The Shows Must Go On: The best TV to watch this Christmas

Black Doves (December 5)

Having feasted on the rebooted Day Of The Jackal – isn’t recent Hot Press interviewee Richard Dormer awesome in it? – let us point you in the direction of this similarly epic espionage yarn from the pen of The Lazarus Project and Girl/Haji’ creator Joe Barton. Keira Knightley plays the spy whose secret identity is compromised when she falls for the wrong man. With Sarah Lancashire, Ben Whishaw and Tracey Ullman also featuring, it’s hokum of the highest quality and worth saving for a Christmas Day binge.

The Sticky (Netflix, December 6)

We’ve Jamie Lee Curtis’ production company to thank for this stranger than fiction dramedy which is similar in tone to Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul. The brilliant Margo Martindale stars as the unlikely organiser of the real life heist that in 2012 relieved the Canadian reserve of $18 million worth of maple syrup. As gripping as it is wonderfully bizzare, it’s perfect for banishing the winter blues.

Jack In Time For Christmas (Prime Video, December 3)

If it’s seasonal planes, trains, huskies and bobsleighs you’re after, look no further than this good-natured festive travelogue which finds Jack Whitehall hamming it up with the likes of Michael Bublé, Rebel Wilson, Jimmy Fallon, Daisy May Cooper and Tom Davis, who all appear to be having as much fun as he is. The conceit is that the über-British comedian gets stranded in America and has to call on various colonial cousins to save his Christmas. Black Mirror it ain’t but good fun nonetheless.

Beatles’ 64 (Disney+, November 29)

The Fab Four nostalgia industry shows zero signs of slowing down with renowned Derry Girls fan Martin Scorsese documenting the seismic moment when the Fab Four touched down in America for the first time. The restored 4k footage looks like it was shot yesterday and includes an Ed Sullivan Show appearance that ranks alongside Elvis’ in 1956 as a cultural gamechanger. With Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Olivia Harrison and Sean Lennon among the executive producers, it’s very much the real deal.