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The Official Christmas Radio Times Countdown And Christmas TV Thread 2016


View Poll Results: Which Decade Was The Best For Christmas TV
90's 198 78.26%
00's 33 13.04%
2010's 22 8.70%
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Old 27-12-2016, 15:03
snafu65
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It's been like that for the last two or three Christmases on BBC1, way too many computer animated kids movies.
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Old 28-12-2016, 12:05
marke09
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Christmas TV looked so good on paper - what happened in reality?
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Old 28-12-2016, 12:58
Claires_dad
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Christmas TV looked so good on paper - what happened in reality?
I've enjoyed quite a bit of what I've watched so far but there were two that exceeded my expectations

One was Victorian Bakers at Christmas (BBC2) which was both fun and educational.

The other was Look Back in Laughter : The Morecambe & Wise Story (Channel 5) which was far better than 5's usual documentaries and actually had some clips of the pair being interviewed which I hadn't seen.

Also there were mixed reactions for Doctor Who but I loved it, pure escapism much needed this year.
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Old 28-12-2016, 14:34
marke09
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Well my highlights so far have been the theatre production of Railway Children and have just watched Billy Elliott the Musical - both brilliant but perhaps being ill and falling asleep when i start to watch something doesnt help
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Old 28-12-2016, 21:32
JOHNOR
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Ethel & Ernest is fantastic. Anyone else watching it? All in all, i've been quite pleased with Christmas TV this year. For me though, it wouldn't be Christmas without repeats of the Royle family Christmas specials, the Gavin & Stacey Christmas special etc.
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Old 28-12-2016, 21:35
Claires_dad
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Ethel & Ernest is fantastic. Anyone else watching it? All in all, i've been quite pleased with Christmas TV this year. For me though, it wouldn't be Christmas without repeats of the Royle family Christmas specials, the Gavin & Stacey Christmas special etc.
Just watched it and I agree it was excellent!
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Old 29-12-2016, 13:45
jazzydrury3
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Over Christmas on normal TV I have watched

The Royle Family Christmas Special, If they had known how ill Liz Smith must have been would they have shown that Particular Epsiode.

Top of the Tops, Traditionally watch.

The Soaps

Match of the Day.
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Old 29-12-2016, 16:42
wizzywick
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Ethel & Ernest is fantastic. Anyone else watching it? All in all, i've been quite pleased with Christmas TV this year. For me though, it wouldn't be Christmas without repeats of the Royle family Christmas specials, the Gavin & Stacey Christmas special etc.
Just watched it and I agree it was excellent!
I forgot that Ethel and Ernest was animated it was so good. A stunningly beautiful film. Last night's viewing (Wednesday 28th) felt more like Christmas Eve than Christmas Eve! Jonathan Creek was also very good. Shame viewers prefer watching dross on multi-channels and Netflix and then these same viewers have the audacity to complain that there is nothing on telly!
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Old 30-12-2016, 09:54
Breaking_News
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Sadly, today is the last day of listings in the Christmas RT.
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Old 30-12-2016, 10:07
snafu65
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Sadly, today is the last day of listings in the Christmas RT.
Yep, a sure sign the holidays are almost over and the most depressing month of the year is upon us.
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Old 30-12-2016, 11:56
marysvevo
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Well here we are, the last day of the Christmas Radio Times. It feels weird ending when it's not yet New Year. I thought this year's cover was a great one. Highlights from the TV for me so far have been Ethel & Ernest, and the Countryfile Christmas Special. I also enjoyed the first ever episode of Dad's Army and Hilda Ogden's Last Ta-Ra.

I didn't enjoy The Lady in The Van as much as I thought I would. The biggest disappointment though was radio 2: the two blokes who took Stewpot's slot were just weird. French and Saunders would have been better. Also, nothing as good as last year's Liza Tarbuck and Mary show was on offer. One saving grace was Paul O'Grady.

I've still got lots of festive TV on the Tivo to watch, which I'm looking forward to but overall I've circled only 33 items in this year's RT compared with 42 last year. However, it is worth noting that last years covered New Year too so that might account for some of the difference. I won't be buying the next issue so don't know how many I'd have circled for the next few days.

Interestingly some bloke on Twitter published a chart of the price-per-page of the Christmas RT over the years. You can see the chart start to climb after the BBC sold it!
https://twitter.com/dnas2/status/809857532000870404

All that remains is for me to thank you all for contributing to the thread over the year. I really enjoy it here and I visit every day (there was some talk about "regulars" a few pages back and it made me think that I wouldn't be considered a regular because my name doesn't appear much). I'll see you in the 2017 thread.

Happy New Year!

Last edited by marysvevo : 30-12-2016 at 12:07. Reason: Forgot the link!
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Old 30-12-2016, 12:00
lettice
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The radio times really is not what it used to be. But its just that Christmas tradition to have in the lounge at Christmas. Does not get used much for finding anything on TV as we have much better epg's these days to do that.
The articles were all quite poor and written in an odd way. Not sure what age group they are trying to appeal to, but did not work for anyone in our household that was a mix of all ages over Xmas. All made the same comment.

TV over Christmas was ok.
The bear hunt was a waste of half hour. All here gave it a big thumbs down and more.
Ethel and Ernest was too long and dragged for most of it. It was not a Snowman, Snowdog or Father Christmas.
Dragon Slayer was excellent.
Christmas Uni challenge was good too, with some great ups and downs.
We did enjoy the Jamie Ultimate Christmas. But the Beeb Christmas Kitchen was utter trash.
We enjoyed Victorian Bakers Christmas, more of that please.
Loads of free films we enjoyed and plenty of Scrooge, which we all enjoy in many ways.
Carry On, On the Buses, Jason and 007 kept us entertained mostly.
Doctor Who was probably one of the worst episodes. Just hope Capaldi goes soon.
Eastenders was not quite the gloom and pretty watchable.

Sky giving us the free sky store voucher, we watched The Revenant over two nights and still have spare for another movie.

Cant believe they had Frozen on, everyone must have seen that by now and all bored with it.

We also watched The Grand Tour and showed a few of our guests, just superb viewing.

We enjoyed Star Wars Rogue One yesterday evening at the Cinema, a nice break from the Sky Q box.

Last day of listings today for everyone, so all will have to wait another year for the next radio times purchase.
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Old 30-12-2016, 12:19
pedrok
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As I have done in the last couple of years, my final post on this thread, on the final day of the Christmas Radio Times listings. And it feels a bit weird given that Hogmanay is still to come!!

And, as in the last two years, the amount of TV I have watched over the Christmas period is reducing. In fact, I didn’t watch a thing on either Christmas Eve or Christmas Day, on either BBC1, BBC2, BBC 4, STV or Channel 4. I did turn on Sky News at just after 11pm on Christmas night, just as the news of George Michael dying was being announced.

It did record both episodes of Witness for the Prosecution. I posted my thoughts on this programme on another thread, but I will repeat them here. I thought it a horrid, nasty, miserable programme, that was all but a different storyline to the original Christie story, that it should have been called something else. A bleak programme, for a bleak year to be honest.

I will repeat my line about the price of the Radio Times at Christmas not being an issue for me, as it is the only copy I buy in a year. Given that I watch very little TV over the Christmas period, and, as I mentioned in a post a couple of weeks ago, I don’t actually use the Radio Times after my initial reading of it, I wonder why I still buy it.

And I still buy it for the same reason as I still like putting up the Christmas tree and the decorations; it is a part of Christmas. Like putting up the tree and decorations, buying the Christmas Radio Times is a tradition that takes us back to other times. I honestly cannot imagine my Christmas without the Christmas Radio Times lying around.

And so, the end of my last post on the 2016 thread. Except to thank you all once again for your contributions throughout the year. We may have differences on other threads, but we are friends here, and long may that continue. So, have a great new year, I wish you all, and your families, the very best for 2017, and I will see you on the 2017 thread soon.
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Old 30-12-2016, 13:27
vauxhall1964
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After the buzz of the reveal of the RT cover and getting my own copy and circling what I want to see we now have the downer of the last day of this year's edition...and without yet reaching New Year's Day!

I like to keep a pristine copy to look back on but this year I made the mistake of looking for a second copy in the shops after Boxing Day. With 4 or 5 days of it left to run I thought you'd still be able to buy one but not a copy to be found in the dozen outlets I tried. Lesson: next year buy 2 copies at the same time.

It was an OK TV Christmas for me. Highlights were the wonderful Agatha Christie adaptation. After last year's And Then There Were None, and now this one, I hope this becomes a BBC tradition. The Hilda Ogden tribute was surprisingly emotional, as was the end of Bake Off on the BBC on Boxing Day.

I do think the BBC need to get out of their Strictly, Pixar film, Dr Who, Call the Midwife rut. But then their cupboard is quite bare in the way of things to show instead. Comedy at the BBC seems to be on life support in particular.

Still, let's cherish our tradition of Christmas telly because the signs are it's waning. See everyone next year!
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Old 30-12-2016, 13:29
gomezz
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Was surprised to find the edition for the second week of the new year plop on my doormat this morning. Was not expecting it until next Tuesday?
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Old 30-12-2016, 13:33
altally
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I gave up buying the extra 'nice' copy, as the one I get through the subscription is hardly looked at and it's not worth paying £4.50 for an extra copy that's not really needed.
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Old 30-12-2016, 13:36
Claires_dad
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Was surprised to find the edition for the second week of the new year plop on my doormat this morning. Was not expecting it until next Tuesday?
They brought forward the publication date.
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Old 30-12-2016, 15:29
marke09
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Was surprised to find the edition for the second week of the new year plop on my doormat this morning. Was not expecting it until next Tuesday?
It was due Tuesday but TV TImes TV & Sat and Whats on TV broke ranks and decided to publish this Saturday so it looks like RT has followed suit as they would have been printed last week anyway
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Old 30-12-2016, 15:30
marke09
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The closing ceremony of this thread will take place tomorrow night
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Old 30-12-2016, 18:27
wizzywick
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My final ever post in the 2016 thread. Thank you to all posters and observers for this record breaking mega-thread! At the end of a tumultuous year, let's hope that in 2017 people learn to be nice to each other again. Let's hope that everything happened in 2016 reaches a satisfactory conclusion and let's hope we are all blessed with health and happiness in the forthcoming year.

So, once again, Thanks to everyone and see you in the 2017 thread.

Happy New Year my DS friends!
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Old 30-12-2016, 19:03
Daniel Dare
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How's everybody doing in the spot the 50 TV and Radio Highlights of 2016 Picture Quiz?
I'm stuck on couple such as the 'Langham' place name and the 'ROD' kitchen knife ones on the far-left of the picture.
http://www.radiotimes.com/uploads/im...nal/124401.jpg
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Old 30-12-2016, 21:09
marke09
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How's everybody doing in the spot the 50 TV and Radio Highlights of 2016 Picture Quiz?
I'm stuck on couple such as the 'Langham' place name and the 'ROD' kitchen knife ones on the far-left of the picture.
http://www.radiotimes.com/uploads/im...nal/124401.jpg
Langsam means slowly in Norwegian
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Old 30-12-2016, 21:24
Daniel Dare
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Langsam* means slowly in Norwegian
Thank you for that.

*And you are correct with the spelling.
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Old 31-12-2016, 13:11
marke09
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So no 7 - 13 issue through the post but out in the shops!
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Old 31-12-2016, 13:14
Claires_dad
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So no 7 - 13 issue through the post but out in the shops!
Mine arrived yesterday!
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