The Miniaturist
9pm, BBC One
It is cosy Christmas costume drama time, but this two-part adaptation of Jessie Burton’s 2014 novel promises more surprises than the usual dreary Dickens. Hot acting talent Anya Taylor-Joy stars as a young bride in 17th-century Amsterdam whose new life is marked by a curious wedding gift: a doll’s house replica of her marital home. Meanwhile, she finds her actual home full of life-size secrets, guarded over by her sister-in-law (Romola Garai). EEJ
Matthew Bourne’s Cinderella
5.35pm, BBC Two
Matthew Bourne’s celebrated interpretation of Cinderella places the fairytale in London during the second world war, featuring a chance meeting between our heroine and a dashing RAF pilot. They’re together just long enough before the horrors of the Blitz cleave them apart. Performed to Prokofiev’s classic score played by a 60-piece orchestra in front of a live audience at London’s Sadler’s Wells, this is a sumptuous Boxing Day treat. BA
Little Women
8pm, BBC One
Call the Midwife writer Heidi Thomas dramatises Louisa May Alcott’s novel. The opener is a gentle affair, establishing the personalities of the New England sisters coming of age during the civil war. There’s weightier drama to come (the series continues tomorrow); for now it’s a charming festive embrace, with Emily Watson, Michael Gambon and Angela Lansbury outshone by newcomer Maya Hawke (Uma Thurman’s daughter) as headstrong, creative Jo. JS
Reindeer Family & Me
8pm, BBC Two
Set in Finnish Lapland at -30C, there is still something deeply warming about this doc. Cameraman Gordon Buchanan has wanted to film the northern lights for 25 years, and here he hangs out with a reindeer-herding Sami family to learn the ways of the wild, so he can head out on a sled in search of the light show. Will he manage to befriend his grumpy reindeer? Will the aurora turn up on cue? We wouldn’t want to spoil it for you … SH
Two Doors Down: Christmas Special
10.30pm, BBC Two
As ever, a pleasing mix of traditional and contemporary is delivered by this Scottish comedy. Never mind us viewers, surely by now not even Beth and Eric themselves can be surprised that their plans for a peaceful Christmas – just the two of them – will be ruined, with amusing consequences. This year, a strike by French air traffic controllers brings them unexpected guests. Their turkey crown is stretched as far as Eric’s patience. JR
André Rieu: Falling in Love – Live in Maastricht 2016
8pm, Sky Arts
The flamboyant Dutch fiddler serves up a real Maastricht treat, commandeering the historic square of his hometown to stage an orchestral spectacle both symphonic and pyrotechnic. There’s a splash of Strictly as formal couples waltz in the aisles while the overarching theme of romance is flexible enough to include songs from the Dr Zhivago soundtrack, Ravel’s Boléro and a cameo from indecisive mambo inamorato Lou Bega. GV
Z Nation
10pm, Pick
If the zombie apocalypse ever does occur, humanity won’t be able to say TV hasn’t prepped us from every possible angle for the contingency. Z Nation has ripped through four not entirely serious series and tonight ends on a cliffhanger, at the drone-launching facility where Zona plans to unleash the “Black Rainbow” of flesh-eating bacteria to cleanse the world of all living things, leaving Warren with a fateful, perhaps regrettable decision to make. David Stubbs
Film choice
Song of the Sea (Tomm Moore, 2014) Boxing Day, 6.40am, Channel 4
Moore, co-director of The Secret of Kells, creates another wondrous piece of animated Irish folklore with Song of the Sea. It’s the story of Ben (voiced by David Rawle), a boy living with his lighthouse-keeper father (Brendan Gleeson) and mute little sister Saoirse who, like the children’s vanished mother, is a selkie – half human, half seal. Events take the kids on an eerie journey inhabited by giants, fairies and owls, rendered in magical animation reminiscent of Studio Ghibli’s best, and set to a haunting score by Bruno Coulais. It’s completely enchanting.
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2 (James Gunn, 2017) 1.10pm, 8pm, Sky Cinema Premiere
That jolly bunch of retro Marvel superheroes – the team who put the comic back in comic book – return for another cosmos-spanning adventure set to a 70s pop-rock soundtrack. Chris Pratt’s likable, leather-jacketed Quill and his colourful gang of renegades are once again embroiled in some crazy space stuff, as Quill learns about his troubled past from Kurt Russell’s modestly named Ego. Paul Howlett
Shaun the Sheep Movie (Mark Burton, Richard Starzak, 2015) 2.10pm, BBC One
The hero of Aardman’s marvellous, long-running TV series gets his own film. The trick is to take Shaun and his chums out of their comfort zone on Mossy Bottom Farm and into the big city in search of their errant farmer. Wild adventures ensue in a restaurant, a hairdresser’s, a dog’s home and the inside of a pantomime horse, all rendered in glorious claymation. It’s a giggle from start to finish. PH
Paddington (Paul King, 2014) 2.55pm, Film4
Paddington may be a small Peruvian bear but he packs a huge hug in this family-friendly treat. Taken in by the Brown family (parents played winningly by Hugh Bonneville and Sally Hawkins), Paddington (voiced by Ben Whishaw) indulges in extreme marmalade fun and has a moderately scary run-in with menacing, Cruella de Vil-ish taxidermist Millicent (Nicole Kidman). Irresistible. PH
Sense and Sensibility (Ang Lee, 1995) 3.15pm, Sony Movie Channel
A delicate adaptation of Jane Austen’s novel about the Dashwood girls (Emma Thompson, Kate Winslet, Emilie François), who are obliged to seek marriages when their mother falls on hard times. Thompson’s Oscar-winning screenplay stays close to Austen’s ironic social perceptions, and Ang Lee is at home with this sharply comic critique of 19th-century middle-class English values. PH
ET: The Extra-Terrestrial (Steven Spielberg, 1982) 3.30pm, ITVSpielberg’s consummate sci-fi tale about lonely earthboy Elliott (Henry Thomas), who befriends a cute stranded alien and helps him go home. It’s schmaltz of galactic proportions, but it’s hard not to sob when ET’s little heart starts a-glowing again. A perennial family treat. PH
Back to the Future (Robert Zemeckis, 1985) 6pm, Channel 4
Part one of the trilogy, which is being revisited on consecutive days. Starting with Doc (Christopher Lloyd) sending young Marty McFly (Michael J Fox) in his DeLorean time machine back to 1955, where he inadvertently prevents his parents from falling in love – with worrying implications for his own future. PH
Jurassic World (Colin Trevorrow, 2015) 6.40pm, ITV
Boasting a new cast of massive dinosaurs, this upgrade does a fine job of rescuing the franchise from extinction. Tourists are flocking to the Jurassic World theme park – like lambs to the slaughter – when the genetically modified mega-raptor Indominus rex starts running amok. Bryce Dallas Howard’s park manager and Chris Pratt’s dino-wrangler attempt to restore order in a thrilling carnivore caper. PH
Four Weddings and a Funeral (Mike Newell, 1994) 11.10pm, Channel 4
Newell’s tale is as flimsy as lace trim: love at first sight, deferred indefinitely, between Hugh Grant’s feckless, ever-so-English boy and Andie MacDowell’s more grown-up American. The romancing is done at a series of social gatherings (it’s all they ever do); and for amusing social gaffing, it takes the cake. PH
Live sport
Scottish Premiership Football: Dundee v Celtic 12noon, BT Sport 1
A top-flight encounter from Dens Park.
Premier League Football: Tottenham Hotspur v Southampton 12noon, Sky Sports Main Event
The Saints are going to Wembley. Liverpool v Swansea to follow.
Ashes Cricket: Australia v England 11pm, BT Sport 1
The latest action from the Boxing Day Test at the MCG.
