TV Guide This Week
Contents |
Week 1
Picks of week one: the Strictly Come Dancing final (BBC1, 6.30 Sat; also 5pm Christmas Day), the Fort Boyard final (CITV, 8.25am Sun), Just a Minute at Christmas (Radio 4, 6.30 Mon), the Only Connect final (BBC4, 8.30 Mon), World's Strongest Man (C5, Boxing Day to New Year's Eve), and a 3-2-1 Christmas special from 1979 (Challenge, 6.05 Christmas Day).
The selection box for week two: Challenge's Firsts Weekend (Sat and Sun from 2pm), a special edition of The Cube (ITV, 8pm Sat), That Puppet Game Show (BBC1, 3.20 Sun), a special Deal or No Deal (C4, 7pm New Year's Eve), Christmas University Challenge and Celebrity Mastermind (most evenings, BBC2 and BBC1 respectively), a Blue Peter edition of Pointless (BBC1, 5.10 Thu), and — sorry! — Celebrity Big Brother (C5, 9pm Fri).
Shortcuts: Sat | Sun | Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Week 2
Schedules subject to change. New series are not marked.
Saturday 21 December
| 0830 | CITV | The Munch Box | Also ITV Breakfast Broadcasting. |
| 1055 | ITV2 | The X Factor Us x2 | |
| 1100 | CBBS | Swashbuckle | |
| 1100 | Rad5 | Fighting Talk | |
| 1228 | Rad4 | The News Quiz | |
| 1530 | TV5 | Questions Pour un Champion | Continues through the holidays, daily except Su. |
| 1600 | CITV | Fort Boyard | |
| 1630 | C4 | Come Dine with Me x5 | Cardiff. |
| 1725 | BBC2 | Strictly Come Dancing It Takes Two | NI only; Wales 1730. Seen in England, Scotland yesterday. |
| 1730 | ITV | The Chase With Celebrities | Russell Grant, Liz McClarnon, Sherrie Hewson, Des O'Connor. |
| 1740 | BBC1 | Pointless Celebrities | It's panto season, with the Chuckle Brothers, Keith Harris and Orville, Linda Lusardi and Sam Kane, Roy Wood and Father Christmas. |
| 1830 | BBC2 | Mastermind | Wales only; NI 1910. |
| 1830 | BBC1 | Strictly Come Dancing | The grand final. Concludes at 2040. |
| 1905 | BBC2 | University Challenge | Kent (Fi Glover, James Wong) v Lancaster (Matthew Fort, Roger Ashton-Griffiths). Wales 2030, after yesterday's episode at 2000. NI has yesterday's episode at 1840. |
| 2000 | ITV2 | The Xtra Factor | The winners' story. |
| 2020 | RTE1 | Winning Streak | Repeated 1340 tomorrow. |
| 2300 | Rad4 | Brain of Britain | |
| 2355 | ITV2 | Celebrity Juice |
Sunday 22
| 0830 | CITV | Fort Boyard | The grand final. Also ITV Breakfast Broadcasting. |
| 1100 | CBBS | Swashbuckle | |
| 1204 | Rad4 | I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue | |
| 1400 | BBC1 | When Miranda Met Bruce | Another chance to miss the dull-as-ditchwater interview. |
| 1435 | ITV | Show Me the Telly | Another chance to see the Text Santa special. |
| 1455 | BBC2 | University Challenge | NI only. |
| 1600 | CITV | Fort Boyard | |
| 1610 | Mor4 | Come Dine With Me x5 | Celebs. |
| 1915 | TG4 | An Gig Jig | The grand final. |
| 2000 | TV3 | Famous Family Fortunes | |
| 2000 | CHAL | UK's Strongest Man 2013 | |
| 2100 | 4MUS | 8 Out of 10 Cats x2 | |
| 2200 | BBC2 | QI XL | Wales 2220, NI 2250, not Scotland. |
| 2350 | ITV | The Cube |
Shortcuts: Sat | Sun | Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Week 2
Monday 23
| 1005 | TV5 | Mot de Passe | Password, in French. Continues weekdays through the fortnight. |
| 1300 | CHAL | Celebrity Millionaire | To 2300. |
| 1500 | Rad4 | Brain of Britain | |
| 1540 | C4 | Deal or No Deal | Ideal Christmas. AudioD. |
| 1640 | C4 | Come Dine with Me | Celebrities. |
| 1800 | BBC2 | Celebrity Eggheads | A repeat from last year. |
| 1830 | Rad4 | Just a Minute | Christmas special: Pam Ayres, Stephen Mangan, Gyles Brandreth, Paul Merton. |
| 1900 | BBC1 | Celebrity Mastermind | Shaun Keaveny, Mark Watson, Bunny Campione, Frank Cottrell Boyce. |
| 1930 | BBC1 | A Question of Sport | Christmas. Wales, NI 2335. |
| 2000 | BBC2 | University Challenge | Keele (Steve Jackson (Fighting Fantasy)) v Aberystwyth (Elfyn Llwyd, Dan Jarvis). |
| 2030 | BBC4 | Only Connect | The grand final. |
| 2030 | BBC1 | Would I Lie to You? | A festive edition, with Stephen Mangan, Barry Cryer, Miles Jupp, and Lookingglass F. Rabbit. |
| 2100 | 4MUS | 8 Out of 10 Cats Uncut x2 | |
| 2200 | ITV2 | Celebrity Juice | |
| 2220 | BBC2 | QI XL | Keeps. Not Wales. |
| 2305 | BBC2 | Never Mind the Buzzcocks | An old Christmas show. |
| 2345 | ITV | Famous Family Fortunes | Jodie Prenger and Gareth Gates fill a hole. Not UTV. |
Tuesday 24
| 0840 | CBBS | Swashbuckle | |
| 1130 | ITV | Catchphrase | |
| 1210 | C4 | Deal or No Deal | AudioD. Classic Noel at 2100 on BBC4, with Top of the Pops 1978. |
| 1500 | Mor4 | Come Dine With Me x5 | Glasgow. A one-hour episode at 2100. |
| 1730 | CBBC | The Slammer Returns | Jedward! In jail! Happy Christmas, everyone! |
| 1815 | Rad4 | 15 Minute Musical | It's A One-Hit Wonderful Life. Simon Cowell and Susan Boyle. |
| 2100 | BBC2 | QI XL | New: Kris Kringle, with Jo Brand, Brendan O'Carroll, Phill Jupitus. |
Shortcuts: Sat | Sun | Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Week 2
Wednesday 25
| 0625 | ITV2 | Britain's Got More Talent x2 | |
| 0835 | CBBS | Swashbuckle | And same time all week. |
| 0855 | MOR4 | Come Dine With Me Down Under | And same time all week. |
| 0920 | MOR4 | Brendan's Love Cruise | Because nothing says Christmas like episode 18 of a flop series. It's here all week, too. |
| 1125 | ITV | The Chase With Celebrities | Another chance to see last week's Text Santa special. |
| 1245 | CHAL | The Crystal Maze Specials x3 | Three sets of children prove they're better than adults. |
| 1515 | C4 | Deal or No Deal | AudioD. |
| 1610 | MOR4 | Come Dine With Me x5 | Celebrities. |
| 1700 | BBC1 | Strictly Come Dancing | Sit back and relax. |
| 1805 | CHAL | 3-2-1 | "Dickens", the Christmas special from 1979. Look, it's better than Call the Blimmin' Midwife. |
| 1915 | TV3 | Famous Family Fortunes | Keith Duffy and Jennie McAlpine. |
| 2130 | 4Mus | 8 Out of 10 Cats x2 | |
| 2305 | BBC2 | QI |
Thursday 26
| 0900 | RLLY | Three In A Bed x11 | To 2000. |
| 1230 | CBBC | Jedward's Big Adventure x5 | Two-and-a-half hours with the big-haired twins. Blue Peter (1730) will come as a blessed relief. |
| 1300 | CHAL | Family Fortunes x18 | To 2200. |
| 1535 | C4 | Deal or No deal | AudioD. |
| 1635 | C4 | Come Dine with Me | Comedians Christmas special, repeated. |
| 1700 | CITV | Fort Boyard Ultimate Challenge | Repeat from Sunday. |
| 1945 | BBC2 | University Challenge | Yet another Oxbridge battle. Joining the Grinch for this five-star event are Gonville and Caius Cambridge (Lars Tharp) and Christ Church Oxford (Andrew Graham-Dixon). |
| 2015 | C5 | World's Strongest Man 2013 | |
| 2100 | 4MUS | 8 Out of 10 Cats x2 | |
| 2100 | C4 | Big Fat Quiz of the Year | Jack Whitehall and Jonathan Ross, Dara O'Briain and Kristen Schaal, Noel Fielding and Richard Ayoade. |
| 2200 | ITV2 | Celebrity Juice | Clip shows, part 2. |
| 2355 | BBC1 | Have I Got A Bit More News for You | Best of 2013. |
Friday 27
| 0825 | ITV | Dinner Date | |
| 1025 | ITV | Dickinson's Real Deal | |
| 1240 | MOR4 | Come Dine with Me x5 | Newport |
| 1300 | CHAL | Strike it Rich x18 | To 2200. |
| 1330 | RTR1 | Don't Quote Me! | Seán Hughes with the wordy game show. |
| 1515 | C4 | Deal or No Deal | AudioD. |
| 1545 | ITV | The Chase | |
| 1800 | BBC2 | Celebrity Eggheads | Theatreland. |
| 1930 | BBC2 | Christmas University Challenge | St Hugh's Oxford (Rowan Pelling) v Stirling (Richard Lochhead). |
| 2000 | C5 | World's Strongest Man 2013 | |
| 2000 | C4 | Come Dine with Me | Hugo Taylor, Daniella Westbrook, Louie Spence, Sinitta. Another episode at 1615. |
| 2030 | BBC1 | A Question of Sport | Wales only. |
| 2200 | CHAL | Blankety Blank | With Les Dawson. |
| 2335 | ITV | The Cube |
Shortcuts: Sat | Sun | Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Week 2
Week 2
The selection box for week two: Challenge's Firsts Weekend (Sat and Sun from 2pm), a special edition of The Cube (ITV, 8pm Sat), That Puppet Game Show (BBC1, 3.20 Sun), a special Deal or No Deal (C4, 7pm New Year's Eve), Christmas University Challenge and Celebrity Mastermind (most evenings, BBC2 and BBC1 respectively), a Blue Peter edition of Pointless (BBC1, 5.10 Thu), and — sorry! — Celebrity Big Brother (C5, 9pm Fri).
Shortcuts: Week 1|Sat | Sun | Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri
Saturday 28 December
| 0900 | Rd4X | Let's Get Quizzical | Russell Davies' trawl through radio quiz and panel games. Also 1900. |
| 1100 | CBBS | Swashbuckle | |
| 1100 | Rad5 | Fighting Talk | Christian O'Connell presents a tenth birthday party. |
| 1135 | ITV | Dinner Date | |
| 1400 | WTCH | Total Wipe Us Out | |
| 1400 | CHAL | Firsts Weekend (part 1) | Inaugral editions of classic shows, beginning with Supermarket Sweep. Then 1430 Takeshi's Castle, 1500 One Versus One Hundred, 1550 Going for Gold, 1620 Bob's Full House. |
| 1415 | BBC1 | Bargain Hunt | AudioD. |
| 1530 | TV5 | Questions Pour un Champion | |
| 1535 | C4 | Celebrity Come Dine with Me x5 | |
| 1600 | CITV | Fort Boyard | |
| 1700 | CHAL | Firsts Weekend (part 2) | The debuts continue with Whittle, then 1730 Fun House, 1800 Ninja Warrior, 1900 Total Wipeout, 2000 Celebrity Squares, 2030 Strike it Lucky. |
| 1730 | BBC1 | Celebrity Mastermind | Gail Porter, Danny John-Jules, Prue Leith, Mike Bushell. |
| 1800 | BBC1 | Pointless Celebrities | The eighties coming back: Stephanie Beacham and Emma Sams; Anne Diamond and Rustie Lee; Denise and Steadman Pearson; Tessa Sanderson and Willie Thorne. |
| 1800 | ITV | The Chase With Celebrities | Rebecca Adlington, Kate Garraway, Ritchie Neville, Rosemary Shrager. |
| 1900 | ITV | Famous Family Fortunes | First in a new series: Dancing on Ice v Coronation Street. |
| 2000 | ITV | The Cube | Denise Welch, Sherrie Hewson, Lisa Maxwell, Greg Rutherford. |
| 2000 | C5 | World's Strongest Man 2013 | |
| 2010 | RTE1 | Winning Streak | Repeated 1315 tomorrow. |
| 2300 | Rad4 | Brain of Britain | |
| 2310 | ITV2 | Celebrity Juice |
Sunday 29
| 1100 | CBBS | Swashbuckle | |
| 1300 | CHAL | Ultimate Strongman | Children compete. |
| 1340 | E4 | Come Dine With Me | Made in Chelsea. |
| 1400 | WTCH | Total Wipe Us Out x2 | And at this time all week. |
| 1400 | CHAL | Firsts Weekend (part three) | Initial episodes begin with The Crystal Maze, then 1500 Take Your Pick with Des O'Connor, 1530 Deal or No Deal, 1615 Wipeout with Paul Daniels, 1645 3-2-1 with Janice Long. |
| 1520 | BBC1 | That Puppet Game Show | Superstition: Richard Hammond and Ortisé JLS. |
| 1600 | CITV | Fort Boyard | |
| 1600 | Mor4 | Come Dine With Me x5 | |
| 1745 | CHAL | Firsts Weekend (part four) | A final slew of openers with Stars in Their Eyes, then 1815 Treasure Hunt, 1915 Knightmare, 1945 Bullseye, 2015 Blankety Blank. |
| 1900 | ITV | Catchphrase | Celebrities: Michelle Collins, Michael Ball, Carol Vorderman. UTV 2215. |
| 1950 | TV3 | Famous Family Fortunes | Christmas 2011. |
| 2000 | C5 | World's Strongest Man 2013 | |
| 2100 | C4 | 8 Out of 10 Cats | |
| 2200 | BBC2 | QI |
Shortcuts: Week 1|Sat | Sun | Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri
Monday 30
| 1025 | ITV | Dickinson's Real Deal | |
| 1100 | BBC2 | The Great British Bake Off x2 | Repeats from this year. Continues all week. |
| 1215 | BBC1 | Bargain Hunt | |
| 1300 | CHAL | Catchphrase x 13 | To 1930. |
| 1350 | BBC1 | A Question of Sport | Not Wales. |
| 1350 | ITV | Dinner Date | |
| 1450 | ITV | Catchphrase | The celeb edition shown yesterday. |
| 1500 | Rad4 | Brain of Britain | May be more brain-taxing than Catchphrase. Possibly. A bit. |
| 1600 | C4 | Deal or No Deal | AudioD. |
| 1700 | C4 | Celebrity Come Dine with Me | |
| 1800 | BBC2 | Celebrity Eggheads | The Eastenders, but without Barrie they have no chance. |
| 1800 | S4C | Y Lifft | Last year's celebrity edition. |
| 1830 | Rad4 | The Unbelievable Truth | Arthur Smith, Henning Wehn, Bridget Christie, Ed Byrne (comedian) start a new series. |
| 1900 | BBC1 | Celebrity Mastermind | James Allen, David Bradley, Chris Ramsey, Shobu Kapoor. |
| 2000 | BBC2 | University Challenge | Leicester (Sue Cook, Heather Couper) v Sussex (Rob Bonnet, The OC's Alice Arnold). |
| 2030 | C5 | World's Strongest Man 2013 | |
| 2300 | Rd4X | Genius | Paul Daniels and the 99p coin. |
Tuesday 31
| 1100 | ITV | Dickinson's Real Deal | |
| 1200 | ITV | Famous Family Fortunes | |
| 1200 | BBC1 | Bargain Hunt | |
| 1300 | CHAL | Bullseye x 13 | To 1930. |
| 1500 | ITV | The Cube | |
| 1600 | C4 | Deal or No Deal | AudioD. |
| 1700 | C4 | Come Dine with Me | Footballers. |
| 1800 | BBC2 | Celebrity Eggheads | House and home experts (and game show hosts Ed Hall and Laura Hamilton). |
| 1900 | C4 | Deal or No Deal | Christmas Stars; a special edition. AudioD. |
| 1900 | BBC1 | Celebrity Mastermind | Josh Widdicombe, Katharine Merry, Sian Reese-Williams, Nick Baker. |
| 1930 | BBC2 | University Challenge | King's London (Rory Bremner, Susan Hill) v Southampton (Stefan Buczacki). NI 1945. |
| 2000 | C4 | Fifteen-to-One The Celebrity Show | From September. |
| 2000 | C5 | World's Strongest Man 2013 | The grand final. |
| 2200 | BBC2 | Mock the Week | Pick of the year. NI 2300. |
| 2310 | RTE2 | Next Year's News | Ring in the new year with a panel show hosted by Eoghan MacDermott. |
| 2325 | ITV2 | Celebrity Juice x4 | Or with Keith and Holly and Fearne. |
Shortcuts: Week 1|Sat | Sun | Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri
Wednesday 1
| 0900 | RLLY | Three in a Bed x 11 | To 2000. |
| 1040 | C5 | World's Strongest Man 2013 x2 | Whole series repeated on 5* from 1440. |
| 1205 | C4 | Deal or No Deal | AudioD. |
| 1220 | ITV | Dickinson's Real Deal | |
| 1255 | CBBC | Copycats | |
| 1500 | MOR4 | Come Dine With Me x5 | Kingston. |
| 1725 | BBC2 | University Challenge | First semi-final. |
| 2220 | C4 | Big Fat Quiz of the Year 2013 |
Thursday 2
| 1200 | BBC1 | Bargain Hunt | |
| 1300 | CHAL | Supermarket Sweep x13 | |
| 1400 | ITV | All-Star Mr and Mrs | |
| 1600 | C4 | Deal or No Deal | AudioD. |
| 1600 | ITV | Tipping Point | |
| 1700 | C4 | Come Dine With Me | More celebrities. |
| 1700 | ITV | The Chase | Back! |
| 1710 | BBC1 | Pointless Celebrities | Blue Peter: Peter Purves and Yvette Fielding, Simon Groom and Janet Ellis, Anthea Turner and Tim Vincent, Barney Harwood and Lindsey Russell. |
| 1730 | CBBC | Blue Peter | Featuring ... oh, a profile of Radze Chinyanganya. Still, bonkers scheduling! |
| 1800 | BBC2 | Celebrity Eggheads | Footballing greats. |
| 1900 | BBC3 | Winter Wipeout | |
| 1900 | BBC1 | Celebrity Mastermind | Adil Ray, Mark Porter, Kevin Eldon, Jordan Stephens. |
| 1930 | BBC2 | University Challenge | The second semi-final. |
| 2200 | ITV2 | Fake Reaction | With Helen Flanagan, Marlon Davis, and Stepping Out's Brian and Vogue. |
Friday 3
| 1200 | BBC1 | Bargain Hunt | |
| 1300 | CHAL | Bruce's Price is Right x13 | |
| 1400 | ITV | All-Star Mr and Mrs | |
| 1600 | C4 | Deal or No Deal | AudioD. |
| 1600 | ITV | Tipping Point | |
| 1700 | C4 | Come Dine With Me | More celebrities. |
| 1700 | ITV | The Chase | |
| 1710 | BBC1 | Pointless Celebrities | Theatre: David Bradley and Simon Williams; Les Dennis and Warwick Davis; Bill Kenwright and Jenny Seagrove; Clive Mantle and Connie Fisher. |
| 1800 | BBC2 | Celebrity Eggheads | Dr Who. |
| 1900 | BBC1 | Celebrity Mastermind | John Cooper Clarke, Ben Faulks, Roy Hudd, Frank Turner. |
| 1930 | BBC1 | A Question of Sport | Steve Redgrave, Neil Back, Shay Given, Sally Gunnell. Wales 2030. |
| 2030 | BBC2 | Christmas University Challenge | The final. NI 2105. |
| 2100 | C5 | Celebrity Big Brother | Who are these people? Bit on the Side follows at 2300. |
| 2100 | C4 | 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown | |
| 2210 | CHAL | Blankety Blank | With Les Dawson. |
Shortcuts: Week 1|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.
