5 Christmas TV highlights — including the new Around the World in 80 Days
Mrs Brown's Boys: foolishness; RTÉ
There's a flurry of good stuff to stream and or watch on the actual box this Christmas. Here are my Top 5 shows to catch.
There are two seasonal specials this year, because what’s the point in driving hipster telly snobs crazy once, when you could do it twice? Christmas Day and New Year’s Eve will see one person in each home whining about ‘this rubbish’, while the rest of the family cackles away at a misunderstanding about a sausage or something. RTÉ tells us that the shows revolve around the church choir and a shortage of Christmas trees, but who cares about the plot? This is about foolishness so drop your prejudices and have a laugh.
Now that’s what I call a Christmas show. We all remember David Niven as Phileas Fogg on screen, in the movie version of the Jules Verne novel. (I can’t remember Pierce Brosnan giving it a lash in the 1990 version, which is probably just as well.) This latest take is an eight-part series , enough to keep us in the Christmas spirit well into February. All I know is David Tennant plays Fogg, this time around. Which means it will be amazing.
If you’re still up at quarter to one in the morning, this is the movie for you. It fits right into the ‘ah Jesus, I forgot about’ movie classic niche, particularly if you’re after a few jars. I honestly don’t know if this has aged well, because I haven’t seen it in a while. But then that’s the thrill of sitting down to re-watch a show from the distant past (1987 in this case.) You get to face the big question — was this good, or was I just young? I suspect Richard E Grant drinking and smoking his way around late 1960s England is still good for a laugh, and a bit of a cry, if it makes me feel too old.
I won’t be watching this, I get enough of watching sad people with Manchester accents when I tune into Man United. But there is something therapeutic about sitting down in front of the fire after a giant dinner to watch a fictional family sitting down in front of their fire after a giant dinner plus a bowl of Betty’s hotpot. (Niche reference there for the older fans.) For most Irish viewers, the real pleasure of turning on or on Christmas Day is watching people going to the pub, and com ing to the conclusion that the Brits must be stone mad.
A quick reminder that you can rent most classic movies on YouTube for about €3 or €4. Part of my Christmas is sprawling on the couch by myself some afternoon to watch a World War 2 movie. And they don’t come any better than .
