Taskmaster Champion of Champions, December 22, 9:00 PM, C4; Taskmaster’s New Year’s Treat, January 2 and 3, 9 p.m., C4
Taskmaster
Mammoth Christmas special
Just when you think the death knell has been sounded for the sitcom, along comes a new one to show that the format still has legs. One of the best recent sitcoms stars Mike Bubbins as 1970s schoolteacher Tony Mammoth, who is brought back to life after being frozen in an avalanche during a ski trip. Well, it could happen, right? Part Life on Mars, part David Brent, the show has a lot of fun with the star’s unreconstructed posture and dated dress sense. Will he get new leopard print seat covers in Santa’s stocking? Watch to find out.
Mammoth, Monday 22 December, 10pm, BBC Two.
Former teacher and creator of gritty comedy – gritcom? –Man Like Mobeen Guz Khan is the co-star of this big festive film in which he plays a Coventry worker who is devastated when an £8,000 bonus arrives in his bank account. And indeed, it is too good to be true and he has to pay back the money. The only problem is that he blew it during an extravagant family trip to Lapland. How on earth is he going to get the money back to give it back? Not only that, how is he going to break the news to his wife, played by Morgana Robinson.
Stuffed, Tuesday December 23, 9pm, BBC One.
The twentieth, yes, twentieth, series of Live at the Apollo is launched with a Christmas special. Josh Widdicombe, co-host of Last Leg, is the master of ceremonies. He was in the middle of his own stand-up tour when he filmed this, so he should definitely be fit for this gig. He is joined by clever storyteller Andrew Mensah and rising star Harriet Kemsley, who is set to become one of the breakout stars of 2026, after appearances in Taskmaster and LOL: Last One Laughing UK.
Live in the Apollo, Tuesday December 23, 9:45 PM.
Josh Widdicombe supports Save the Children’s annual Christmas Jumper Day (Save the Children/PA)
Let’s face it: Christmas TV wouldn’t be Christmas TV without something mushy and sentimental. Finding Father Christmas is a comedy drama with a decidedly gentle heart. It stars the always great Lenny Rush as a teenager who is determined to track down the real Santa Claus and discovers a global conspiracy along the way. Also joining the action is James Buckley, who plays his father (he’s finally grown up since Inbetweeners). Plus Stephen Fry and that guy again, Greg Davies.
Looking for Santa, Christmas Eve, 7:30 PM C4
Mortimer and Whitehouse: disappeared fishing
Who would have thought that a simple fly-on-rod documentary featuring two old comics of a certain age, sitting on the riverbank, would have been such a hit? And who would have thought that would make Bob Mortimer a national treasure? Or finally a national treasure waiting for you when a vacancy opens up. But the duo are back and dusting off their waders for another Christmas outing. This time they will talk about their ailments and enjoy the views in Devon and Cornwall. Who knows, they might even catch a few fish.
Mortimer and Whitehouse: Gone Fishing, Christmas Eve, 9pm, BBC Two.
BBC/Owl Power/Ross Johnston
This fantastic spin-off of Motherland gets a bit of Absolutely Fabulous magic dust sprinkled on top as Jennifer Saunders and Joanna Lumley reunite when Amanda (Lucy Punch) and her family head to the country to stay with Aunt Joan (Saunders). But all hopes of celebrating the perfect Christmas like the old days soon go out the window as family secrets bubble to the surface. If you only have time for one Christmas comedy, it has to be Amandaland.
Amandaland Christmas Special, Christmas Day, 9.15pm, BBC One.
CREDIT LINE: BBC/Merman/Natalie Seery
Before you welcome 2026, get into the festive spirit with this clever sitcom, written by Tom Basden, who has had a good 2025 as co-writer and co-star of the critically acclaimed film The Ballad of Wallis Island. December 31st is just around the corner and mom and dad have different ideas about how to celebrate. Rachel (Katherine Parkinson) wants a big get-together with friends, Paul (Jim Howick) wants to relax in a holiday home. Can they reach some sort of rapprochement before midnight?
Here We Go, New Year’s Eve, 8pm, BBC One
New year, new comedy, with Mrs Brown’s Boys star Brendan O’Carroll. The action takes place in and around a shed in a village in Ireland where a bunch of men of a certain age are fixing things and drinking mugs of strong tea. Familiar faces Phil Davis and Deirdre O’Kane are among the cast. If you really can’t live without Brendan O’Carroll saying ‘feck’, there are also two Mrs Brown’s Boys Specials, on Christmas Day at 10.15pm and New Year’s Day at 10.05pm on BBC One. Me? When they’re on, I lock myself in a shed.
Shedites, New Year’s Day, 10.35pm, BBC One
Rowan Atkinson seems to have a thing for the letter B. He has entertained squillions with Blackadder, Mr Bean, Man Vs Bee and now its four-part sequel Man Vs Baby. Atkinson’s style, often physical with something indebted to the French clown Jaques Tati, hasn’t changed much in thirty years, but perhaps there’s more heart in this seasonal four-parter in which he plays the schoolmaster, Trevor Bingley – another B – who has to look after a toddler after he isn’t collected from a school nativity scene. Bingley is perhaps Atkinson’s most sympathetic character yet, but he is ill-equipped and hilarity inevitably ensues.
Man vs. Baby, Netflix, streaming now
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Man vs. baby. (L to R) Rowan Atkinson as Trevor Bingley, Baby Jesus, in Man Vs Baby
Thanks to Netflix
Ricky Gervais/Jordan Brookes
Ricky Gervais has topped the Netflix charts with his last two live specials and I imagine he’ll do the same this time. Gervais was in full wannabe edgelord mode when I saw this show in Oxford, with jokes about butts, blind people and Jimmy Savile – but will they make the Netflix cut? If you want something alternative, Edinburgh Comedy Award winner Jordan Brookes will release his latest show Fontanelle on YouTube on Boxing Day. Trust me, it’s the weirdest musical based on the Titanic tragedy that you never knew you needed. And it’s free.
Jordan Brookes, Boxing Day, Afternoon, YouTube; Ricky Gervais: Mortality, Tuesday, December 30, 6:00 p.m., Netflix
#comedy #Christmas