Sometimes you have to feel sorry for the BBC. Upon publishing its 2021 Christmas schedule, the corporation was quickly attacked by some of its more trenchant critics who pointed out that – shock horror – its Xmas day line-up was completely identical to last year’s. What kind of fools do they take us for, they cried.
Yet this brutal accusation breaks down almost entirely when you look at the schedule and realise that the vast majority of these alleged ‘repeats’ are actually nothing of the sort – but rather entirely new episodes of the same old Christmas staples. Is that a problem? Maybe. But imagine the backlash if the BBC didn’t commission the likes of Call the Midwife and Strictly?
But while saccharine tales of East End newborns might be watched by millions, they’re not exactly the pinnacle of good television – even after a boozy Christmas afternoon. So where are the nuggets of gold amongst the more predictable seasonal offerings this holiday season?
For all its alleged laziness, the Beeb isn’t actually a bad place to start.
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