Christmas Preview: Top Five Drama

 

 

Thank goodness Santa came along to break up that awful horrible ending between the Doctor and Clara in the previous episode! From what I can gather, this year’s Christmas special will be set in Lapland, with presumably Santa and his elves having to deal with some sort of alien or supernatural force. If I sound vague on this, it’s because I totally am being vague. I have no desire to read any spoilers ahead of the Christmas Special. I have heard that this episode could be one of the scariest yet, according to current Doctor Peter Capaldi. Christmas specials have always left me cold in previous years so lets hope this particular episode lives up to the series.

 

 

 

Popular 1950s period drama Call The Midwife is also back for a Christmas Special this year and it looks like the ‘Paper Snowflakes’ quota will be filled this Christmas if the preview pictures are anything to go by. We’ll have the usual births, a mother and children’s home that makes today’s equivalents look like paradise, and Miranda Hart’s character Chummy being simply delightful. From the sounds of it, Call The Midwife won’t need to worry about coping after the main character’s departure since it just looks like business as usual!

 

 

 

ITV don’t seem to have grasped the meaning of Christmas since two (utterly depressing) soaps take up much of the primetime schedule for Christmas Day but at least the jewel in the drama crown Downton Abbey is back for a two-hour special. What’s more, after last year’s weird jaunt into summer, this year will be another Downton Christmas which is of course the best kind of Christmas.

 

Arguably the drama hasn’t been on top form since series 3 with the Big Cliffhanger Moment (Anna’s arrest) not really a surprise since it looked inevitable anyway. But hopefully that story will finally be resolved, Mary might get a man who isn’t a jerk (although Charles Blake was finally starting to be likable in the last episode), Carson and Mrs. Hughes might finally begin a romance, and I might even stay awake long enough to get through the episode. For the answers to all these questions (apart from possibly that last one), make sure you cancel your family celebrations and watch Downton instead. Because some things are more important. Like weeping over Branson’s departure. Oh wait, that might just be me.

 

 

 

OK so it’s a television musical. Not a promising genre. However this particular musical looks good for three reasons: 1.) it’s written by comedienne and utter genius Victoria Wood, who came up with the fantastic Eric & Ernie biopic a couple of years back, 2.) it stars the infallibly awesome Imelda Staunton which is never a bad thing and 3.) it’s being shown on Boxing Day when we’ll all be completely stuffed after Christmas and open to soppy musicals.

 

The musical itself is set in 1969 and focuses on a reunion between two people who sang in the same school choir forty years earlier, an adaptation of the stage play also written by Victoria Wood.

 

 

 

A remake of the television series from the 1980s based on the popular novel focuses on the battles of social class between two middle-class ladies as they stay with each other as tenant and landlady respectively. This looks to be a very gentle drama with a few laughs, again just what’s needed after the madness of Christmas Day. The only annoying thing is the time. Five past nine? Why not just nine o’clock. No doubt if I was intrigued enough, I’d be bothered to find out.

 

Blackadder’s Miranda Richardson and The Hour’s Anna Chancellor play the title characters, ensuring that the series is in good hands. There’s also a good supporting cast, made up of Sherlock’s Mark Gatiss and comedy actor Steve Pemberton.

 

 

So that’s the best TV has to offer in terms of drama. Check out the blog this week as we continue to preview some more TV gems this Christmas.