Guy Pearce in the BBC’s A Christmas Carol

A Christmas Carol

No Christmas would be complete without a version of Dickens’ seasonal tale being shown, and while we eagerly look out for the original and best – Scrooge, the one starring Alastair Sim (Channel 5, Christmas Day, 1.25pm) – the Beeb have decided it’s time to have a stab at it, and with a nod to the streaming era, have made it a three-parter.

Partly filmed in Church Row, Hampstead, writer Steven Knight has updated the sugary story, which stars Guy Pearce as the zero hours-style fat cat boss.

Highgate-based actor Andy Serkis as the Ghost of Christmas Past, comes back to warn him of the path he is currently on. Perhaps there is a message in here for the Scrooge bosses out there, rubbing their hands at the recent election result…

• Starts Sunday, December 22 on BBC1 at 9pm.

Beauty and the Beast

The original Disney cartoon is still a lovely piece of animated soppiness – but this live action version, starring Emma Watson as Belle with lovely sidekick turns by Ian McKellen and Emma Thompson, is even better.

McKellen plays the kindly old pa who is imprisoned in the big scary castle – and Belle sets out to rescue her dad from the clutches of the cursed Prince.

This version gives the story a happy twist for the #MeToo generation, turning Belle from a rather head-in-the-clouds, marriage-is-everything character into a problem-solving, no-nonsense-taking, empowered woman.

• Christmas Eve, BBC 1, 5.30pm.

The Tiger Who Came To Tea

The adventures of Sophie and her mum when a giant stripy cat knocks on their door pleading hunger has brought great joy to so many down the years.

And now Judith Kerr’s seminal children’s book The Tiger Who Came To Tea has been given the animated treatment. Judith, who died in May, gave the project her blessing – and with a faithfulness to the beautiful illustrations, this offers a new way to enjoy one of the best children’s tales ever told.

• Christmas Eve, Channel 4, 7.30pm.

My Fair Lady

Just You wait, ’Enry ’Iggins, for My Fair Lady to be given a welcome Christmas airing.

Based on George Bernard Shaw’s Pygmalion, Audrey Hepburn stars as Eliza Doolittle, the Covent Garden flower seller taken up by phonetics expert Professor Higgins (Rex Harrison) who reckons he can win a bet by turning a Cockney into a la-di-dah. Brilliant songs and proper cockle-warming.

• Christmas Eve, Channel 5, 2.55pm.

Back to the Future

The time-travelling adventures of Marty McFly have become classics – but this is the very best of the Back To The Future series: the first outing where McFly (Michael J Fox) hops in a DeLorean and ends up back in 1955, where he unintentionally looks set to change his family’s future, with frightening results…

• Christmas Day, Channel 4, 2.35pm.

Oliver!

Lionel Bart’s Oscar-winning musical adaptation of Oliver Twist features a star turn by Ron Moody as Fagin. Oliver heads to London to escape a life of workhouse slavery – only to fall in with the crime king Fagin and his gang of street urchins. With classic songs and memorable turns by Moody, and Oliver Reed as the menacing Bill Sikes, this 1968 film is a Christmas must.

• Christmas Day, Channel 5, 3.10pm.

The Jungle Book

Oo-Be-Do – who wants a bit of Jungle Book action?

This beautifully imagined remake has a wonderful cast of Bill Murray, Idris Elba, Ben Kingsley and Lupita Nyong’o adding voices to the gorgeously rendered Balloo, Bhaghera, Shere Khan and Mowgli. Rudyard Kipling’s classic story is set to the music of original composers Richard and Robert Sherman, and Terry Gilkyson.

• Boxing Day, BBC 1, 3.45pm.

Paddington 2

Michael Bond’s little bear has become a beacon of loveliness in dark times: the story of a refugee finding London’s warm welcome is surely more than just a gentle tale for our youngsters – rather a timely reminder of what we must strive to become once more.

In Paddington 2 – a gloriously imagined live action comedy – the bear is hoping to buy his Aunt Lucy a rather special birthday present in the shape of an antique book. But when the tome is pinched, Paddington (Ben Wishaw) is in the frame for the theft.

But is the smoothy actor Phoenix Buchanan, played with devilish glee by Hugh Grant, all that he’s cracked up to be – and what does he know about this mystery? Hugh Bonneville, Sally Hawkins and Jim Broadbent star in this first-class family laugh-a-long.

And do find the time to switch to BBC2 at 9pm on the same day for a beautiful documentary about Michael Bond. Bond was greatly influenced by his parents, who housed Jewish children who had managed to escape Europe before the war, and how he heard them crying each night for missing parents.

• Boxing Day, BBC1, 7.20pm.

The Wolf of Wall Street

Jonah Hill is the unsung comedy hero of this Leonardo DiCaprio vehicle – his performance as the cheating banker’s sidekick is a stand-out in a film littered with comedy gold moments and an underlying comment on how the love of money is the root of all evil.

The film tells the story of dodgy share dealer Jordan Belfort, who flogged penny stocks to unwitting small-time investors, made absolute fortunes and was the subject of a wide-ranging FBI investigation into his practices. Director Martin Scorsese has crafted one of the most hilarious drug-nightmare scenes committed to celluloid. Perhaps not one to watch with the in-laws.

• Boxing Day, Channel 4, 11.05pm.