It's here: that chunk of time off work to celebrate Christmas and the end of 2023 with your family. But let's be honest, as much as we love them, a whole week spent with your kids, niblings, your parents, in-laws and maybe even your grandparents - plus all of the extended family members that love to drop round and eat your Celebrations - isn't always what you want. That's why the Twixmas TV schedule was invented.
So many shows now save up their best and most dramatic episodes for that week stretching from Christmas Eve to the New Year, not to mention all the festive specials and one-offs. So, for when the kids are starting to get crotchety and you just can't face another round of charades, we've rounded up all the best of the Christmas TV available, that's suitable for the whole family.
That means you can leave Grandma and the little ones in front of the telly and have a moment to yourself, or enjoy these festive episodes with them. We promise we won't judge you for going for the first option - that's what we'll be doing! And if you missed any of the below, you can watch them on catch up of course...
Grazia's Official Christmas To New Year's Family TV Schedule
1 of 7iPlayer - Dodger Christmas Special
The BAFTA and RTS winning family hit, Dodger, is back for an action-packed special, which is set to air over the festive season on BBC iPlayer, BBC One and CBBC.
Written by the award-winning Rhys Thomas and Lucy Montgomery, the 55-minute special, titled ‘Coronation’, will see Fagin and the gang’s biggest heist yet – getting their hands on Queen Victoria’s crown from her Coronation ceremony. Nicola Coughlan stars as Queen Victoria.
It will air on BBC One over the Christmas period, on iPlayer from 29th December and on CBBC on 3rd January.
2 of 77.30pm 25 Dec on Channel 4: The Festive Pottery Throwdown
Siobhan McSweeney (Derry Girls) hosts a special Christmas edition of The Great Pottery Throwdown, joined by celebrity contestants Hugh Dennis, Sophie Duker, Alice Levine and Joe Swash. Judges Keith Bremer Jones and Rich Miller set two festive challenges: hand-building a Christmas birdhouse and a surprising second task where speed is of the essence, as the celebrities take to the wheel to see who can throw the most bowls for festive nibbles.
3 of 79pm 27 Dec on BBC1: Murder Is Easy
An adaptation of Agatha Christie's mystery thriller (it's become a bit of a Christmas tradition and we're here for it), set in 1954. On a train to London, Luke Fitzwilliam (David Jonsson, Industry) meets Miss Pinkerton (Penelope Wilton, Downton Abbey), who tells him that a killer is on the loose in the sleepy English village of Wychwood under Ashe. The villagers believe the deaths are mere accidents, but Miss Pinkerton knows otherwise - and when she's later found dead on her way to Scotland Yard, Fitzwilliam feels he must find a way to the killer before they can strike again. The two-part series also stars Matthew Baynton (Ghosts), Mark Bonnar (Catastrophe) and Tamzin Outhwaite (_Ridle_y Road).
4 of 75.45pm 1 Jan on ITV1: Jeopardy
Stephen Fry hosts a reboot of the iconic quiz in which players are presented with clues in the form of answers and have to phrase their responses in the form of a question. Each episode, three contestants hope their razor-sharp intellect and speed on the buzzer will be enough to be crowned champion.
5 of 77.40pm 1 Jan on Channel 4: The Great New Year Bake Off
Bake Off celebrates the new year in style as we get cosy in the tent with familiar faces from the past, with 2022's Maxy, 2021's Jurgen and Maggie and 2020's Mark battling it out to be the first Star Baker of 2024. Plus there's a New Year's performance from young musicians Bone-Afide, with Jurgen on the trombone.
6 of 79pm 2 Jan on Channel 4: Taskmaster's New Year Treat
Deborah Meaden, Kojey Radical, Lenny Rush, Steve Backshall and Zoe Ball tackle tasks involving poppadoms and show off their timing skills with cat feeders and cuckoo clocks.
7 of 79pm 3 Jan on BBC1: The Traitors S2
Claudia Winkleman returns with the second series of the critically-acclaimed The Traitors - game of trust and betrayal. A group of strangers gather in a Scottish mansion where a small number if them are secretly assigned to eliminate the rest by 'murdering' them. The group must identify these traitors if they're to have any chance of winning a share of the jackpot. If they fail, the last remaining traitors will take the lot.
Daisy Hall is a News and Entertainment writer on Grazia, specialising in TV and film meaning that you can count on Daisy for the latest (and best) recommendations.