What’s new on BBC iPlayer – Christmas 2024 – In our final What’s new on BBC iPlayer this year, we look at the festive treats awaiting you this Christmas.
The BBC has a feast of programmes to entertain the whole family over the festive fortnight, featuring a range of specials, blockbuster movies, thrilling dramas, and hilarious comedies, as well as the best in arts, documentaries, music, and religious programming. At the heart of this year’s Christmas schedule are some of the hottest anticipated programmes of the year.
What’s new on BBC iPlayer – Christmas 2024 (Wallace & Gromit Vengeance Most Fowl)
Kicking off our festive list is Vengeance Most Fowl, Wallace & Gromit’s first new film since the 2008 BAFTA-winning and Oscar-nominated A Matter of Loaf and Death from Aardman. After a recent crime wave of stolen garden goods from across the region, Wallace and his pre-programmed smart gnome, Norbot, are the main suspects. While Wallace proclaims his innocence, it’s up to Gromit once again to battle sinister forces, or Wallace will never invent again!
It’s been five years since we left Nessa down on one knee, declaring her love for Smithy and asking him to marry her, and a lot has happened in those five years. What will Gavin & Stacey: The Finale bring? Ruth Jones and James Corden have reunited the cast for this unmissable event! And if the finale leaves you wanting more, then there’s a special, uplifting, and touching documentary that tells the story of one of Britain’s best-loved sitcoms as it comes to an end after 17 years.
The Brockmans are back! The Outnumbered Christmas Special will follow the chaos in the downsized home of Pete and Sue Brockman as they grapple with the challenges of parenting grown-up kids who are now leading their own lives.
What’s new on BBC iPlayer – Christmas 2024 (Outnumbered)
Christmas wouldn’t be the same without the good Doctor, and he returns on Christmas Day with Doctor Who – Joy To The World, a time-hopping trip through the history of Earth written by Steven Moffat and starring Ncuti Gatwa as the Doctor and Nicola Coughlan as Joy. Plus, Doctor Who at the Proms 2024, hosted by Doctor Who fan favourite Catherine Tate, celebrates the iconic series’ music, monsters and mayhem as they thrill a packed audience at London’s Royal Albert Hall.
Adapted for the BBC from the hugely successful picture book, a new magical animation from the UK’s number one picture book creators, Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler, Tiddler is the story of a little fish with a big imagination who gets lost in the deep, wide ocean until he’s saved by his own storytelling. Tiddler is voiced by an all-star cast, including Hannah Waddingham as the narrator, Lolly Adefope as Miss Skate, Jayde Adams, and Rob Brydon.
What’s new on BBC iPlayer – Christmas 2024 (Tiddler)
If it’s some winter sun you’re after from the comfort of your own home, we’re returning to sun-drenched Saint Marie, joining the police team and a new Detective Inspector for a festive feature-length Death in Paradise Christmas special. And if you can’t get enough of the sun, sea and drama, do not fear, Beyond Paradise returns to Shipton Abbott for two festive cases.
And it wouldn’t be Christmas without some celebrities trying their hands…and feet at something different. The Strictly Come Dancing Christmas special is back with comedian Josh Widdicombe, Drag superstar Tayce, presenter and podcaster Vogue Williams, Gladiator Harry Aikines-Aryeetey, actress Tamzin Outhwaite and racing driver Billy Monger! The Ballroom will once again be transformed into a magical winter wonderland. And in the first Gladiators Celebrity special, four famous faces nervously lace up their trainers as they compete in one of the toughest gameshows on Earth; how will Rob Beckett, Louise Minchin, Joel Dommet and Ellie Taylor fair… Celebrities ready? And to celebrate a fantastic year of sport, don’t miss the BBC’s Sports Personality of the Year awards show hosted by Clare Balding, Gabby Logan and Alex Scott.
What’s new on BBC iPlayer – Christmas 2024 (Beyond Paradise)
Fancy a good movie? There is plenty of cinematic sparkle with the network premieres of Roald Dahl’s Matilda the Musical, Black Panther, Minions: Rise of Gru, Incredibles 2 and King Richard, alongside loads of other festive film favourites.
The door may have also closed on Inside No.9, but there’s still time to venture behind the scenes with Inside No.9: The Party’s Over. And following the global success of Cunk on Earth, pioneering documentary-maker Philomena Cunk (Diane Morgan) returns with her most ambitious quest to date, examining life itself in Cunk on Life.
There is a vibrant range of religious programming this year, including live worship, musical celebration, traditional carols and spiritual contemplation, including Midnight Mass, broadcast live from St Mary’s Church, Warwick, Christmas Morning from Halifax Minster, and the candlelit splendour of Carols From King’s.
What’s new on BBC iPlayer – Christmas 2024 (Carols from King’s)
Swan Lake in the Round from the English National Ballet sees more than one hundred dancers participate in this spellbinding production of Swan Lake, filmed on a grand scale at London’s Royal Albert Hall in front of a packed audience. BBC Four features Hallelujah: The Gospel Messiah with world-renowned conductor Marin Alsop as she leads the BBC Concert Orchestra in an uplifting reinterpretation of this seasonal favourite, as Handel’s masterpiece is infused with gospel, jazz and R&B. There is also The Merry Widow from Glyndebourne which is Franz Lehár’s laugh-out-loud operetta, a work of pure theatrical pleasure – a cocktail of ravishing music, touching romance and madcap comedy, and not to be missed A Christmas Carol: The Read with Anne Marie Duff.
Children’s BBC will bring families together to enjoy the best of homegrown storytelling this Christmas, with something for all of the family to enjoy across drama, animation and live-action! The Primrose Railway Children is a new adaptation of Jacqueline Wilson’s novel inspired by E. Nesbit’s timeless classic, featuring Kevin McKidd. Based on Enid Blyton’s iconic stories, The Famous Five returns, following the daring young explorers as they encounter treacherous, action-packed adventures, remarkable mysteries, unparalleled danger, and astounding secrets. Angel Pavement and Loveykins are the latest whimsical and vibrant animated specials in Quentin Blake’s Box of Treasures, inspired by the beloved British children’s author and illustrator, Sir Quentin Blake.
What’s new on BBC iPlayer – Christmas 2024 (The Famous Five)
For the little ones, it’s time to meet young brothers Nikhil & Jay and their lovable dual-heritage family in a holiday adventure in Nikhil & Jay and the Christmas Wish. With both Indian and English families, their lives are a rich blend of customs, traditions, festivals, food, and music. Join them as they celebrate Christmas with plenty of snow, their cat Max and a Christmas dosa pizza! CBeebies Presents: Beauty and the Beast, filmed in Edinburgh at the Festival Theatre, with a toe-tapping soundtrack from Banks & Wag.
My Life At Christmas with Anita Rani sees her speak to Dame Sheila Hancock, Rudolph Walker, familiar to millions as Patrick Trueman in EastEnders, and also TV personality and podcaster Spencer Matthews, in a three-part special to discover what makes Christmas special for them, and how it’s been a marker for memorable moments in their careers, family life and faith. And there are some heart-warming documentaries and biopics this season, including a special one-off BBC documentary with Si King as he celebrates the life of fellow Hairy Biker and best friend, Dave Myers.
But there’s more… audiences have a choice from My Epic Camel Adventure with Gordon Buchanan, Expedition Killer Whale, Lucy Worsley Investigates, The 2024 Christmas Lectures from The Royal Institution with Dr Chris van Tulleken, Strictly at 20, Renaissance: The Blood and The Beauty, Alan Bennett: 90 Years On and From Roger Moore, With Love.
Finally, see in the New Year with Sophie Ellis-Bextor’s New Year’s Eve Disco, The Graham Norton Show, Jools’ Annual Hootenanny, and the Top of The Pops: Review of The Year 2024.
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