This week's best telly includes a mockumentary from the creators of Black Mirror, a new festive special of Doctor Who plus a Taskmaster treat for New Year's Day and a lot more!
Here are 7 TV shows you can't miss in the final week of 2020...
1. Death to 2020
Sunday 27th December on Netflix
Created and executive produced by Charlie Brooker and Annabel Jones, who brought us Black Mirror, Death to 2020 is a comedy event that tells the story of the dreadful year that was, and perhaps still is?
This landmark documentary-style special weaves together a chorus of narration from some of the world’s most (fictitious) renowned voices with real-life archival footage spanning the past 12 months.
Stars Samuel L. Jackson, Hugh Grant, Kumail Nanjiani, Tracey Ullman, Samson Kayo, Lisa Kudrow, Diane Morgan, Leslie Jones, Cristin Milioti, Joe Keery and more.
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2. Black Narcissus
Sunday 27th - Tuesday 29th December at 9pm on BBC One
BBC One love a three-part drama over the festive period and this year it's a brand new adaptation by Amanda Coe of Black Narcissus, Rumer Godden’s iconic 1939 tale of sexual repression and forbidden love among the nuns of St Faiths.
Gemma Arterton stars as Sister Clodagh, the Anglo-Catholic nun who travels to Nepal to set up a branch of her order in the remote palace of Mopu. In the unfettered sensuality of the so-called House Of Women, she finds herself increasingly attracted to the handsome and damaged land agent Mr Dean, played by Alessandro Nivola.
As the repressed memories of Clodagh’s past become entangled with the tragic history of Princess Srimati, played by Gianni Gonsalves, to the fascination of troubled Sister Ruth, history seems doomed to repeat itself. But are there really ghosts in the Himalayas, or are the incomers succumbing to long-repressed primal desires? Are the nuns prepared to die - or kill - for love?
Aisling Franciosi, Jim Broadbent, Gina McKee, Rosie Cavaliero, Karen Bryson, Dipika Kunwar, Patsy Ferran, Nila Aalia, Kulvinder Ghir, Chaneil Kular, Soumil Malla and the late Dame Diana Rigg also star.
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3. Two Doors Down
Monday 28th December at 9pm on BBC Two
With a new series on the way, hopefully in 2021, it's nice that we're getting a festive episode of hit BBC Two comedy Two Doors Down before the year's out, and this year the neighbours head off on a rare trip away from Latimer Crescent. But a Christmas holiday break at Colin and Cathy’s Luxury Lodge in the Scottish Highlands threatens to derail the neighbours’ friendship when Cathy pushes Beth too far.
Covid-19 has wrecked Colin and Cathy’s plans for Christmas in Dubai, so they’ve rented a luxury lodge in the Scottish Highlands and invited Beth, Eric, Christine, Ian and Gordon along for that bit in-between Christmas and New Year. It may be a change of location, but not in Cathy’s behaviour. Let’s just say it isn’t a case of goodwill to all men when she starts her celebrations, but she is pleased to see Beth is impressed.
Colin lists the amazing outdoor activities on their doorstep, but reveals that he and Cathy have just been sitting in watching the telly. When Beth asks how their Christmas was, they share a look, before asserting they had a brilliant time. When the boys arrive there’s excitement over gifts, and while Christine, Beth and Eric are happy with theirs, Cathy attempts to mask her true feelings.
When Ian and Gordon go on to reveal some incredible news, Cathy is doubly determined to get the party started, but Eric, Ian and Gordon are all keen to get outside for a walk instead. Christine has already called off, so when Cathy demands a show of hands, it’s all down to Beth to do Cathy’s bidding. Will she vote with her to stay indoors?
With Cathy feeling attacked and Beth pushed to her limits, will their bonds end up stronger or will things spiral completely out of control?
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4. Not Going Out
Wednesday 30th December at 9pm on BBC One
Ahead of a new series starting in January, Not Going Out returns with a festive special set on New Year's Eve as we join Lee and Lucy along with Lee’s lovably feckless father Frank, generally put upon Toby, the ever uptight Anna, Lucy’s occasionally pompous father Geoffrey and an unusually high-spirited mother Wendy as they wait for the traditional midnight… trifle?
When parlour games are suspended in favour of a no-holds-barred round of New Year’s Resolutions, the fireworks might be in the house when friendly suggestions on how to improve individual behaviour are received with not a lot of festive spirit.
Will it be a Happy New Year for Lee and Lucy in suburbia?
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5. Doctor Who
New Year's Day at 6.45pm on BBC One
This year's highly-anticipated festive special of Doctor Who, Revolution of the Daleks, sees John Barrowman return as as Captain Jack Harkness alongside Chris Noth who will be back as the disgraced Jack Robertson.
Last time we saw the Thirteenth Doctor, her fate was left hanging in the balance as she was locked away in a high-security alien prison with no hope of escape. Now, we find Yaz, Ryan and Graham far away on Earth, having to carry on with their lives without her. However they soon discover a disturbing plan forming. A plan which involves a Dalek.
How can you fight a Dalek without the Doctor? Even with Captain Jack’s help, the gang are set to face one of their biggest and most frightening challenges yet…
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6. The Serpent
New Year's Day at 9pm on BBC One
Inspired by real events, BBC One's new eight-part drama The Serpent tells the remarkable story of how the conman and murderer Charles Sobhraj, played by Tahar Rahim, was brought to justice.
Posing as a gem dealer, Sobhraj and his girlfriend Marie-Andrée Leclerc, played by Jenna Coleman, travelled across Thailand, Nepal and India in 1975 and 1976, carrying out a spree of crimes on the Asian ‘Hippie Trail’ and becoming the chief suspects in a series of murders of young Western travellers.
As Sobhraj repeatedly slips from the grasp of authorities around the world, Herman Knippenberg, a junior diplomat at the Dutch Embassy in Bangkok, unwittingly walks into his intricate web of crime. Knippenberg sets off an extraordinary chain of events that will see Sobhraj become Interpol’s most wanted man, with arrest warrants in multiple continents.
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7. Taskmaster's New Year Treat
New Year's Day at 9pm on Channel 4
For the first time ever, the Taskmaster’s doors will be flung open to ring in the new year with a brand new, one-off special, Taskmaster’s New Year Treat will see Greg Davies will welcome five famous faces from radically different specialities and set ludicrous challenges supervised by his Little Assistant Alex Horne.
Competing to win the coveted Taskmaster trophy are; actor John Hannah, Channel 4 News anchor Krishnan Guru-Murthy, Derry Girls favourite Nicola Coughlan, TV's Rylan Clark-Neal, and Strictly's head judge Shirley Ballas.
These well-known contestants are experts in their respective fields, but how will they compare in the most hard fought, high stakes, ridiculous game show on television?
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