We love a good film at Christmas don’t we and there’s a great choice of them this year over the festive period. Here are our top choices of films on the five main channels during Christmas week.

Saturday 20th

The Nightmare Before Christmas, BBC2, 11.50am

This darkly humourous animation is based on characters created by Tim Burton and tells the story of Halloween town resident Jack Skellington who stumbles upon a bizarre and fascinating place called Christmas town. Jack decides that he and his scary spook friends will invade the town and he will become Santa.

A Knight’s Tale, Channel 4, 9pm

This at times achingly funny film stars the late Heath Ledger as a young squire who passes himself off as a Knight and takes part in jousting tournaments to raise some cash. There’s some brilliant music in this film too. Here’s the film’s trailer

Sunday 21st

ET, ITV1, 3.45pm

I’m sure we’ve all seen ET a million times but it’s such a heart-warming story, it never loses its appeal. Just in case you’ve been in Outer Mongolia for the last twenty years and don’t know, the story is about a young boy who finds an alien and his subsequent efforts to protect the space visitor and ultimately get him home.

Christmas With The Kranks FIVE, 7pm

Starring Tim Allen and Jamie Lee Curtis, this film is typical festive fare in that there’s a Christmas crisis, lots of rushing around and OTT American festivities and while it’s not laugh out loud funny, it’s well worth a watch. In it, the Kranks have decided to go on a cruise and avoid Christmas altogether, however when it turns out their daughter is coming home for Christmas, they must hastily assemble a full-on family holiday and time’s running out.

Monday 22nd

A Christmas Carol: The Musical, Five, 2.50pm

Kelsey Grammer – of Frasier fame – and Jennifer Love Hewitt star in Dicken’s enduring Christmas tale but this time, it’s set to music.

The Cat In The Hat, BBC1, 4pm

Mike Myers stars in the lead role of this Dr Seuss adventure about two kids who are home alone for the day. It’s rated PG but there are some decidedly ‘rude’ gags in it so might not be a plan to let your five year old watch it!

Here’s the trailer…

Tuesday 23rd

Mrs Santa Claus, Five, 2.50pm

It’s Christmas in 1910 and while Mr Claus is out doing what he does best, Mrs Claus – played by Angela Lansbury – gets bored and decides to take the spare sleigh out for a ride but when she crashes it in New York, she has her very own Christmas adventure. All singing, all dancing and all schmaltzy… love it!

Snow Dogs, BBC1, 4.30pm

This Disney film is about a Miami dentist who, on hearing about his mother’s death, travels to Alaska to claim his inheritance which turns out to be a team of champion sled-pulling husky dogs. It’s a typical Disney film and good for the ‘warm glow’ factor!

Here’s the film’s trailer

Christmas Eve

It’s A Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie, BBC1, 10.25am

Christmas wouldn’t be Christmas without the muppets and this movie is a parody of It’s A Wonderful Life with David Arquette playing the part of the angel. Brilliant film!

Santa Claus The Movie, ITV1, 12.55pm

Again, this film just screams ‘it’s Christmas!’ and is a must-see in our house. Starring Dudley Moore as a renegade elf who goes off to New York and inadvertently nearly ruins Christmas thanks to a cold-hearted toy manufacturer played evilly well by John Lithgow.

Here’s the trailer for the film…

The Polar Express, ITV1, 3pm

This lavish animation won lots of awards and follows the tale of a young boy who travels to the North Pole on a very special train. Tom Hanks provides an array of voices in this tale that will – if you aren’t already – put you right in the mood for the big day!

Calendar Girls, BBC2, 8.30pm

Based on a true story, this very amusing and watchable film documents the tale of group of Yorkshire ladies who pose naked for a calendar in order to raise money for charity. Julie Walters, Helen Mirren and Annette Crosbie head up a great cast.

Christmas Day

My Fair Lady, BBC2, 10am

This all time classic is another must-watch for me and stars the beautiful Audrey Hepburn as Eliza Doolittle; a market flower girl who is taken in by an eccentric Englishman and turned into a ‘lady’ by long and arduous elocution and deportment lessons. No matter how often I see this film, I still find it really entertaining.

Here’s a clip of Audrey Hepburn singing one of the famous songs from the film

National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, ITV1, 11.25am

I have this on DVD but will undoubtedly be watching it on TV too! This really is the funniest film of all time in my opinion and it never fails to have me rolling about. Clark Griswold wants the perfect family Christmas but thanks to a mean minded boss, his wife’s eccentric family and an uncle who hates him, Christmas becomes total chaos. Some absolutely hilarious scenes in this film make it one that you can watch a zillion times and still laugh out loud.

See the trailer here…

Shark Tale, BBC1, 3.10pm

The story revolves around Oscar, a little fish who works at Whale Wash but finds himself mixed up with gangsters in the form of sharks. Voices are provided by Will Smith as Oscar with Robert De Niro and Martin Scorsese as the sharks. Lovely animated tale that will keep kids and adults amused.

Here’s the film’s trailer

Wallace and Gromit In The Curse of the Were-Rabbit

This was Wallace and Gromit’s first feature length film and is all about the goings on in the run up to a village fete and the all important vegetable growing competition. W&G run a pest control business and are in big demand protecting the growers prize vegetables but despite their success at humanely controlling local bunnies, something a lot scarier than your average bunny is about to give them a shock… here’s the trailer

Boxing Day

Mary Poppins, ITV1, 3.25pm

I remember going to the cinema with my mother to see this film when I was about ten, and I must have watched it at least once a year ever since but it still hasn’t lost its magic! Mary Poppins is of course the mysterious nanny who’s sent on the wind to the Banks’ household to look after Jane and Michael. She takes them on amazing adventures including a merry-go round horse race and jumping through a chalk street picture. A dreadful English accent is provided by Dick Van Dyke in his role as jack-of-all-trades and romancer of flying nannies, Bert.

Madagascar, BBC1, 4.10pm

This very funny animation is about a group of pampered animals who escape from New York zoo only to find themselves shipped off to Africa. Voices and some brilliantly funny one-liners are provided by Ben Stiller, Chris Rock and David Schwimmer.

Here’s the film’s trailer

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe, BBC1, 5.50pm

This is an ageless tale about a group of children who find their way into Narnia courtesy of a dodgy wardrobe. While there, they meet Aslan, the proud and noble lion and the not so nice Ice Queen. Much adventuring ensues with some quite scary bits that might not be suitable for very young kids.

Nine Months, ITV1, 10.45pm

Hugh Grant and Julianna Moore star in this tale of a couple who find out they are expecting a baby and it’s not good news as far as Hugh’s character goes. It’s not uproariously funny – except for Robin Williams’ portrayal of a gynaecologist and Jeff Goldblum as Hugh’s best mate – but it’s still worth a look.

Saturday 27th

Starter For Ten, BBC2, 9.30pm

The drop-dead gorgeous James McAvoy plays a young man who finds himself on the University Challenge panel for his uni, Bristol. He discovers that being on the show has brought him a lot of attention from girls but he’s torn between the beautiful Alice and the feisty Rebecca. Watch out too for Mark Gatiss as Bamber Gascoigne. A very funny film.

Watch the trailer here…

Interview With The Vampire, BBC1, 10.50pm

Another gorgeous male, Brad Pitt, stars in this spooky film in which Brad tells reporter Christian Slater all about his two hundred year long life in which vampire Lestat – played by Tom Cruise – taught him the ways of bloodsucking, as did the creepy little girl portrayed by Kirsten Dunst.

Here’s the creepy trailer…

We’ll have all the New Year’s film highlights soon too!