This year Blogtor Who will be giving you a daily guide as to where the catch the writers and stars of Doctor Who in other roles and projects this Christmas.
We continue out voyage through Christmas 2018 with the next day’s worth of appearances by the great and the good of Doctor Who. Including the conclusion of Peter Capaldi’s Watership Down and a rare airing for a 1970s skit for Tom Baker’s Doctor.
BBC 1
7.20pm – Watership Down – The new adaptation of the beloved novel reaches its dramatic conclusion. The rabbits of the new colony must fight for their lives against the vicious General Woundwort. Twelfth Doctor Peter Capaldi features as the rabbits’ ally, the seagull Kehaar. Alongside him in the battle are Gemma Chan (The Waters of Mars), Olivia Coleman (The Eleventh Hour), Daniel Kaluuya (Planet of the Dead) and Jason Watkins (Nightmare in Silver), all lending their voices to the cast of animals.
BBC 2
10.00pm – Far from the Madding Crowd – Carey Mulligan (Sally Sparrow in Blink) stars in the 2015 adaptation of Thomas Hardy’s novel. It’s the 1870s and when Bathsheba Everdene inherits a remote Dorset farm she must overcome the odds to turn it into a success, while also tolerating a succession of suitors trying to make an ‘honest woman’ of her.
BBC 4
9.30pm – The Story of the BBC Christmas Tapes – Back in the day, before the internet made it impossible to keep such secrets – the BBC had a Christmas tradition. Many shows would contribute a special extra scene or sketch, frequently with jokes or language distinctly unsuitable for transmission. And then these would be shown in a special private viewing for the BBC staff Christmas party. Now, at last, the story of these tapes can be told. Including appearances by Tom Baker and the cast of Doctor Who in sketches never before shown on television.
ITV
8.00pm The Chase: The Bloopers – One of the joys of The Chase has always been Doctor Who’s Graham, Bradley Walsh. His genuine wit and tendency to completely fall apart in laughter in the face of particularly stupid answers of rude sounding options is what gives the game show its unique character. Now ITV has assembled a special edition celebrating the best moments, previously seen and unseen, when everything goes terribly wrong.
Channel 5
9.00pm – Agatha and the Truth of Murder – Ruth Bradley, who played the Eighth Doctor’s companion Molly for Big Finish, plays famous crime author Agatha Christie in a new drama. What is the truth behind the mystery of Agatha Christie’s disappearance for 11 days in 1926. Like Doctor Who it speculates she was hunting down a killer in a murder mystery with elements reminiscent of her own work. As far as Blogtor Who knows, there are no giant alien killer wasps, though. Also starring Tim McInnerny (Planet of the Ood).
Sky Atlantic
9.00pm – Fortitude – As the Nordic thriller of madness and murder among the ice nears its end, PC Petra Bergen (Doctor Who’s Lucy Saxon – Alexandra Moen) is among those having to pick a side.
BBC Radio 4 Extra
1.00pm – The Tales of Beatrix Potter – Some of Beatrix Potter’s most popular stories are retold for a modern audience. Among the cast are Chris Addison (Death in Heaven/Dark Water) as Peter Rabbit, and Reece Shearsmith (Sleep No More) as Ginger the shopkeeper who, as a cat, must restrain his instincts and try and not eat his own customers.
Coming tomorrow…
Settle in for Christmas Eve with Mark Gatiss’ The Dead Room, David Walliams and Samantha Bond in The Queen and I, and more…
