BBC DECEMBER PROGRAMMING HIGHLIGHTS, NEW AND RETURNING TITLES REVEALED

The new and returning programming airing on the BBC this December have been revealed.

The War Between The Land And The Sea

The five-part series follows Barclay (Russell Tovey), a low-level UNIT staff member whose ordinary life becomes a world of terror when an ancient species rises from the sea. Barclay becomes humanity’s ambassador when the mysterious Salt (Gugu Mbatha-Raw) emerges from the Tank at a summit on the Thames. UNIT, led by Kate Lethbridge-Stewart (Jemma Redgrave), fights for control as humanity faces destruction.

Alongside Russell Tovey, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, and Jemma Redgrave, the series features a star-studded cast including Ruth Madeley as Shirley Bingham, Alexander Devrient as Colonel Christofer Ibrahim, and Colin McFarlane as General Austin Pierce. Other previously announced cast members include Adrian Lukis, Patrick Baladi, Francesca Corney, Mei Mac, Vincent Franklin, Waleed Hammad, Iestyn Arwel, Hannah Donaldson, Manpreet Bachu, and Ann Akinjirin.

Amandaland Christmas Special

Alongside the returning cast, the Christmas special welcomes the absolutely fabulous Jennifer Saunders who will play Aunt Joan, Felicity’s (Joanna Lumley) sister. Aunt Joan is a ball of country-living, enthusiastic upper-class bluster – very, very different from Felicity. This very special episode will be the first scripted on-screen reunion for Jennifer and Joanna since Absolutely Fabulous.

Two Doors Down Christmas Special

Multi award-winning Scottish sitcom Two Doors Down is set to return with a new Christmas special. The residents of Latimer Crescent will congregate at Beth (Arabella Weir) and Eric’s (Alex Norton) house to celebrate Christmas. The neighbours are all back: Christine (Elaine C Smith), Cathy (Doon Mackichan) and Colin (Jonathan Watson), Alan (Graeme Stevely) and Michelle (Joy McAvoy), plus Beth and Eric’s son Ian (Jamie Quinn) and his fiancé Gordon (Kieran Hodgson).

The Room In The Tower: A Ghost Story For Christmas

Tobias Menzies (The Crown; F1) and Joanna Lumley (Absolutely Fabulous; Motherland) will star in the latest ghost story this Christmas. For 15 years, Roger Winstanley has been haunted by an unsettling, recurring dream: an invitation to spend the night in the house of an acquaintance, where an unseen terror lurks and the figures who populate the dream seem to age in real time. Nightmare and waking life seem to finally collide when an invitation to the dreaded "room in the tower” becomes all too real…

Mammoth

Made by BBC Studios Comedy, the hit comedy about PE teacher Tony Mammoth from the 70’s getting a second chance at life, is soon to return to our screens on BBC Two and BBC iPlayer and will include a Christmas special. Mike Bubbins (Death Valley, The Socially Distant Sports Bar podcast) is Tony Mammoth, believed to have died in an avalanche during a school trip in 1979, attempting to restart his life after miraculously returning from the dead when his body is discovered frozen in time.

The Celebrity Apprentice

12 celebrity candidates will head to reindeer-filled Lapland, where they will face the biggest business challenge yet – to create a magical festive biscuit. The celebrities will then have to pitch their Christmas gingerbread biscuits to the biggest UK retailers, who will then, for the first time in the show’s history, sell the biscuits in stores across the UK - with a percentage of profits going to BBC Children in Need. The celebrities' biscuits will hit the supermarket shelves in time for Christmas.

Packed with festive cheer and celebrity sparkle, the show promises unforgettable moments as the celebrity candidates go on a heartwarming mission, with viewers able to get involved for the first time, through purchasing real life products to help raise money for a great cause.

Celebrity Gladiators

The four daring celebrities taking on the mighty Gladiators in Gladiators: Celebrity Special are Joe Wicks MBE, Sam Thompson, Nicola Adams OBE and Vogue Williams. They will don their gym kits and take on iconic challenges such as Duel, The Wall and the legendary Eliminator. Who will have the power to succeed and emerge victorious?

Strictly Come Dancing Christmas Special

As the Ballroom is once again transformed into a magical winter wonderland. Expect festive cheer, jingle bells, mistletoe madness, bedazzling baubles and six celebrities all sleighing their way to Elstree in a bid to be crowned the Strictly Christmas Champion 2025.

In the Strictly Come Dancing Christmas Special, each of the six couples will perform a festive fuelled routine in the hope of impressing the judges, Craig Revel Horwood, Motsi Mabuse, Anton Du Beke and Head Judge Shirley Ballas, and the voting studio audience. But who will emerge the Christmas star of the evening, and lift the sought after Christmas trophy?

Transmission details will be announced in due course.