TV

2009 Unwrapped extra
Red Button off-cuts from the excellent 2009 Unwrapped. These are mostly just as good, so one can only presume they were cut for time. They could've replaced some of Alone in the Shed in my opinion.
It's a shame Red Button content doesn't last long and is only sporadically available online, because these deserve to be more accessible. Two of the best are available online however: Hole in the Wall with Nick Griffin, and the pandemic compilation CD advert.

Doctor Who 2010 Trailer
Ooh, that looks exciting. So much to see...

Top Gear
14x06 Bolivia Special
Mad.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Victoria Wood: What Larks!
Behind the scenes of Victoria Wood's new Christmas special, which turns out to be an entertaining bit of comedy in its own right.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

TV

Doctor Who [new]
4x18 The End of Time Part Two [New Year special]
After being a little disappointed by Part One, I thought that was excellent. A little indulgent at the end, maybe, but when you have such a beloved lead leaving it's OK to be a little indulgent within the show itself -- after all, it's not made for those who don't care that he's going, is it?
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

James May's Toy Stories
1x06 Hornby [season finale]

Marple
4x03 They Do It With Mirrors
A pretty good one, til the over-done ending that didn't fit. Oh well. I guessed the solution also, but I like to think that's more me being clever than a fault with the programme.

Articles

Tennant's last interview before leaving Doctor Who by Lizo Mzimba
(from BBC News)
Is it? Is it really? I doubt it. But still, in this brief video he has a few things to say of passing interest. Likely there'll be much more interesting stuff to say once the post-broadcast interviews appear in Doctor Who Magazine and what have you.

Entertainment review of the decade by Mark Savage
(from BBC News)
BBC News look back over the decade in entertainment, taking in Top Ten lists across awards, ratings and sales for cinema, music, literature and TV. I like a good list or twenty.

TV

2009 Unwrapped with Miranda Hart
A look back over the year's big news stories and entertainment events... except none of them are real. A triumph for comedy and (admittedly, basic these days) special effects, it's particularly enjoyable on New Year's Eve.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Film 2009 with Jonathan Ross
Episode 28 Films of the Year
Despite the title, they don't seem to bother with the reader-voted Best Films of the Year list any more. Which is a shame, because surely that's what such shows should be about? There's the UK Box Office Top 5 -- commented on by the staff of the UK's best independent cinema (and, clearly, it wasn't their intelligence that won them that accolade) -- but that's not a real assessment of quality, is it, cos the masses flock to crap -- Transformers 2 is in there, for one.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

New Year Live
I like that the BBC have cut this down to just half an hour -- and half of that the fireworks display -- rather than the over-long content-free indulgence it used to be.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

Murder on the Orient Express (1974)
[#94 in 100 Films in a Year 2009]

And that's the end of that. And I didn't make it, for the first year ever (of three). Better luck next year...

TV

Bill Bailey's Remarkable Guide to the Orchestra
What a brilliant show this is -- informative, educational, funny and entertaining at the same time. Highly recommended. (It was shown by the BBC back in May, though at only 60 minutes -- on the DVD it's a full 49 longer, and worth it.)

QI
7x05 Groovy (extended repeat) [Christmas special]
[Watch the shorter version (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

An American in Paris (1951)
[#93 in 100 Films in a Year 2009]

Articles

'Hellish' Celebrity Big Brother house unveiled by Neil Smith
(from BBC News)
It looks gorgeous. I'm almost tempted to watch just for the set. But I won't.

Ramis preppingGhostbusters 3 for 2011 by Mike Moody
(from Digital Spy)
Fingers crossed they can pull it off...

Thriller, Muppets selected for film archive by Simon Reynolds
(from Digital Spy)
Along with 23 others -- some definitely worthy, others I've never heard of.

Films

Rock n Roll Nerd (2008)
[#92 in 100 Films in a Year 2009]

Articles

Blunt album is decade's biggest seller by Oli Simpson
(from Digital Spy)
Well, that's just going to annoy some people. (Read the article for the full top five. It's not any more heartening, though at least there's no Coldplay.)

Sutherland 'wants 24 film set in Europe' by Catriona Wightman
(from Digital Spy)
I wish they'd get on with it then -- it's a great idea, for all the reasons (well, reason) Sutherland says.

TV

Cranford
2x02 Part Two: October 1844 [final episode]
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Cranford: Under the Bonnet
Not your usual behind-the-scenes, exploring the history of the books and world the series is set in rather than how they filmed it and how everyone gets on famously.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

Cinderella (1965)
[#91 in 100 Films in a Year 2009]

Three days to watch nine more films, amongst other Christmassy duties? Not to mention Christmas TV. Nope, doesn't look good...

TV

Doctor Who Confidential
4x18 Lords and Masters
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]

Outnumbered
3x00 Christmas Special
As utterly brilliant as ever. Hurrah for Outnumbered.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Ruth Jones' Christmas Cracker
The Gavin & Stacey star/writer hosts a festive chat/variety special, shown only on BBC Wales -- which of course means it's rather Welsh. Good fun though, particularly Ness interviewing Russell T Davies and Katherine Jenkins.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

TV

Gavin & Stacey
3x05 Episode 5 [2nd watch]
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

The Gruffalo
[#89a in 100 Films in a Year 2009]
[Watch it in HD (again) on iPlayer.]

Hamlet
[#90 in 100 Films in a Year 2009]
The RSC's award-winning version starring David Tennant and Patrick Stewart, here converted to a film as a Christmassy treat.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer, and in HD from tomorrow evening.]

Poirot
11x04 Appointment With Death [season finale]
It's over a year since ITV last bothered to air a Poirot -- here, finally, is the last episode in the eleventh series. There's not only more already filmed (with one airing in just over a week), but more still currently filming.
[Watch it (again) on ITV Player.]

Victoria Wood With All the Trimmings [2nd watch]
Her 2000 Christmas special. The cultural references are technically a little dated, but it's amazing to remember the state of things a decade a go... including how little's changed.

TV

Doctor Who [new]
4x17 The End of Time Part One [Christmas special]
Well, that was a little disappointing. For every moment of brilliance -- the Doctor/Wilf scene in the cafe, the Master in numerous humourous outfits at the climax -- there were several of utterly fan-centric public-excluding science-fiction/fantasy-overloaded groaningness -- the Master's technobabble-stuffed resurrection, the unusually slow pace, the po-faced narration.
It was an episode of two halves, then... just two halves that occurred concurrently, flicking back and forth between the two. Fingers crossed Part Two can pull off a better goodbye for the Tenth Doctor.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Gavin & Stacey
3x05 Episode 5
Here's a new way to create a Christmas special: just show an ordinary episode of the series. It's a very good one mind.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Live at the Apollo
5x05 (24/12/09 edition)
Gina Yashere's been living and working in the States... and you can tell. It's her pacing, repetition, the way she addresses the audiences -- stylistically it feels slightly more American stand-up than British stand-up. At least she was quite funny, though I preferred Ed Byrne's and Adam Hills' routines.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

QI
7x04 Geography (extended repeat)
Why have they suddenly reintroduced QI XL halfway through this series? Not that I'm complaining really, but it is a tad odd. Though, once again, they're not bothering to put it on iPlayer. Sometimes the BBC really let themselves down.
[Watch the shorter version (again) on iPlayer.]

Strictly Come Dancing
Christmas Special 2009
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Articles

TV REVIEW Doctor Who "The End Of Time" Part One by Dave Golder
(from SFX)
Like most reviews around the web this afternoon, it's packed with praise... though does note some of the flaws, if not all the ones I regarded as such.

TV

Is anything not a special or finale?

Have I Got News For You
38x09 (18/12/09 edition; uncut repeat) [season finale]
Also, Christmas special.
[Watch the short edition (again) on iPlayer.]

The Impressions Show with Culshaw and Stephenson
1x07 Best Of [season finale]
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Never Mind the Buzzcocks
23x13 Where Are They Now? [season finale]
Very little new material, but the best bits of this series were good, and outtakes are always nice. Well, these ones were.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Not Going Out
3x08 Absent Father Christmas [Christmas special]
Goodbye, Not Going Out. At least it went with a funny episode.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Victoria Wood's Midlife Christmas
Apt title, which is nice. Very funny also. And, unlike most comedy shows, every last word was written by Victoria Wood herself. Super.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Victoria Wood: Seen On TV
Feature-length documentary shown earlier this week as part of Victoria Wood Night on BBC Two. Interesting and, courtesy of lots of classic clips, very funny.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

...No.

Articles

Press Notes by Marcus
(from Doctor Who News Page)

[Russell T] Davies has caused controversy by voicing his concerns about the future of the BBC, should The Conservative Party win the 2010 General Election. Davies told The Mirror he fears the BBC will be dismantled by the Tories and is convinced that a move to freeze the licence fee by the Conservatives will be the beginning of the end for the corporation. "They'll dismantle it slowly. It'll get smaller and smaller until it just supports Radio 4 and some news. I'll come back and fight them at the barricades. I feel a bit like Alan Bennett, who said his favourite things about Britain were the BBC and the NHS." Davies's remarks were picked up by many UK papers, but not it seems in Conservative Central office. When journalist Ian Dale rang their press office for a statement he was told they wouldn't comment on it, because "Mr Davies is a backbench MP and, as such, his opinion isn't necessarily party policy".

Articles

Swedish Christmas straw goat burnt
(from BBC News)
"A giant straw goat - the traditional Scandinavian yuletide symbol - erected each Christmas in a Swedish town has been burned to the ground yet again."

TV

The Funny Side of...
Episode 6 Christmas
'Funny' in quite a loose way, unfortunately.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

James May's Toy Stories
1x05 Lego
1x04 Scalextric
Welcome daily repeat run for this series (bookended by new episodes) as I missed it first time round. Why they're repeating it so thoroughly out of order, though, is anyone's guess.
[Watch Lego and Scalextric (again) on iPlayer.]

Merlin
2x12 The Fires of Idirsholas
2x13 The Last Dragonlord [season finale]
[Watch The Fires of Idirsholas and The Last Dragonlord (again) on iPlayer.]

Mock the Week
7x13 Christmas [special]
Said so.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Never Mind the Buzzcocks
22x04 (23/10/08 edition) [2nd watch]
22x01 (2/10/08 edition) [2nd watch]
Today's Christmas-present-wrapping repeat-viewing provided by Dave.