The BBC’s Christmas TV schedule for 2025 has been revealed, with a host of sitcoms and beloved favourites set to return to our screens, but if you’re also wondering what else is coming across Netflix, ITV, Channel 4 and more, then you’ve come to the right place.
Digital Spy has compiled a must-watch list of festive highlights, pulling together all the Christmas specials and standout new dramas that you’ll want to tune in for during the holidays. So bookmark this page, and consider it your ultimate 2025 Christmas TV guide.
BBC
Amandaland Christmas Special
BBC One, Christmas Day, 25 December, 9.15pm
The “genius” spin-off of the popular British sitcom Motherland, which follows the recently divorced Amanda Hughes (Lucy Punch), is returning for some festive fun this Christmas, in a special episode ahead of the anticipated second season.
In even more exciting news, the Christmas episode will play host to an Absolutely Fabulous reunion of sorts, with Jennifer Saunders joining the already-cast Joanna Lumley. It’s been revealed that Saunders will be playing Amanda’s Aunt Joan, the sister of her mum Felicity (Lumley).
Guy Levy//BBC
Strictly Christmas Special
BBC One and BBC iPlayer, Christmas Day, 25 December, 5.30pm
It doesn’t feel much more festive than sitting around the telly with the family to tune into the Strictly Christmas special – and this year will be filled with even more feels, considering we know it will be the last episode ever hosted by Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman.
A new lineup of celebrity contestants – which includes I’m a Celebrity and Gogglebox star Babatunde Aléshé, as well as a ’90s pop legend from one of Britain’s most iconic girl groups, All Saints’ Melanie Blatt – who will sparkle in their glittery finest to compete in the ballroom, hoping to be crowned the 2025 Christmas winner.
BBC
Call the Midwife Christmas Special
BBC One and BBC iPlayer, Christmas Day, 25 December, 8.15pm
We’ll be back with the Poplar residents for another Call the Midwife Christmas, which show creator Heidi Thomas has said is “full of nostalgia for those 1970s Christmases” (via Radio Times).
Also pointing to the show’s diversity, Thomas added: “It’s very much like a melting pot of communities, it’s not just about one community. It’s about people coming together in the depths of winter and creating something bright out of the darkness, which is just lovely.”
BBC
Death in Paradise Christmas Special
BBC One, Sunday 28 December, 8.30pm
We’re in for an office Christmas party with a murderous twist, according to details released for the 2025 festive episode of Death in Paradise.
Naturally, Don Gilet will return as lead protagonist DI Mervin Wilson. The special’s guest stars have been confirmed to include Doctor Who star Pearl Mackie, Ted Lasso star Billy Harris and Shaun of the Dead’s Kate Ashfield (who more recently appeared in Harlan Coben’s Lazarus).
Netflix
Stranger Things
Netflix, Boxing Day and New Year’s Day
This year’s big Christmas release for Netflix is none other than Stranger Things, which will air its final episodes in the UK across Boxing Day (for season 5’s part two) and New Year’s Day (for its epic finale).
The Duffer Brothers have teased a “violent” finale, which has got fans worried for the fates of their favourite characters, but we’re just going to have to be seated to find out exactly how this epic story is set to conclude.
ITV
Red Eye, season 2
ITV and ITVX, New Year’s Day, 1 January 2026, 9pm
The ITV thriller premiered with Missing You’s Richard Armitage as the lead, and it went on to become one of ITV’s top 10 dramas that year. This time around for its second season, it is Line of Duty’s Martin Compston that’s co-starring with Jing Lusi (who returns as DC Hana Li).
For season two, the synopsis reveals that British cop DC Li will be landed in “a political and jurisdictional nightmare”, and one that will force her to team up with the Head of Embassy Security (played by Compston), “a former colleague who once screwed her over…”
Des Willie/The Ink Factory/BBC/Amazon
The Night Manager
BBC iPlayer, New Year’s Day, 1 January 2026, 9.05pm
The highly-anticipated second season of The Night Manager – which of course includes the return of Tom Hiddleston as MI6 officer Jonathan Pine – will see a a “conspiracy designed to destabilise a nation”.
According to a tease from the BBC, “with betrayal at every turn”, Pine “must decide whose trust he needs to earn and how far he’s willing to go before it’s too late.”
Olivia Colman is also back as Angela Burr, while newcomers to the show include Camila Morrone (Daisy Jones and The Six).
ITV
Masked Singer Christmas Special
ITV and ITVX, Boxing Day, 26 December, 7.30pm
Four celebrities will hide inside some suitably elaborate costumes to perform in front of the panel – once again made up of Maya Jama, Davina McCall, Mo Gilligan and Jonathan Ross – but who is behind the mask?
Get those note pads (or group chats) at the ready, and take down those clues, as you no doubt play along with the guessing game at home.
Avalon
Taskmaster’s New Year Treat
Channel 4, Friday 2 January 2026, 9pm
For the first time ever, Taskmaster is getting *two* New Year Treat episodes this year – and don’t forget there’s also another Champion of Champions on the way too! Merry Christmas, indeed.
Greg Davies and his enthusiastic sidekick Little Alex Horne will preside over the tasks of a number of new celebrities, with the 2025 festive lineup featuring BAFTA-winning TV chef Big Zuu (Big Zuu’s Big Eats), former footballer and I’m a Celeb favourite Jill Scott, actor and Strictly star Rose Ayling-Ellis, singer and former Eurovision contestant Sam Ryder and Countdown’s Susie Dent.
Channel 4
Bake Off Christmas Special
Channel 4, Christmas Day, 25 December, 8pm
Olivia Colman in the Bake Off tent? Yes, you read that right.
For the 2025 Great British Bake Off Christmas special, Olivia Colman and David Mitchell lead the Peep Show reunion, with the other bakers including Isy Suttie, Matt King and Sophie Winkleman. And, even better than that, the group will tackle challenges that are themed to the beloved sitcom.
Channel 5
All Creatures Great and Small Christmas Special
Channel 5, Christmas Eve, 24 December, 9pm
Described by the broadcaster’s commissioning editor as “a jewel in 5’s drama crown”, All Creatures Great and Small is a fan-favourite show and its Christmas special will surely be appointment telly for those that love it.
The episode is due to be set in 1945, which marked the first Christmas following the war. All Creatures star Nicholas Ralph, who plays James Herriot, said in an interview with Radio Times (via Yorkshire Live): “The enormity of it is not just going to go away overnight… It’s not all singing and dancing and everything’s merry all of a sudden.”
BBC
The Traitors
BBC One and BBC iPlayer, New Year’s Day, 1 January, 8pm
After a phenomenal run of The Celebrity Traitors earlier this year, which saw Alan Carr dazzle the nation and Celia Imrie nervously fart, we’re in for a treat with a new civilian series.
Claudia Winkleman will of course be back to welcome a number of new faces to the now-famous Scottish castle, with the promise of “new twists” in store.
ITV
Midsomer Murders, series 24
ITV1, Monday 29 December, 8.30pm
The beloved detective drama’s new season finally arrives to the UK this Christmas, with episode one, titled The Devil’s Work, landing on the channel in the window between Christmas and New Year.
The box set will also drop on ITVX, for anyone that prefers a binge-watch.
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TV Editor, Digital Spy Laura has been watching television for over 30 years and professionally writing about entertainment for almost 10 of those. Â Previously at LOOK and now heading up the TV desk at the UK’s biggest TV and movies site Digital Spy, Laura has helped steer conversations around some of the most popular shows on the box. Laura has appeared on Channel 5 News and radio to talk viewing habits and TV recommendations. Â As well as putting her nerd-level Buffy knowledge to good use during an IRL meet with Sarah Michelle Gellar, Laura also once had afternoon tea with One Direction, has sat around the fire pit of the Love Island villa, spoken to Sir David Attenborough about the world’s oceans and even interviewed Rylan from inside the Big Brother house (housemate status, forever pending).Â