Christmas 2016 highlights on Channel 4

16 November 2016

Wowsers. It’s been a pretty tumultuous year, huh? I mean, there was the birth of Jigme Namgyel Wangchuck, heir apparent to the throne of Bhutan. And Hollyoaks. All that stuff in Hollyoaks! I think that’s pretty much it. Anyway, we could all do with a nice, jolly time over Christmas, right? Good, well, look no further than your chums at Channel 4 to see you through the festive period without having to speak to your family. Here, in massive detail*, are our highlights for this Christmas on Channel 4.

*Um… pretty much just a sentence on each thing.

Transmission details to follow – but rest assured, we’re unlikely to be putting out Jamie’s Christmas Special in June.

 

8 Out of 10 Cat Does Countdown New Year Special

Jimmy Carr hosts proceedings as the 8 Out of 10 Cats crew take over the words and numbers quiz for a New Year special.

 

Alan Carr’s Chatty Man Christmas Special

Alan Carr's chat show, packed with celebrity guests, topical showbiz news and highlights from the world of telly and the web.

 

Alan Carr’s 12 Stars of Christmas

Alan Carr turns festive elf as he presents a star-studded quiz stripped across a week. In each show, playing for one third of the audience, will be three celebrity guests who will take it in turns to choose doors from Alan’s giant Advent Calendar. Behind each door will be a famous face armed with a question about the highlights (and lowlights) of the year. Getting Christmas off to a great start the audience take home the prizes, if their celebrity rep knows what’s what from 2016.

 

Alan Carr's NYE Specstacular

Alan Carr welcomes in 2017 with his inimitable brand of unpredictable madness, hysterical sketches, riotous party games and a dazzling guest list.

 

Big Fat Quiz of the Year 2016

Jimmy Carr puts a panel of top celebrity teams to test as he quizzes them on all the goings on from the past year.

 

Big Fat Quiz of Everything 2017

Jimmy Carr presents his big, fat and fiendishly difficult pub quiz with top celebrities.

 

 

David Blaine: Beyond Magic

Following his critically acclaimed ratings smash “David Blaine: Real or Magic,” Blaine returns with his most revealing performance yet. Two years in the making, Blaine pulls the lid off of his signature brand of street magic, sparking reactions that will awe audiences and defy all expectations. Magic meets documentary in the one-hour special, as Blaine blows the minds of the most recognizable celebrities in the world, including David Beckham, Johnny Depp, Drake, Steph Curry, Dave Chappelle, John Travolta, Patrick Stewart, Emma Stone and Arnold Schwarzenegger, among others.

 

Food Unwrapped Christmas Special

The Food Unwrapped team uncover the secrets behind our Christmas food traditions.

 

George Clarke's Amazing Spaces on Ice (Christmas Special)

George Clarke explores the extraordinary world of small builds, where people turn tiny spaces into the most incredible places to live, work and play. He even tries making a few of his own.

 

Gogglebox – Best of 2016

A chance to see some of the best moments of the past year of Gogglebox: 2016 in review from the country's best loved households.

 

Jamie's Christmas Special

Jamie Oliver has experimented with loads of different ways of cooking the classics. But this year, he wants to show us his ultimate recipes – the ones he’s decided that really are the very very best for Christmas and the ones he’ll be cooking on the big day for his own family this year.

 

Jamie & Jimmy's Friday Night Feast S5

Jamie and Jimmy are back with another action-packed series of Friday Night Feast, packed to the brim with super-indulgent, showstopping recipes and celebrity interviews.

 

Kirstie's Crafty Christmas

Queen of all things handmade, Kirstie Allsopp, returns with a festive special full of gorgeous treats and inspiration for a thoroughly crafty Christmas.

 

Rude Tube Christmas Special

Alex Zane presents a countdown of the funniest, rudest and most bizarre video clips to have taken the internet by storm.

 

Rude Tube NY Special

Alex Zane presents a countdown of the funniest, rudest and most bizarre video clips to have taken the internet by storm.

 

 

The Secret Life of the Zoo at Christmas

Christmas is a unique time of year at Chester Zoo. In this special festive edition of The Secret Life of the Zoo, we’ll see orang-utans opening their stockings, and Iblis the Asiatic lion taking advantage of a Christmas tree installed in the lion house. We’ll also see the birth of a Malayan tapir baby, that causes some problems for the parents.

 

Tattoo Fixers Christmas special

Three talented tattoo artists transform extreme inking disasters into walking works of art as clients with regrettable tattoos visit their pop-up parlour for a badly needed body art consultation

 

Travel Man: 48 Hours in... Christmas Special

One off special with Richard Ayoade and Rebel Wilson in Florence.

 

We’re Going On A Bear Hunt

A Christmas treat for all the family, from the makers of The Snowman and The Snowdog, featuring the voices of Olivia Colman, Pam Ferris and Mark Williams. Based on the hit bedtime book written by Michael Rosen and illustrated by Helen Oxenbury and produced by the makers of the hugely-popular The Snowman and The Snowdog animation, the one-off half hour special will broadcast this Christmas.

 

The Windsors Christmas Special (w/t)

‘The Windsors’ will return for a 1x60 special festive themed episode this December as Paul Whitehouse and Vicki Pepperdine join the original cast to play King George III and Princess Anne. Written by the co-creators of “Star Stories”, Bert Tyler-Moore and George Jeffrie, the comedy soap opera will be doing what it does best and sending up our beloved royals, satirising what seasonal celebrations at Sandringham might involve...

 

The World’s Most Expensive Toys

For the UK’s millionaires and billionaires, shopping has become an art form, and nothing gets them spending more than toys. But while the rest of us search out bargains on the high street, the wealthy use a network of bespoke, high-end suppliers of luxurious gifts and entertainment. From crystal encrusted rocking horses to £22,500 doll’s houses there really is a toy to suit the highest of budgets. We see the inside world of the craftsmen and inventors as they attempt to realise the dreams of Britain’s billionaires.