Digital TV News

Christmas TV listings stuffed with movie classics

Thursday 8 December, 2011

By Anthony Hill

Festive film schedule full of family favourites.

This year’s Christmas television line-up is unlikely to disappoint film fans.

Terrestrial, satellite and Freeview channels will screen 23% more movies than in 2010, analysis by LOVEFiLM has shown.

But according to the rental site’s research, the number of TV premieres has dropped by 19% this Christmas, as brand new blockbusters make way for old family favourites. In fact, just 13 of the 650 films shown during the festive period will be recent releases.

Classics including The Wizard of Oz, Lawrence of Arabia and The Towering Inferno make up the remaining 98% of movie listings for Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and Boxing Day. The likes of Seven Brides for Seven Brothers and ET will also be entertaining us this year.

Helen Cowley, editor of LOVEFiLM, said it was “no surprise” that Britain’s festive telly would be brimming with reruns of ageing favourites. She claimed: “Viewers now have less choice than ever before, despite having more channels to choose from.”

Not all the festive flicks will be decades-old repeats, however. Sky Premiere is screening Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 and The King’s Speech, while Sky Movies will show Avatar and Knight and Day, as well as Despicable Me and Nanny McPhee & the Big Bang for the kids.

On the terrestrial channels, BBC One will feature special Christmas episodes of Doctor Who, Strictly Come Dancing and cult 90s sitcom Absolutely Fabulous on Christmas Day, while ITV is screening a festive edition of hit costume drama Downton Abbey.

Photo by Conanil