TV Guide This Week
Mid-December brings Finals Week for The X Factor (ITV, 7.30 Sun), Countdown (C4, 3.10 weekdays), and the final live edition of Who Wants to be a Millionaire (ITV, 9pm Thu). Mid-December also means Christmas is coming, with special editions of Sewing Bee (BBC2, 7.40 Sun) and Bake Off (BBC2, 8pm Tue), World's Strongest Man (C5, 7pm weekdays), and Christmas University Challenge (BBC2, 7.30 Fri). It's also ITV's annual Text Santa appeal (all day, Fri).
Schedules subject to change.
Shortcuts: Sat | Sun | Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri
Contents |
Saturday 14 December
| 0830 | CITV | The Munch Box | Also ITV Breakfast Broadcasting. |
| 1100 | CBBS | Swashbuckle | |
| 1100 | Rad5 | Fighting Talk | Christian O'Connell. |
| 1110 | ITV2 | The X Factor Us x2 | |
| 1228 | Rad4 | The News Quiz | |
| 1510 | BBC2 | Dr Who Mastermind | A repeat from 2005. |
| 1530 | TV5 | Questions Pour un Champion | |
| 1540 | BBC2 | The Weakest Link | Another Dr Who special. |
| 1600 | CITV | Fort Boyard | |
| 1600 | C4 | Come Dine with Me x5 | Christmas in south-east London. |
| 1700 | BBC2 | Mastermind | Wales only. |
| 1750 | BBC1 | Pointless Celebrities | Clemency Burton-Hill and Graeme Garden; Dan Snow and Susie Dent; Robert Peston and Steph McGovern; Michael Mosley and Germaine Greer. |
| 1840 | BBC1 | Strictly Come Dancing | Semi-final week. |
| 1900 | ITV | The Chase With Celebrities | Arlene Philips, Diarmuid Gavin, Helen Skelton, Micky Flanagan. |
| 1900 | BBC3 | Winter Wipeout | |
| 2015 | ITV | The X Factor | Live finale. Also TV3. The Xtra Factor follows on ITV2 and TV3. |
| 2020 | RTE1 | Winning Streak | Repeated 1340 tomorrow. |
| 2200 | BBC2 | QI XL | |
| 2300 | Rad4 | Brain of Britain | |
| 2305 | ITV2 | Celebrity Juice | |
| 2325 | ITV | Take Me Out |
Sunday 15
| 0800 | CBBC | Splatalot | |
| 0830 | CITV | Fort Boyard | So the Whites are in, and the Greens need 1400 to pip the Reds to the final. Also ITV Breakfast Broadcasting. |
| 1000 | DAVE | Total Wipe Out Australia | Call my buff. |
| 1100 | CBBS | Swashbuckle | |
| 1204 | Rad4 | I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue | |
| 1415 | BBC1 | Bargain Hunt | |
| 1535 | ITV | The X Factor | Repeat. TV3 1300. |
| 1600 | CITV | Fort Boyard | |
| 1725 | Mor4 | Come Dine With Me x5 | Chelmsford. |
| 1830 | ITV | The Chase With Celebrities | Chris Bisson, Gareth Thomas, Naga Munchetty, Harry Judd. |
| 1845 | TV3 | Famous Family Fortunes | |
| 1900 | BBC1 | Strictly Come Dancing | The results show, with Pointless singer Céline Dion. |
| 1915 | TG4 | An Gig Jig | Into the semi-finals. |
| 1930 | ITV | The X Factor | With more guest celebs than we can list here. (Read: many are not yet confirmed). Also TV3. Xtra Factor follows on ITV2 and TV3. |
| 1940 | BBC2 | The Great British Sewing Bee Special | Not interested in X Fac? Or sport? Or Tim Vine on ITV4? The last four return to make various festive items. Scotland 2000. |
| 2000 | CHAL | UK's Strongest Man 2013 | |
| 2100 | 4MUS | 8 Out of 10 Cats x2 | |
| 2100 | ITV | Through the Keyhole New! | |
| 2200 | BBC2 | QI XL | Wales 2220, NI 2250, not Scotland. |
| 2335 | BBC2 | Never Mind the Buzzcocks | Not Scotland. |
Shortcuts: Sat | Sun | Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri
Weekdays
| 0920 | MOR4 | Brendan's Love Cruise | |
| 1005 | TV5 | Mot de Passe | |
| 1215 | BBC1 | Bargain Hunt | |
| 1330 | CBBC | Total Wipeout | |
| 1345 | BBC1 | Perfection | The new Going for Gold. |
| 1430 | CBBC | The Slammer | |
| 1500 | ITV | Dickinson's Real Deal | |
| 1510 | C4 | Countdown | Richard Madeley is on the runway for Finals Week. |
| 1530 | TV5 | Questions Pour un Champion | |
| 1600 | C4 | Deal or No Deal | AudioD. |
| 1600 | ITV | Show Me the Telly | |
| 1700 | C4 | Four in a Bed | |
| 1700 | ITV | The Chase | Mostly repeats. |
| 1715 | BBC1 | Pointless | |
| 1730 | C4 | Come Dine With Me | Christmas celebrities. Four old episodes at 1205. |
| 1800 | BBC2 | Celebrity Eggheads | See daily listings for details. |
| 1800 | ITV2 | Dinner Date | |
| 1830 | BBC2 | Strictly Come Dancing It Takes Two | One hour on Fri, but nothing in Wales, NI. |
| 1900 | C5 | World's Strongest Man Qualifiers New! |
Monday 16
| 1500 | Rad4 | Brain of Britain | |
| 1800 | BBC2 | Celebrity Eggheads | Sports greats: Gareth Chilcott, Scott Hastings, Jeff Probyn, Richard Pitman, Eddie Edwards. |
| 1830 | Rad4 | I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue | With celebrity husband David Mitchell. Jack Dee is hosting in M***** K*****. Best place for him. |
| 2000 | BBC2 | University Challenge | |
| 2030 | BBC4 | Only Connect | Lasletts v Bakers. |
| 2100 | 4MUS | 8 Out of 10 Cats Uncut x2 | |
| 2100 | DISC | Get Out Alive | The mountains will give strength. |
| 2200 | BBC2 | Never Mind the Buzzcocks | Johnny Vegas hosts, with Brian McFadden, Jessica Hynes, DJ Locksmith and Sara Pascoe. NI 2350 Tu. |
| 2235 | BBC1 | Have I Got A Bit More News for You | Wales 2305, Scotland 2335, not NI. |
Shortcuts: Sat | Sun | Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri
Tuesday 17
| 1800 | BBC2 | Celebrity Eggheads | Apprentice failures: Stephen Brady, Tom Gearing, Katie Wright, Laura Hogg, Adam Corbally. |
| 1900 | BBC3 | Winter Wipeout | |
| 1900 | BBC2 | The Great British Sewing Bee | Watching X Fac / the sport on Sunday? Here's a repeat. England, NI only. |
| 2000 | BBC2 | The Great British Bake Off Masterclass | Mary and Paul help you bake some things. |
| 2115 | 4Mus | 8 Out of 10 Cats |
Wednesday 18
| 1800 | BBC2 | Celebrity Eggheads | Tom O'Connor, Roy Walker, Syd Little, Mick Miller, Johnnie Casson. |
| 2100 | 4Mus | 8 Out of 10 Cats x2 | |
| 2235 | BBC1 | A Question of Sport | Ian Thorpe, Ryan Sidebottom, Tim Visser, Sarah Storey. Scotland and NI 2305, Wales 2320. |
Thursday 19
| 1700 | CITV | Fort Boyard Ultimate Challenge | Repeat from Sunday. |
| 1800 | BBC2 | Celebrity Eggheads | Suzanne Charlton, Penny Tranter, Jim Bacon, Francis Wilson, and John Kettley are weathermen. |
| 2100 | ITV | Who Wants to be a Millionaire Special | A live greatest hits edition, with Alex and Eamonn again. |
| 2200 | BBC2 | Mock the Week Again | |
| 2200 | 4MUS | 8 Out of 10 Cats x2 | |
| 2200 | ITV2 | Celebrity Juice | Clip shows, part 1. |
| 2200 | RTE2 | My Best Shot New! | Contestants decide on a future date by picking a childhood photo from the past. Bernard O'Shea hosts. |
Friday 20
| 1500 | ITV | Dickinson's Real Deal | Text Santa begins here, with an edition from Birmingham. |
| 1600 | ITV | Show Me the Telly | Text Santa continues: TV critics versus TV stars. |
| 1700 | ITV | The Chase | The annual Text Santa celebrity edition. |
| 1800 | BBC2 | Celebrity Eggheads | Screen greats: Patti Boulaye, Diane Keen, Anna Karen, Shirley-Anne Field, Anita Harris. |
| 1830 | Rad4 | The News Quiz | |
| 1930 | BBC1 | A Question of Sport | As Wednesday. Not Scotland. |
| 1930 | BBC2 | Christmas University Challenge New! | Reading (Jay Wynne, Joan Smith) v Emmanuel Cambridge (Rory McGrath, Mary-Ann Ochota). Not Wales, NI. |
| 2000 | BBC2 | Mastermind | None of this celebrity rubbish! JFK, Peter Carey, boxing, James Clerk Maxwell. Not Wales, NI. |
| 2000 | ITV | Text Santa Special | Entertainment and charity, including an edition of Take Me Out with people who remember when Paddy's routine was new. |
| 2100 | BBC1 | Have I Got News for You | Best of the year. NI 2320. |
| 2200 | CHAL | Blankety Blank | With Les Dawson. |
| 2200 | BBC2 | QI | Ice, repeated. |
Shortcuts: Sat | Sun | Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri
Channel abbreviations
| 4MUS | 4 Music |
| ALBA | BBC Alba |
| BBC1 | BBC1 (Network unless otherwise noted) |
| BBC2 | BBC2 (Network unless otherwise noted) |
| BBC3 | BBC3 |
| BBC4 | BBC4 |
| C4 | Channel 4 |
| C5 | Channel 5 |
| CBBC | CBBC Channel |
| CBBS | Cbeebies |
| CHAL | Challenge |
| DAVE | Dave |
| ESPT | Eurosport |
| ESP2 | Eurosport 2 |
| HTV | HTV (ITV in Wales; Wales only unless noted) |
| ITV | ITV1 (Network unless otherwise noted) |
| ITV2 | ITV2 |
| ITV3 | ITV3 |
| ITV4 | ITV4 |
| LIV | Sky Living |
| LIV2 | Sky Living It |
| MOR4 | More 4 |
| PICK | Pick TV |
| Rad1 | BBC Radio 1 |
| Rad2 | BBC Radio 2 |
| Rad3 | BBC Radio 3 |
| Rad4 | BBC Radio 4 |
| Rad5 | BBC Radio 5 |
| Rd4X | BBC Radio 4Xtra |
| RCym | BBC Radio Cymru |
| RSco | BBC Radio Scotland |
| RUls | BBC Radio Ulster |
| RWal | BBC Radio Wales |
| RTE1 | RTE1 (Irish) |
| RTE2 | RTE2 (Irish) |
| RTR1 | RTE Radio 1 (Irish) |
| S4C | S4C |
| SKY1 | Sky 1 |
| SKYA | Sky Atlantic |
| STV | STV (ITV1 in North and Central Scotland) |
| TV3 | TV3 (Irish) |
| TV5 | TV5 Monde (Europe) |
| TG4 | TG 4 (Irish) |
| UTV | Ulster Television (ITV1 in Northern Ireland) |
| WTCH | Watch |
Other stations explained in the programme description.
AudioD - Audio Description for the blind.
Signed - in-vision British Sign Language translation.
Shows on BBC1, BBC2, ITV, Channel 4, Channel 5, ITV2, E4, Dave, Sky Living, and Sky One are in HD unless specified as SD. Shows on other channels are marked as HD.
