From the Famous Five to Wallace and Gromit: the best children’s TV to watch over Christmas
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Ahh, Christmas: a time for sitting back with the family, playing board games and watching some good festive television. But it’s not all Gavin and Stacey and raucous Christmas specials: what do you put on when there are kids wanting to join in on the fun?.
Well, we’ve got you covered. Here’s some of the best stuff coming to our screens over the festive period, guaranteed to delight for all ages. It’s not the Railway Children, but something maybe even better - the adaptation of Jacqueline Wilson’s retelling of E Nesbit’s classic. This time, it’s set in Glasgow, and our heroine is Phoebe Robinson, who lives with her mum and brother. Inevitably, her dad goes missing, and soon her search for him leads him onto the Highlands heritage steam railway. Very sweet, and the views of Scotland really are beautiful. Streaming now, BBC iPlayer.
Enid Blyton’s mystery-solving kids (and their dog) are back for some wholesome fun. In the summer of 1940, the kids pay a visit to the grand Prospect Hotel, only to run into their old enemy Thomas Wentworth. This time, though, he needs their help: he says he’s had a vision of the future, and he’s seen that a famous jazz singer is going to be murdered. Cue some pre-emptive crime solving. December 23, CBBC, 5.25pm.
The BBC’s animated short of the year is always a joy and so it proves here. Adapted from the book of the same name (by the creators of the Gruffalo, no less), Tiddler tells the story of a little fish with a big imagination who finds himself stranded in the wide ocean, Finding Nemo-style. Fortunately, pretty much everybody he meets is nice. And with a cast as stacked as this – Hannah Waddingham, Lolly Adefope, Rob Brydon – it’s impossible to go wrong. BBC One, Christmas Day, 2.35pm.
