Is there actually anything decent on TV this Christmas?

[Stuckinarut23]

TV just seems unbelievably bad this year and that says something. I actually resorted to watching EastEnders and I haven't watched that since Larry lamb died. Where are all the Christmas specials and dramas? I was hoping they would have done a motherland Christmas special.

@ohthatstoohot - and i ‘know’ someone on it this year too - friend of a close relative - can’t wait!

Just looked up Saltburn as so many recommendations; it sounds very heavily influenced by Waugh's Brideshead Revisited, is it?

I thought Saltburn was dreadful - like Emerald Fennell had written it for Americans who have never met anyone genuinely posh. She must have done given her background but it was written like a recent Silent Witness. Hamfisted.

I miss her ! Wonderful talented woman. Thanks will look that up.

A) that wasn't the point. Many people have said everything was repeats. The point was, a lot was new.
B) what would everyone want on? As per lots of posts, there were new dramas, new quizzes, new comedies.

Watched the Caroline Aherne documentary yesterday & there was a lot of warmth in it. Tinged with sadness of course so have a tissue handy.

What a talent, so quick witted.

I bet you’re a bundle of fun in family board games 😬 😂

what tv did / do you enjoy?

i am guessing we have very different tastes as i loved saltburn (but find silent witness pretty dull)

There is so little on TV over Christmas but doesn’t that reflect the fact that TV in general is so poor now, it’s 80% reality programs of some type, odd decent drama, almost no comedy, I commented the other day how, I genuinely believe there was more to watch when we had three channels than today with the hundreds on offer

It has been rubbish this year.

I ended up watching Gavin and Stacey repeats Ystd.

Quite enjoyed the Agatha Christie episode last night.

smothered was decent

Eh?? I was replying to another post, why does that make me boring, you f-wit?

Has anyone said what they'd have liked to see?
There really was a mix of stuff on, old and new, classics and updated classics etc.
They can't please everyone with everything

Goodness, a bundle of joy at board game time and lairy after a few buck’s fizz…. what a combo!! 😂

Saltburn is ok, not marvellous. It’s more like a short miniseries than a proper film. Not the sort of thing to watch at cinema but ok for streaming channels

wow, such wit!

😂😂😂

I love things like Slow Horses, Motherland, the Night Manager, Ted Lasso, Downton Abbey, the West Wing, the Good Wife, Clarkson’s Farm.

I like stuff that is well made and feels authentic - I just thought Saltburn was shockingly badly written and clunky. The best bit was the last 10 mins. It was like it was trying to be Brideshead and the Talented Mr Ripley but dumbed down for Americans and it was a waste of an excellent cast.

Christmas Day wasn’t too bad. But Boxing Day was awful. Nothing of worth on.

Spartacus on Christmas day, Ten Commandments, Where Eagles Dare, Witness For The Prosecution etc.

Downton Abbey too.

Only superficially. It’s a thriller.

Comedy is really hard these days because of political correctness. Benny Hill is crass these days, but in the 70s he was popular. The Comedians wouldn't get a look in, and even Morecambe and Wise is a bit iffy...2 men sat up in a double bed? Never thought anything if it back then. But you would now.
Apart from Christmas anyway, way too much so called reality TV - I'm a non entity so called celeb in the jungle, first Date, Love Island, what utter shite the lot of them. And you can count Strictly in that lot for me too.
Once upon a time, the Beeb did a lovely Dickens adaptation series in the run up to Christmas. Don't have the budget these days. Too busy paying Lineker, I guess.

The Beeb has done a Conan Doyle adaptation (mark gatiss, as discussed above) and an Agatha Christie adaptation (Murder is Easy, also as discussed above). Seem of the same ilk as a dickens adaptation and certainly no reason to think they aren’t similar budgets.