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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Entertainment
Hollie Richardson, Phil Harrison, Jack Seale, Ellen E Jones and Simon Wardell

TV tonight: a very emotional yuletime special with the Hairy Bikers

Hairy Bikers Si King (left) and Dave Myers
Si King (left) and Dave Myers in The Hairy Bikers: Coming Home for Christmas. Photograph: Screengrab/BBC/South Shore Productions

The Hairy Bikers: Coming Home for Christmas

9pm, BBC Two

Last year, one half of the bikers – Dave Myers – was diagnosed with cancer. This bittersweet programme follows his story from undergoing chemotherapy to reuniting with Si King and ultimately getting back to what he loves and does best – serving scrumptious feasts, specifically a banquet for all those who have helped Dave on his journey. It’s not really about the food, but there’s plenty of recipe inspiration anyway. Hollie Richardson

BBC Sports Personality of the Year 2023

7pm, BBC One

A break with tradition as this year’s Spoty takes place on a Tuesday evening. Otherwise, it’s business as usual as Gabby Logan, Gary Lineker, Alex Scott and Clare Balding present from MediaCityUK in Salford. Sweary goalkeeping Lioness Mary Earps is the bookies’ favourite, but cricketer Stuart Broad and athlete Katarina Johnson-Thompson are also strong contenders. Phil Harrison

Dickens in Italy With David Harewood

8pm, Sky Arts

Is it even Christmas without a helping of Dickens? Taking a slightly non-traditional approach this time, David Harewood retraces the great novelist’s footsteps in Italy – through Venice, Naples, Genoa and Rome. He discovers the country’s influence, in terms of writing style, political belief and his personal life. HR

David Harewood in Italy
A tale of a few cities … Dickens in Italy with David Harewood. Photograph: Luca Petrucci/© Sky UK Ltd.

Sister Boniface Mysteries: Christmas Special

8pm, Drama

A crisp and frosty feature-length special with not one but three cases to solve. The titular Catholic crime-solver (Lorna Watson) is onboard a train stranded in the sparkling snow, with both a murderer and a jewel thief waiting to be unmasked among the passengers. Back at home, a naked man has been found dead in a shed. A light, often funny slice of retro escapism. Jack Seale

Inside McVitie’s at Christmas

9pm, Channel 4

Have you tried a white chocolate digestive biscuit yet? This very important investigation into McVitie’s run-up to Christmas – and how they stay ahead of their rivals – shows us the creative process behind this new biccy. There’s also a twist on the Penguin bar, but is messing with such classics a step too far? HR

Never Mind the Buzzcocks Christmas Special

9pm, Sky Max

“I’ve Drunk a Pint of Baileys and Now I Hate Myself” is the title of host Greg Davies’s no doubt catchy but as yet unreleased Christmas chart-topper. Perhaps he can get some pointers from pop star guests Kaiser Chiefs’ Ricky Wilson and Leigh-Anne from Little Mix? There’s also some Harry Hill dad-dancing and a ribald anecdote involving drunk Noddy Holder and a donkey. Ellen E Jones

Film choice

Our Ladies (Michael Caton-Jones, 2019), 9pm, Film4

This boisterous screen treatment of Alan Warner’s novel The Sopranos follows five Catholic girls from Fort William on a school choir day trip to Edinburgh in 1996. But singing comes a distant second to illicit drinking and trying to get laid in a frank, funny drama packed with coming-of-age poignancy. In lesser hands, the teenage friends could be reduced to stereotypes, but director Michael Caton-Jones and his superb young cast (particularly Abigail Lawrie and Tallulah Greive) stretch our expectations and make the quintet all too believable. Simon Wardell

Cyrano (Joe Wright, 2021), 10pm, BBC Two

Peter Dinklage and Haley Bennett in Cyrano
To wit, to woo … Peter Dinklage and Haley Bennett in Cyrano. Photograph: Peter Mountain/AP

Joe Wright’s glowing adaptation of the stage musical centres on a masterly performance by Peter Dinklage in the title role. The poet-swordsman’s long nose from the original tale is replaced by a focus on his small stature, which prevents the otherwise eloquent Cyrano from expressing his love for Roxanne (Haley Bennett). Instead, he lends the handsome but simple Christian (Kelvin Harrison Jr) his “wit” to woo her. The songs by the National’s Dessner brothers aren’t that memorable, but Dinklage – swashbuckling, quick-witted, lovesick – is heartbreakingly good. SW

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