The must-watch shows to enjoy this Christmas

While 2020 might not have gone to plan and your Christmas plans may have been changed at the last minute, there's still hope for TV to bring some festive cheer to your living room.

If you have the blues around Strictly Come Dancing being over, then fear no more as they will be bringing a festive special to your screens on Christmas Day. The Strictly Come Dancing Christmas countdown will air on BBC One at 4.45pm, making it the perfect post-Christmas dinner watch.

The show will take the format of the countdown of Strictly’s 25 most memorable dances after a public vote. As always, we will see celebrity guests and professional dancers returning - however no live dances will be performed this year. 

If you’re looking for a selection of festive films to brighten your day this season, then Netflix has an array of options. The streaming site is currently offering the first three ‘Nativity’ films, hoping to bring that child-like spirits back into our hearts.

The collection of movies follows your run of the mill primary school preparing for their annual nativity in extreme circumstances. With Christmas plays mostly being cancelled this year, this trilogy might be just what is missing from this Christmas season.

Even though travel has mostly been postponed this year, Torvill and Dean have still been allowed to travel to Alaska on an extraordinary quest to fulfil a lifelong dream of skating in the great outdoors. However, with this year being Alaska’s hottest year on record, there's not a lot of ice to be found.

ITV is bringing this eye-opening show ‘Dancing on Thin Ice' to the public on Christmas Day as we watch the pair come face to face with the damaging effects of climate change.

With the live shows being delayed until August, it seemed like we had more Britain's Got Talent than ever this year but we are still in for one last treat.

On Christmas Day, there will be a selection of past contestants returning for the Britain’s Got Talent Christmas Special. Among these will be fan-favourites Diversity and Stavros Flatley and fans will also be treated to Amanda Holden performing her Christmas single, Home for Christmas, alongside 2014 winners Collabro.

The show airs at 8pm on ITV and definitely won’t be one to miss.

Meanwhile, Amazon Prime has been gifting viewers some Christmas magic this year with their incredible collection of festive movies.

One seasonal favourite is ‘The Holiday’ featuring Kate Winslet and Cameron Diaz. The story follows two equally romantically disfavoured women from opposite ends of the world choosing to swap homes in each other’s countries for Christmas to get space away from the men in their lives.

However, both women encounter more than they bargain for when they each fall in love with a local guy on their journeys.

Christmas may be slightly quieter than normal years but you can still join all of your favourite on-screen characters from the comfort of your living room.

If you miss any of the shows on Christmas Day, you can catch them on BBC iPlayer and ITV Hub so there’s plenty of time to enjoy some festive programmes.

There is also a bumper TV guide in the Christmas Eve edition of your Tameside Reporter and Glossop Chronicle, which you can read by clicking here.