Christmas Television 2011

How long has it been since Charlie Brooker has done a Screenwipe episode? I suppose the last one would have been the 2010 Christmas special. That's depressing!

Channel 5’s Christmas Crackers

Channel 5 will be hosting a variety of festive television this Christmas that is guaranteed to keep the entire family entertained over the holiday season.

Kicking off this festive line-up is an array of quality films and feature length dramas. BAFTA nominated Hugh Bonneville stars alongside Ray Winstone, Marc Warren and James Faulkner in Ben Hur, an epic, action-packed, big budget TV adaptation of the classic tale of the struggle of the Roman Empire. The JK Rowling Story – Magic Beyond Words is also a film not to be missed. Viewers can also enjoy classic Christmas films and family favourites such as A Christmas Carol, Wizard of Oz, Scrooge: A Christmas Carol, Bad Santa, Seven Brides For Seven Brothers and the famed Golden Globe nominated musical, The Producers.

Channel 5 also has a stocking full of comedy film premieres including Will Ferrell’s hilarious Step Brothers, Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story and The Brothers Soloman starring Will Arnett. There will also be a special TV premiere of 21 which stars Kevin Spacey and Kate Bosworth which is based on a true life story about student card counters attempting to con Las Vegas Casinos out of millions of dollars.

This Christmas, the magic of Oz arrives on Channel 5 in style. Enjoy the classic film Wizard of Oz starring Judy Garland followed by the Disney produced sequel Return to Oz. If that’s not enough, Christopher Lloyd and the stars of The Lord of The Rings join forces in new TV drama The Witches of Oz in which Dorothy is living in present day in New York. Featuring eye-popping special effects, this new drama can be enjoyed by the entire family. On Boxing Day, Channel 5 will also air a day of musicals followed by Britain’s Favourite Christmas Songs which is guaranteed to have all the family on their feet this Christmas.

There is plenty to amuse all the family this Christmas with our Classic Comedy Night including the hilarious Morecambe & Wise Christmas Special. In addition, don’t miss out on Carry on Night, a one-off special introduced by Barbara Windsor, paying homage to the very best of the famed comical British film and television series with a special airing of the first Carry on Christmas from 1969. The evening also includes TV spin-off drama Cor Blimey! and a collection of the Greatest Carry on Films from the last three decades.

Channel 5 also presents a special Mistletoe & Crime Night featuring back-to-back festive episodes of the award winning drama series CSI: Crime Scene Investigation and NCIS. Featuring your favourite characters, Christmas is sure to be dramatic for NCIS’ police force and CSI’s Las Vegas forensic scientists.

Returning to Channel 5, The World’s Strongest Man is back for its 34th year continuing the classic Christmas TV tradition of watching the world’s strongest men battle it out in exotic locations. With the final set in North Carolina, this year’s event is hosted by James Richardson & Caroline Pearce and sees British competitors Laurence Shahlaei and Terry Hollands face other musclemen from around the world in challenges such as the Car Deadlift, Truck Pull and the dreaded Atlas Stones.

Viewers can indulge in extra helpings of some of their favourite shows with New Year specials from Eddie Stobart Christmas Special and the technology experts at The Gadget Show.

Looking back at the year’s most shocking moments from the world of celebrity, Most Shocking Celebrity Moments of 2011 takes a light-hearted look back at a year filled with outrageous behavior from the world of the rich and famous. The countdowns continue with TV’s 50 Greatest Magic Tricks and the Greatest Christmas TV Moments, which will countdown a collection of the best festive television and film scenes.

Fed up of missing your favourite Aussie soaps during the annual Christmas break? Then worry no more! Celebrate the very best of the year’s most memorable moments from Home and Away and Neighbours, exclusively on Channel 5 in a very special nightly event to run as a festive treat over 5 nights in December.

Text Santa, ITV's Christmas charity initiative is coming soon. Just found a small promo for the show, and it looks like 'Santa's Little Helpers' (the animated characters) will feature in this year's Christmas ident.

http://www.campaignlive.co.uk/thework/1105772/ITV-text-Santa-ITV-Creative/?DCMP=ILC-SEARCH

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You have to put ITV 'Text Santa' by ITV Creative into Google then click on the link to see the video.

Interesting to see that it says the characters will take over ITV idents, and doesn't specifically state ITV1.
I wonder if these will be the Christmas ident/s or will they just run until the charity event.

It does look like a lovely designed set of characters, and they remind me of the pre 2004 characters that ITV used to brand the trailers and some regions with.