Sky's Christmas programme info is out although TX details are embargoed until 4th December.
Quote:
There’s
The Queen and I
on Sky One, in
which David Walliams stars as a new PM
whose first order of business is getting rid of
the Royal Family. There’s a third helping of
Dawn French and Emilia Fox’s
Delicious
,
also on Sky One. Plus the huge
Avengers:
Infinity War
on Sky Cinema, smash-hit
stage show
Funny Girl: The Musical
on Sky
Arts, a feast of Premier League football live
on Sky Sports, and much more.
Can’t say I’m very impressed. It’s all very samey and bland again. I mean, Mrs Brown’s Boys Christmas Special is hardly special when it hasn’t had an actual series in years. It’s worse than Only Fools and Horses just before it ended (twice).
It’s pretty bad when there are so few comedy shows that they’re lumped in with entertainment. I just can’t help but feel that the whole thing needs a big shake-up. Doctor Who’s got the right idea by moving to New Year’s Day, but otherwise, at the risk of sounding like a broken record, I just can’t get excited by Christmas TV any more.
The Mrs Brown's Boys Christmas specials will go on until 2020 at least.
That’s part of the problem. We’re stuck in a rut for years. I know Christmas schedule traditions come and go but it always feels depressing when you’re in the middle of a particularly bad one.
The era of Morecambe and Wise Christmas spectaculars, Two Ronnies festive treats are long gone. Staid and tested schedules is what they want. BBC One will have a very similar schedule to last year, except Dr Who moving days. ITV will wheel out Corrie, Emmerdale, Paul O'Grady, and probably some drama for Christmas night. Channel 4 will have the annual Alan Carr show and Channel 5 will bung on whatever they can find from the archives of other broadcasters.
The era of Morecambe and Wise Christmas spectaculars, Two Ronnies festive treats are long gone. Staid and tested schedules is what they want. BBC One will have a very similar schedule to last year, except Dr Who moving days.
But Morecambe and Wise and The Two Ronnies were on every year, and they were fixtures that became more cherished every year they were on. People weren't complaining in 1977 that the schedule was samey, even though Morecambe and Wise had been on Christmas Day since 1969.
And people like tradition at Christmas. Channel Four got three million viewers last Christmas for the ten trillionth screening of Home Alone. On Digitalspy they were getting excited that ITV are showing Elf in a few weeks because people like watching Elf at Christmas.
These shows are big shows. I don't understand the idea the audience is "bored" of seeing Strictly on Christmas Day. They're clearly not bored of seeing it on Saturday nights where it's been since 2004. Not that anyone ever remembers what was on last Christmas.
Maybe not what the stripped drama was on the 27th, or what was shown on Xmas Eve, but I’m sure people remember what was on last Christmas Day.
I don’t think the issue is that there is a much loved favourite airing every year, more that it’s a set of programmes that are the same every year, I’m sure Morecambe and Wise was surrounded by a schedule that varied from one year to the next.
