What's on TV tonight: Christmas Eve highlights include The Great British Sewing Bee and All Creatures Great and Small festive specials
Plus a creepy ghost story starring Joanna LumleyChristmas Eve TV sees Sophie Willan making her Sewing Bee host debut and A Ghost Story for Christmas: The Room in the Tower, starring Joanna Lumley.
Plus, we’re off to the Yorkshire Dales for the All Creatures Great and Small Christmas special. And comedians Bob Mortimer and Paul Whitehouse enjoy a fishing adventure.
Moreover, we also have guides to the best BBC Christmas TV shows and the best ITV Christmas shows where you can find everything on over the festive period.
So, make sure you don’t miss your favourite special!
The Great British Sewing Bee Celebrity Christmas Special 2025 (BBC One, 7.25 pm)
The big change is Alma’s Not Normal star Sophie Willan has taken over presenting duties, replacing Sara Pascoe. Sophie will also host the main series when that returns next year.
Cal Turner, Commissioning Editor, said: “We are delighted to welcome Sophie Willan to The Great British Sewing Bee. With her boundless enthusiasm and energy, Sophie will bring her own unique spark to the sewing room alongside Patrick and Esme.”
Lucy Beaumont, recently seen on Celebrity Traitors, is one of the stars hoping to impress judges Patrick Grant and Esme Young. Also taking part are Strictly’s Anton Du Beke, Taskmaster’s Susan Wokoma and Tom Wilson from Gladiators. They will have to complete a set of Yuletide-themed tasks.
Christmas Eve TV: A Ghost Story for Christmas: The Room in the Tower (BBC Two, 10pm)
The BBC loves giving us a spooky Christmas Eve TV tale! Mark Gatiss delivers his eighth ghost story, adapting E.F. Benson’s spine-chilling story.
The great cast includes Joanna Lumley and Tobias Menzies. Plus Mark’s recent Bookish co-star Polly Walker also appears.
Teasing The Room in the Tower, the BBC says: “For 15 years, Roger Winstanley has been haunted by an unsettling, recurring dream: an invitation to spend the night in the house of an acquaintance, where an unseen terror lurks and the figures who populate the dream seem to age in real time.
“Nightmare and waking life seem to finally collide when an invitation to the dreaded ‘room in the tower’ becomes all too real…”
All Creatures Great and Small Christmas special (5, 9 pm)
And now to the perfect Christmas Eve TV show! This gentle drama following the adventures of vet James Herriot (Nicholas Ralph) and co has been 5’s biggest ever hit. The episode takes place in Christmas 1945, the first peacetime Christmas after the end of World War Two. But with poor Helen (Rachel Shenton) ill, James finds himself in charge of the Darrowby Nativity Play.
Meanwhile, Siegfried (Samuel West) is dealing with naughty goat Hilda and Mrs Hall (Anna Madeley) wants to enter the pub darts competition. She’s especially keen to win as first prize is a huge fresh turkey! Also back is Callum Woodhouse as Tristan.
Fans should note 5 is also showing a behind the scenes documentary about the making of the series. The companion show, All Creatures Great and Small: Behind the Scenes, will air at 8 pm.
Mortimer & Whitehouse: Gone Fishing Christmas Special (BBC Two, 9pm)
We reckon Christmas Eve TV should always feature Bob Mortimer and Paul Whitehouse! The much-loved pair and their terrier Ted head to Devon and Cornwall for this festive outing. They arrive by their traditional transport of an old steam train and then fish two beautiful rivers in Devon.
Afterwards they head out sea fishing in Cornwall on a traditional fishing boat. Plus they enjoy a chat with local star Dawn French about the meaning of Christmas and how she is celebrating it this year.
Two Doors Down Christmas special (BBC One, 10pm)
This warm-hearted comedy is taking centre stage in the BBC’s Christmas Eve TV line-up. Two years after the last series aired, this special episode sees everyone on Latimer Crescent heading to Beth (Arabella Weir) and Eric’s (Alex Norton) house. Obviously it’s complete chaos!
Neighbours Christine (Elaine C Smith), Cathy (Doon Mackichan), Colin (Jonathan Watson), Alan (Graeme Stevely) and Michelle (Joy McAvoy) all return. Also back are Beth and Eric’s son Ian (Jamie Quinn) and his fiancé Gordon (Kieran Hodgson).
The BBC teases: “Colin and Cathy find themselves pondering the perfect gifts for each other, while Ian and Gordon plan for a quieter, scaled-back Christmas. Meanwhile, Alan and Michelle wrestle with transport issues that threaten to derail their festive plans, and Christine is busy arranging a very special trip, ensuring that the season is full of surprises, laughter and the kind of neighbourly chaos that only Latimer Crescent can provide.”
Dear Father Christmas (Channel 4, 7.30pm)
Lenny Rush stars as 16-year-old Chris, who still wholeheartedly believes in Father Christmas. But his dad (James Buckley) is getting a bit worried his son is getting too old to believe in Santa.
He decides the only answer is to give him the Father Christmas talk. But Chris doesn’t accept his dad’s version and sets out on a madcap mission to prove Santa is real. Joined by his cousin Holly (Ele Mckenzie), Chris discovers a Christmas conspiracy.
In this perfect Christmas Eve TV drama, he meets top scientists, including one played by Stephen Fry, who seem to know the real truth about Santa. They claim to have cracked the science behind his apparent magical feats. But in the end can Chris find the real Father Christmas?
Royal Carols: Together at Christmas (ITV1, 7.25pm)
The Princess of Wales hosts her fifth Christmas carol service at London’s Westminster Abbey. It will feature musical performances and readings by famous faces, including Hannah Waddingham, Dan Smith, Kate Winslet and Chiwetel Ejiofor.
Kensington Palace said in a statement that the service “will bring people together to celebrate love in all its forms”.
The statement added: “As we approach the Christmas season, we are reminded of the power of togetherness.”
Read more: Everything we know about the 2025 Call the Midwife Christmas special
