Friday 26th December 2014
18:55 The Boy in the Dress (David Walliams/Kevin Cecil/Andy Riley)
Dennis feels different – he’s an ordinary boy who lives in an ordinary house in an ordinary street, he plays football with his mates and lives with his dad and brother, but he is frustrated by the boring grey world he inhabits – life has never really been the same since his mum left.
However, transformation can happen in the most unexpected places. In Raj’s newsagent a fashion magazine seems to be calling Dennis – can it be that Kate Moss is really telling him that it’s okay for boys to like Vogue? Aided by Lisa, the coolest girl in the school, Dennis creates a whole new persona and puts it to the ultimate test – but can a boy wear a dress, and what will the headmaster, his dad and his friends on the football team think if they find out?
Based on David Walliams’ best-selling children’s book, with an all-star cast including Jennifer Saunders, James Buckley, David Walliams and Kate Moss, The Boy in the Dress is a celebration of creativity, difference, football and fashion. A Christmas treat for the whole family.
20:00 Victoria Wood’s Midlife Christmas (Victoria Wood)
BAFTA award-winning actress and comedian Victoria Wood is back with a Christmas special.
Victoria Wood’s Midlife Christmas features highlights from the Midlife Olympics 2009, the popular costume drama Lark Pies to Cranchesterford and the further adventures of soap star Bo Beaumont played by long-term collaborator Julie Walters.
20:30 Marvel’s The Avengers (Joss Whedon)
Comic book action adventure. The director of peacekeeping agency S.H.I.E.L.D. gathers an elite team of superheroes including The Hulk, Captain America, Black Widow, Iron Man and Thor when the Norse god’s evil brother steals a cosmic cube from an underground base. The group must work together to protect the Earth from the leader of an extraterrestrial race and it’s army intent on harnessing the cube’s power.
21:00 That Day We Sang (Victoria Wood)
That Day We Sang, by Victoria Wood, is a musical rooted in the Manchester of 1929 and 1969. It is the story of two lonely middle-aged people, Tubby and Enid, who are able to grab a second chance at life when they are reconnected to their emotions by the power of music.
21:00 Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (Will Ferrell/Adam McKay)
Knockabout comedy set in the sexist world of 1970s newscasting.
Ron Burgundy, San Diego’s top-rated anchorman, reigns supreme in the all-male world of television news, until the arrival of an ambitious female reporter upsets the status quo. When she steps in to present the programme in Ron’s absence, an uncivil war breaks out in the newsroom.
22:30 Hunky Dory (Laurence Coriat)
In the heat of the summer of 1976, a drama teacher tries to put on an end-of-year music version of Shakespeare’s The Tempest.
Saturday 27th December 2014
00:15 The Winslow Boy (Terence Rattigan/David Mamet)
Period drama based on the true story of a young naval cadet accused of stealing a five shilling postal order, and his father – who risks fortune, health, domestic peace and his daughter’s prospects to seek justice. After defeat in the military court of appeals, father and daughter go to Sir Robert Morton, a charismatic barrister and MP, who takes the case before Parliament to seek permission to sue the crown.
07:10 Herbie Goes to Monte Carlo (Arthur Alsberg)
Third in the children’s comedy Love Bug series, in which the irrepressible Beetle with a mind of its own takes part in a race from Paris to Monte Carlo, via the French Alps. Love complicates the plot whenHerbie falls for a powder-blue Lancia called Giselle. Plus jewel thieves have hidden a diamond in Herbie’s petrol tank and are soon in hot pursuit.
08:50 Ensign Pulver (Josh Walker Jr./Peter S Feibleman)
Lighthearted sequel to Mister Roberts. There are unforseen consequences when a lowly ensign aboard USS Reluctant, an unimportant US Navy supply ship at the end of the Second World War, strikes a blow for his long-suffering downtrodden crewmates by playing a prank on their belligerent captain.
13:00 The Cheyenne Social Club (James Lee Barrett)
Lighthearted western about a Texas cowboy whose life changes dramatically when he inherits a social club from his ne’er-do-well brother. The club turns out to be a house of ill-repute, and the strait-laced cowhand decides to close it down or transform it into an ordinary saloon. But his plans meet with strident opposition from the local townsfolk.
15:45 The Eagle Has Landed (Tom Mankiewicz)
All-action World War II adventure. On the morning of 6 November 1943 the military authorities in Berlin receive a simple message – “The Eagle Has Landed”. In a daring kidnap attempt, a small force of crack German paratroopers are poised to snatch Winston Churchill and return with him to Germany. If they succeed in their mission it could alter the course of the war – who can stop them?
17:55 Dad’s Army (Jimmy Perry/David Croft)
Feature-length version of the classic sitcom about the Home Guard unit of a small seaside town. In 1940, with a German invasion looming, the defence of Walmington-on-Sea is in the hands of local bank manager Captain Mainwaring and a motley collection of volunteers. After a series of blunders, the Home Guard finally get the glory they deserve.
15:10 How to Train Your Dragon (Chris Sanders/Dean Deblois)
Animated children’s adventure based on the best-selling books. Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III is a young Viking, living in the village of Berk. Reluctantly trained to hunt the dragons that plague the village, Hiccup forms an unlikely friendship with Toothless, an injured dragon.
16:40 Kung Fu Panda 2 (Glen Berger/Jonathan Aibel)
Animated adventure featuring the return of Po, the panda with a penchant for martial arts. Since becoming the Dragon Warrior and defeating Tai Lung, Po has been keeping peace in the valley with his kung fu friends, the Furious Five. But, shocked by the realisation that Mr Ping the goose is not his real father, Po cannot find inner peace. When word reaches the Furious Five that Master Thundering Rhino has been killed by a terrifying new weapon, Po sets out with them to destroy it, learn more about his parents and fulfil his destiny in battling Shen, the evil peacock.
19:00 Shrek (Ted Elliott/Terry Rossio/Joe Stillman/Roger Schulman)
Animated comedy. In a land of living fairy tales and nursery rhymes grumpy ogre Shrek, along with the loudmouthed Donkey, joins beautiful but wilful Princess Fiona in tackling Lord Farquaad’s evil schemes to exile the exotic from his lands and wed the unwilling princess.
19:30 Whisky Galore! (Compton MacKenzie)
Classic Ealing comedy about a Scotch-laden ship that runs aground off the coast of the Outer Hebrides during the Second World War.
The local islanders have depleted their supply of the amber nectar and are overjoyed at the thought of stocking up again. But it is Sunday, and the teetotallers object to making free with the unexpected cargo.
22:25 Donkey’s Carolling Christmas-tacular (Walt Dohrn/Ryan Crego)
In this festive animation featuring the characters from Shrek, the irrepressible Donkey leads a Christmas carol sing-along, with musical numbers including It’s the Most Wonderful Time and unique versions of Jingle Bells and Feliz Navidad.
Sunday 28th December 2014
00:15 I Confess (George Tabori/William Archibald)
Classic psychological thriller about a Quebec priest on trial for a murder he did not commit. The priest has heard the confession of the real murderer, but is unable to disclose what he knows and, despite the increasing likelihood of being found guilty, he refuses to breach his vows.
00:20 The Hot Chick (Tom Brady/Rob Schneider)
Teen comedy in which a mean cheerleader learns a humiliating lesson when a pair of mystical earrings lead her to swap bodies with a small-time male crook. While she struggles with body hair and trying to switchback to her normal being, the con enjoys the privileges of being a 16-year-old as he sets in motion a crime spree.
07:50 Herbie Goes Bananas (Don Tait)
Comedy adventure featuring the freewheeling Volkswagen. DJ and Pete take Herbie to South America to compete in a Brazilian road race. But it’s a bumpy ride for all in the love bug as Herbie discovers a scheme to steal gold from an Incan city.
09:00 G-Force (Cormac Wibberley/Marianne Wibberley/Hoyt Yeatman/David James)
Animated action adventure. An elite team of highly trained guinea pigs, armed with the latest high-tech spy equipment, fight to save the world from a diabolical billionaire reprogramming the world’s kitchen appliances.
10:20 Three Men and a Little Lady (Coline Serreau/Sara Parriott/Josann McGibbon/Charlie Peters)
The sequel to the popular Three Men and a Baby sees the three dads living in domestic harmony with the now five-year-old Mary and her mother Sylvia. But when Sylvia announces she is moving to London to marry her English boyfriend, everything is thrown into turmoil and the surrogate fathers decide to cross the Atlantic – determined to stop the wedding.
14:25 The Heroes of Telemark (Ivan Moffat/Ben Barsman)
Tense action-adventure tale based on the true story of the Norwegian resistance and their efforts to destroy a heavy water plant established during World War II by the occupying Nazis. As the Germans move ever closer to the secret of nuclear fission, the saboteurs plot to prevent the strategic materials from going into production.
15:45 Raiders of the Lost Ark (Lawrence Kasdan)
Action-packed adventure epic in which an intrepid archaeologist tries to beat a band of Nazis to a unique religious relic which is central to their plans for world domination. Battling against a snake phobia and a vengeful ex-girlfriend, Indiana Jones is in constant peril, making hair’s-breadth escapes at every turn in this celebration of the innocent adventure movies of an earlier era.
18:00 John Carter (Andrew Stanton/Mark Andrews)
Action adventure film. Arizona, 1868. A US Civil War veteran is transplanted to Mars and discovers a planet inhabited by giant barbarians. Finding himself a prisoner of the creatures, he escapes, only to encounter a princess who is in need of a saviour.
19:00 The Gruffalo (Julia Donaldson/Axel Scheffler)
Animation based on the classic children’s picture book written by Julia Donaldson and illustrated by Axel Scheffler, telling the magical tale of a mouse who takes a walk through the woods in search of a nut.Encountering three predators who all wish to eat him – a fox, an owl and a snake – the plucky mouse has to use his wits to survive. He announces that he is meeting a monster with terrible features, a “gruffalo”.
Featuring a voice cast including Helena Bonham Carter, Rob Brydon, Robbie Coltrane, James Corden and John Hurt
19:30 The Gruffalo’s Child (Julia Donaldson/Axel Scheffler)
Animated film based on the best-selling children’s picture book by author Julia Donaldson and illustrator Axel Scheffler.
One wild and windy night, the Gruffalo’s child ignores her father’s warnings and bravely tiptoes out into the snow in search of the Big Bad Mouse. She meets Snake, Owl and Fox but no sign of the fabled Mouse. He does not really exist – or does he?
20:00 Shrek 2 (Andrew Adamson/Joe Stillman/J David Stem/David N Weiss/Terry Rossio/Ted Elliott)
Animated sequel following the grumpy ogre and his bride as they head for the land of Far Far Away to meet her parents. As Shrek contends with his new in-laws, the wicked Fairy Godmother sets in motion adastardly scheme to scupper his marriage to Fiona. And will any of them survive at the hands of dandy assassin Puss in Boots?
21:00 The Good Shepherd (Eric Roth)
Spy thriller charting the life of the man charged with heading the CIA’s covert operations and uncovering a mole during the Bay of Pigs scandal, revealing how he changed from a once-idealistic student into the untrusting overlord of American espionage.
Alex Sigsworth 