Merry Excelmas!

Here’s a quick post I thought of doing after exploring all the televisual fare on Christmas Eve this year, and wondering: are there any true mainstays on Christmas Eve BBC television? The big day itself has the regulars: The Queen, Top of the Pops, ‘stEnders. But the precursor to the big day? That’s not remotely as peppered with usual suspects. OR IS IT?

Obviously, I had to take a look. And there are some surprises in there.

Firstly, here’s a rundown that just combines listings for BBC1 and BBC2:

Several surprises, there. Not least Shrek the Halls being as much a Christmas Eve fixture as Songs of Praise. Or University Challenge being shown more often than Midnight Mass of the Nativity (though in fairness, that’s because the latter has been broadcast under a few different billing titles).

What if we add BBCs Choice, Knowledge, Three and Four into the mix? Because we all remember huddling around the fire to watch Lenny Beige’s Variety Pack as children, don’t we? Well, here you go:

There it is. The Chronicles of Narnia and Most Annoying Pop Songs We Love to Hate, together at last. And Two Pints of Lager right near the top of the tree, but then that could apply for any calendar date given how often BBC Three throw it on.

Merry Christmas, everyone! Back soon with an end of year rundown. Two updates in one year? I’m spoiling you.