Maigret in Montmartre
8.30pm, ITV
It is a tribute to Rowan Atkinson’s acting that he’s managed to rearrange his features from their indelibly familiar comedy purpose to convince wholly as the lugubrious Inspector Maigret. Tonight, he descends on to the seedier boulevards of Paris in all their alluring decadence to investigate the murder of a countess and a showgirl. The key to the mystery lies in their past lives at the Grand Hotel in Nice. Delicious as Dubonnet. David Stubbs
Mary, Mel and Sue’s Big Christmas Thank You
7pm, BBC One
Like a three-woman clapback to all those Channel 4-watching traitors (you know who you are), the original Bake Off babes have reunited. Mary, Mel and Sue are in the Rhondda valley in south Wales, where they’re putting on a spectacular Christmas shindig to bolster a struggling but much-loved community centre. Mary is in charge of the food (naturally), while Mel and Sue contribute decorations and general good cheer. Ellen E Jones
Child Genius vs Celebrities Christmas Special
8pm, Channel 4
The Child Geniuses conquered contemporaries en route to victory but can adult minds best them in cranial capability? Richard Osman sets four pint-sized brainiacs against a quartet of academically articulate celebrities. Wannabe MP Mog takes on Dom Joly, bullish Fabio battles Janet Street-Porter, maths whizz Christopher takes on newsreader Cathy Newman, while team captain Rhea confronts Rob Delaney. Mark Gibbings Jones
Winter’s Weirdest Events
8.30pm, BBC Two
Chris Packham looks at the weird and wonderful occurrences of winter around the world and a host of leading scientists help him make sense of these natural oddities. There’s crazy winter weather, such as spectacular tornadoes made of snow. And then there’s the supremely odd behaviour that consumes the animal kingdom in winter, such as the snowboarding crows and the penguins who perform death-defying feats. Ben Arnold
Not Going Out Christmas Special
9.35pm, BBC One
In early 2017, Lee Mack’s grumpy but gag-packed sitcom fast-forwarded into Outnumbered territory with Lee and Lucy (Sally Bretton) abruptly becoming parents to three young children. The addition of rosy-cheeked sprogs is a good fit for this special episode as the couple’s warring in-laws compete for grandkid affection with gifts so lavish they threaten to outshine Santa. The late Keith Barron guest stars as a prickly toy shop employee. Graeme Virtue
Ratburger
6pm, Sky1
With grotesque characters, cartoon violence and Groundhog Day scenes of its young hero being gobbed on by the school bully, this adaptation of David Walliams’s children’s novel isn’t subtle. But it is good fun. The plot centres on Zoe (Talia Barnett), who’s growing up with a hated stepmum (Sheridan Smith) but whose life is much improved when she encounters a dancing rat, Armitage. Trouble is, burger van proprietor Burt (Walliams) is hunting for patty meat … Jonathan Wright
Trollied Christmas Special
9.30pm, Sky1
There are larks aplenty down in the Valco aisles as Sky’s passable ensemble comedy opens its store for Christmas Eve. John Thomson slips straight into the role of star employee Tim, as store manager Gavin (Jason Watkins at his busybody best) is hoping to break the record for the shop’s highest takings. What could possibly go wrong? Cue robbers holding the staff hostage, with their fate in the hand of have-a-go hero Gavin. Knockabout fun. Hannah Verdier
Film choice
Monsters University, (Dan Scanlon, 2013), 2.20pm, BBC One
Pixar’s belated follow-up to 2001’s Monsters, Inc scrolls back to the student days of furry ogre Sulley (voiced by John Goodman) and one-eyed froggy-thing Mike (Billy Crystal). It’s a cliched campus movie, but young ones will have fun watching the buddies learning to be scary. Paul Howlett
Scrooge: A Christmas Carol, (Brian Desmond Hurst, 1951), 4.15pm, Channel 5
A warm-as-mince-pies version of the Dickens tale. Alastair Sim is Scrooge incarnate, his miserly humbuggery a delight, as he trudges home from work, shooing away angelic urchins and refusing to relent on a pleading debtor’s £20 loan. The snowy, atmospheric photography is superb; but beware the ghostly visitation of Michael Hordern’s chain-clanking Jacob Marley – he’s a real gothic horror. Paul Howlett
The Great Gatsby, (Baz Luhrmann, 2013), 9.30pm, BBC Two
A fourth flawed screen version of F Scott Fitzgerald’s haunting classic. Still, Luhrmann jazzes up the opulence with the last word in excessive parties, anachronistic Jay-Z music and all, releasing a storm of energy that overpowers the yearning of Leo DiCaprio’s enigmatic Gatsby and Carey Mulligan’s sweet Daisy. It’s blunt and unsubtle, but visually spectacular. Paul Howlett
Sherlock Holmes, (Guy Ritchie, 2009), 12.20am, TCM
Lads’ movie-maker Ritchie didn’t seem a natural fit for Conan Doyle’s Baker Street sleuth, but he concocts fast-paced entertainment that blends wit and action in an atmospherically realised Victorian London. Robert Downey Jr’s Holmes is a cerebral martial arts master, Jude Law far from your traditionally stolid Dr Watson, and they spark and bicker engagingly in pursuit of Mark Strong’s occultist crime lord. The sequel, A Game of Shadows, shows on Christmas Day. Paul Howlett
Live sport
T20 International Cricket: India v Sri Lanka The final game of the series from the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. 1.30pm, Sky Sports Main Event
Premiership Rugby: Leicester Tigers v Saracens Coverage from the 11th round of fixtures at Welford Road. 2.30pm, BT Sport 1
NFL Another game from the league. 5.30pm, Sky Sports Main Event
