Christmas TV highlights

CHRISTMAS provides us with many pleasing and delightful aspects.  There is spending time with your loved ones, that delicious dinner on Christmas Day and the countless amount of chocolate that needs to be munched.  Another highlight of the next fortnight is the Christmas TV.  Here is a preview of some of the festival treats on offer on the box.

     In soapland, EastEnders has had the top billing for a number of years and their main storyline features the destruction of the Masood family.  Evil doctor Yusef has managed to split Zainab and Masood up and weasel his way in Zainab’s affections.  This Christmas, it all explodes quite literally and not everyone will survive.  I can reveal of a fire at the B&B on Boxing Day, but is this part of Yusef’s revenge plot or the culmination of another storyline.  Elsewhere on the Square, little Tommy Moon has his first birthday, but Kat and Alfie’s turbulent marriage hits a crisis point.  Will a camera recorder spell the end of another Walford marriage?  Also, Bianca is released from prison, but a happy Christmas for the Butcher’s looks highly unlikely, especially as Pat’s financial issues become public knowledge.  Worse is to come for the Square’s matriarch, as her health takes a turn for the worse.  Actress Pam St. Clement is leaving the show, but I’m keeping tight lipped on how she will be departing.

        Another major character is leaving the soaps over the festive period and that is Becky McDonald in Coronation Street.  Depressed at seeing her former husband Steve and her nemesis Tracy Barlow have a family Christmas; she sets fire accidentally to her flat.  Can Nick Tilsley make it in time to drag the fiery Becky out of the fire?  Peter Barlow might have just started a sizzling affair with Carla Connor, but when he misplaces a Christmas present in the back of a taxi, Rovers bar manager, Stella Price becomes nosey and her reaction to Leanne’s Christmas present that she receives from her cheating hubby suggests that Peter must watch his back.  Also, Sophie Webster is set to tie the knot with Sian Powers, but she seems to be struggling to cope with last-minute nerves and growing feelings towards Amber.  Will the wedding go ahead?  In Emmerdale, goodwill will not be in play between Debbie and Alicia.  Christmas dinner or should I say, Alicia’s dinner ends up being poured over her head by Debbie.  Then, she has another plan to help conceive a baby with Andy, in the efforts to save Sarah, but how their partners react to her desperate plan.  Also, factory owner Jai is arrested for the attack on Cain Dingle a couple of weeks ago.  Have the police got their man, or is Cain just out for revenge?  Plus, Laurel and Ashley get prepared to renew their wedding vows, but Laurel is another woman with second thoughts and can dishy chef Marlon stop her making a terrible mistake.  Doctors, Home and Away and Neighbours all disappear on lengthy Christmas breaks, but in Hollyoaks, Brendan Brady and Warren Fox’s bitter confrontation for villain of the year in Chester reaches new heights.  Brendan has a gun pulled on him, is he doomed to end the year in a coffin?

HEAD-TO-HEAD: EastEnders v Downton Abbey on Christmas Day

        Taking on EastEnders head-to-head on Christmas Day will be the award-winning Downton Abbey.  Nigel Havers, Brendan Coyle and Hugh Bonneville take guest roles in this special episode, which will bring a rollercoaster full of emotions and a mixture of cheer and sadness in Lord Grantham’s country house?  On the same day, Matt Smith stars in the seasonal Doctor Who Christmas special.  Alexander Armstrong plays a guest role this year and we’ve been promised a story that will show a different side to the Doctor.  Other leading dramas see the star of Lewis, Laurence Fox take a lead performance in Fast Freddie, The Widow and Me where he and his wife attempt to bring some much needed cheer to a terminally ill child.  

     The final of Strictly Come Dancing is tomorrow evening and on Christmas Day, there will be the regular Christmas special for charity.  This year, EastEnders wicked woman Charlie Brooks, former Blue boyband member Simon Webbe and boxer Barry McGuigan compete in the dance-off.  As Bruce and Tess would say, keep dancing!  Chris Tarrant presents another edition of celebrity Who Wants to Be A Millionaire, while Jimmy Carr and guests including Jonathan Ross, Alan Carr and Miranda Hart compete for a lighter look at 2011 in The Big Fat Quiz of the Year.  Then there’s Ant and Dec and let’s be honest, a Christmas without them would be as dull as dishwater!  They pick up where Phillip Schofield and Christine Bleakley by hosting the second edition of Text Santa, where the winners at the end of a fabulous night of entertainment and surprises, will be charities.  Schofield’s acclaimed show The Cube has a couple of Coronation Street stars attempt to become the first people to beat The Cube and there’s also a Benidorm v The Only Way is Essex Family Fortunes Christmas Special.

           Other shows to watch out for in Christmas are a lookback at the news from the year in Mark Austin’s That Was 2011.  Fearne Cotton and Reggie Yates will provide the music entertainment on Christmas Day with a special edition of Top of the Pops.  In sport, Tottenham Hotspur v Chelsea and Liverpool v Newcastle United look like the pick of the Premiership festive football action live on Sky Sports.  Also, can Kauto Star produce one final piece of magic on Channel 4 with the King George VI at Kempton and stop Long Run’s recent dominance of jump racing.  Lastly, Noel Edmonds will present daily editions of Deal or No Deal, which takes a panto feel to this Christmas.  However, don’t expect any festive celebrations from the banker.

So there you go, that is your Christmas TV sorted….

                                                                                                                

Brucie gets his knighthood

DESERVED: Arise Sir Bruce Forsyth!

STRICTLY Come Dancing host Bruce Forsyth has finally received a thoroughly deserved knighthood in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List.  Forsyth, 83, who has graced the world of showbiz entertainment for over half a century has what many will well, a knighthood that should have happened ages ago.  He told Sky News of his feelings as he shall be better known now as Arise Sir Brucie;

     “It is a great accolade and one you always work for.  There has been a great amount of talk since I received the CBE (in 2006), maybe too much talk and hype.  However, I’m grateful to those people who campaigned on my behalf and to get it now is such a joyful occasion.”

     Bruce has been around in the entertainment industry for the best part of 60 years and is often referred to as ‘The King of Saturday Nights.’  He starred in The Generation Game, Play Your Cards Right and Bruce’s Price is Right, before landing the co-host gig alongside Tess Daly for the BBC Saturday night hit Strictly Come Dancing in 2004.  Since then, he has simply gone from strength to strength. 

     Away from Bruce’s success, there is also a deserved CBE for actor Colin Firth.  It completes an incredible year for Firth, who has won all the main acting gongs for his epic role in the film of the year, The King’s Speech.  In sport, golfer Lee Westwood gets an OBE for an incredibly consistent year on the European tour, which saw him be part of Europe’s Ryder Cup success last October and knock Tiger Woods off his perch as no.1 in the world.  England opening cricket batsman Alistair Cook, who hit century after century in the Ashes Down Under last winter, is made an MBE.  MBE’s also go out to world and European triple jump champion Phillips Idowu, heptathlon sensation Jessica Ennis and Mark Cavendish, who won several stages on last year’s Tour de France.  For their leading roles in the Ashes annihilation of the Aussies, captain Andrew Strauss and coach Andy Flower earn OBE’s.  Singer Bryan Ferry gets a CBE for his services to film.  There is also an MBE for Brooke Kinsella.  Kinsella, the former EastEnders actress has been successfully fighting a campaign against knife crime, since her brother Ben, was murdered in 2008.     

     However, it is the national treasure Bruce Forsyth himself, who takes the shining role in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List and I’m sure he has plenty of thrills and spills left in him yet.  Arise Sir Brucie!

Theresa Pulls The Trigger - Calvin's Killer Is Finally Revealed

Push came to shove and once again, a TV show has produced the total unpredictable when it comes to solving the famous ‘Whodunit!’ mysteries.  Tonight (or last night, if you watched First Look on E4) saw Hollyoaks conclude their latest storyline, which saw the ex-bent copper, Calvin Valentine murdered on his wedding day.

Valentine, played by Ricky Whittle, has been jerking everyone off of recent, which meant he has as many suspects who wanted to do away with him, as a typical ASDA shopping list.  

As he enjoyed his first dance with his new wife, Carmel, the unidentified assailant shoots Calvin down to an expected demise, though shock death in Carmel’s eyes.  After months of speculation and intrigue as the big day approached, as a ‘Flash-forward’ episode was shown before Christmas, tonight the identity of the killer was revealed as the gorgeous Theresa McQueen (Jorgie Porter).

Other suspects had their motives, stronger than Theresa’s.  Jake Dean for a chequered history with Calvin, stringing back four years and Jacqui McQueen after finding out the kind of person Calvin was on his wedding day.  Sasha Valentine has a stronger motive than many, having discovered that her brother had left her lover, Warren Fox to die in the Loft explosion last May.  Of course, Malachy Fisher has a big incentive, as he had known for months about Calvin’s steamy affair with his cheating wife, Mercedes.  However, all these would probably have ended up being too obvious, and a weak reputation, possibly to do with biological genes, or character personality.

However, Theresa is made of stronger stuff, as she now proven by pulling the trigger and giving Carmel (Gemma Merna) the most unpleasant wedding present of all-time.  Viewers may have seen Theresa and Calvin enjoy a passionate night in The Loft before Easter.  In this cliffhanging episode, Calvin meets Theresa in the nail salon, Evissa, where she confesses to him that she is pregnant, with his baby.  Unsurprisingly, Calvin doesn’t take the news very well, and offers Theresa money to abort the baby, which makes her very angry.  When Carmel comes into the salon, and starts interrogating the pair, Theresa reveals her pregnancy, but Calvin covers up who the father is, saying it was ‘a random stranger she met at a club.’  The final curtain is when Theresa finds out from Mercedes that she had an affair with Calvin. 

As Calvin and Carmel dance the night away, infront of many angry wedding guests, the gun which Malachy had been carrying almost goes on a pass-the-parcel routine.  Just when Mercedes considers doing away with her former lover, Theresa snatches the gun out of her hand and almost instantly pulls it, with a stunned Mercedes and Jacqui by her side. 

The repercussions for this story are set to be huge.  The McQueen family is what is keeping Hollyoaks alive, after too many far-fetched storylines of recent months.  Fortunately, new executive producer Paul Marquess has kept the family together, so there are no plans for this crazy bunch to be among the 10-15 characters that have already been given the chop by Marquess.  So, expect a lot more secrets, lies and deceit from the McQueen sisters, and Theresa now has a dark secret to hide.  I wouldn’t want to be her when Carmel eventually discovers the truth.

As for Ricky Whittle, his death marks the end of four years on the Channel 4 show.  Last year’s Strictly Come Dancing runner-up has the potential to go many places now his Hollyoaks career is over.  Calvin may have gone, but Ricky hasn’t for sure.  Like Gemma Atkinson, Gary Lucy, Elize du Toit, Chris Fountain and Darren Jefferies before him, he should be able to carve out a very successful acting career for the future….

Always expect the unexpected…..