige runs away.
Simon discovers her vulnerable and on drugs in a city park. Netflix teases: “But it turns out she’s not alone, and an argument escalates into shocking violence. In the aftermath, Simon loses his daughter all over again, and his search to find her will take him into a dangerous underworld, revealing deep secrets that could tear his family apart forever.”
Also starring is Ruth Jones as private investigator Elena Ravenscroft and Minnie Driver as Simon’s wife Ingrid.
Beyond Paradise Christmas special (BBC One, Sunday, December 21, 9.00 pm)
Kris Marshall returns as DI Humphrey Goodman for a fresh Christmas mystery. When Esther (Zahra Ahmadi) finds a man with no memory on the steps of Shipton Abbott police station holding a photo of Humphrey she’s baffled. Meanwhile, Kelby (Dylan Llewellyn) has to help a man stuck inside a snowman costume!
Plus, Martha’s mum Anne (Barbara Flynn ), Zoe (Melina Sinadinou) and Martha (Sally Bretton) work on a secret plan together.
The guest cast includes Blackadder and Bottom star Adrian Edmondson.
Best of Christmas TV 2025: Taskmaster specials (Channel 4, Monday December 22, 9.00pm and Friday, January 2, 9.05 pm)
The hugely popular series hosted by Greg Davies along with little Alex Horne has a big Christmas ahead. First there’s Taskmaster: Champion of Champions 2025 (December 22) where the winners of series 16 to 20 return to square off. Returning for the special are Maisie Adam, Andy Zaltzman, John Robins, Mathew Baynton, and Sam Campbell.
Then Taskmaster: New Year’s Treat 2026 will see five stars battle it out in two festive episodes, the first of which goes out on January 2. TV chef Big Zuu, ex-footballer Jill Scott, former Strictly winner Rose Ayling-Ellis, musician Sam Ryder and Countdown’s Susie Dent are taking part.
The Masked Singer Christmas special (ITV1, Boxing Day, 7.30 pm)
ITV has a string of entertainment specials lined up including ones for The 1% Club and Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?. However, the biggest and most fun one is surely going to be The Masked Singer Christmas special, hosted by Joel Dommett.
Mo Gilligan, Davina McCall and Maya Jama will be trying to guess who’s behind the suitably-festive costumes. Panto stars Christopher Biggins, Basil Brush, Lesley Joseph and Su Pollard will provide extra clues.
It all nicely sets up the new series which will soon follow.
Best Christmas TV 2025: Emily in Paris series 5 (Netflix, Thursday, December 18)
OK, so this might be a pick for when you just want to escape Christmas for a bit! Emily in Paris has been one of Netflix’s biggest hits and millions have fallen in love with Emily’s adventures.
Rather than Paris, Emily (Lily Collins) is now in Rome as head of Agence Grateau. She embraces the Italian capital and is enjoying herself with Marcello (Eugenio Franceschini). But the makers tease that “a big secret threatens one of her closest relationships”. The 10-part series lands on Netflix on December 18.
Best of Christmas TV 2025: Amandaland Christmas special (BBC One, Christmas Day, 9.15 pm)
We all enjoy a laugh at Christmas and the Amandaland festive episode promises to be a hoot. Lucy Punch stars as Amanda, who’s downsized to South Harlesden following her divorce. Joanna Lumley plays Amanda’s mum Felicity.
And it’s been revealed that Jennifer Saunders is joining the cast for the Christmas special as Aunt Joan, Felicity’s sister.
The BBC said: “Aunt Joan is a ball of country-living, enthusiastic upper-class bluster – very, very different from Felicity. This very special episode will be the first scripted on-screen reunion for Jennifer and Joanna since Absolutely Fabulous.”
Comedy fans can also look forward to Mrs Brown’s Boys and Here We Go specials. But Amandaland is arguably the pick of the bunch.
Tinsel Town (Sky Cinema, available now)
This Christmas rom-com stars Kiefer Sutherland, Rebel Wilson and Danny Dyer! It follows Hollywood star Bradley Mack (Sutherland) who heads to England in a bid to reignite his career. But instead of starring in London’s West End, his agent has got him a part as Buttons in Cinderella in a village play. He’s joined by an array of colourful oddballs. Can he pull off a pantomime and bring the people of Stoneford together?
The Traitors (BBC One, New Year’s Day, 8.00 pm)
The Traitors will be back for a series 4 on New Year’s Day and hangovers don’t come better than that.
Fresh from the insane success of The Celebrity Traitors this year, the series returns with the ‘normal people’ version. Although, define normal…
In the upcoming series, Faithful viewers will once again be treated to the ultimate reality game of trust an treachery. The first episode is on New Year’s Day and then…
Episode 2: 8pm on Friday 2nd January 2026.
The third instalment: 7.45pm on Saturday 3rd January 2026.
Each episode will become available on BBC iPlayer after they have aired on BBC One.
Read more: The best of ITV over Christmas 2025
