PADDINGTON
December 23, BBC1, 6.45pm
Let the new “IRL” adventures of the famous Peruvian bear ease you into the holidays. This first instalment of Michael Bond’s creation re-imagined is shot in Primrose Hill and brings Paddington to London. Before he has unpacked a suitcase of marmalade sandwiches he has landed himself in hot water, being the object of desire for an evil taxidermist who fancies stuffing our hero. With a cast who fit the criteria as national treasures – Hugh Bonneville, Sally Hawkins, Peter Capaldi and Ben Whishaw as the bear – this 2014 film brought the Paddington charm to a whole new generation.

SING
December 23, ITV, 1.15pm
There has not been a better animated musical adventure for some time. Sing, the story of Buster Moon, a skid row theatre impresario who dreams big dreams, is delightful to look at, packed with endearing characters and has a soundtrack that celebrates about 50 years of great pop music. Cheering and littered with nods and winks to a parent who has joined the youngsters on the sofa, Sing does not play one duff note.

Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman in Casablanca

CASABLANCA
December 23, BBC Two, 2.55pm
Bogart and Bergman’s wartime tale has tell-tale black and white soft focus that shows quite how old it is, but the story of Rick’s Bar in Casablanca and its clientele of refugees, Resistance heroes, Nazi informers and general criminality is timeless.

Lee Marvin in The Dirty Dozen

THE DIRTY DOZEN
December 23, Channel 5, 4.10pm
By the 1970s war films had moved on from the clean-cut British gentleman taking on Nazis to something that reflected the Boomer generation rather than their parents. This adventure is a classic of the latter genre: starring Lee Marvin as the tough guy Major Freisman. His job is to trawl through America’s worst prisons and put together a crack team of violent criminals serving life sentences. If they can make it through a suicide mission to destroy a Nazi target behind lines, they may win their freedom…

DIE HARD
December 23, Channel 4, 9pm
Street-wearied New York plod John McClane could do with some down time as he travels to Los Angeles to hang out with his estranged partner and their kids. Already in her bad books for a failed relationship partly down to him working too hard, when he is immediately called on to tackle a terrorist plot at Holly’s high-falutin’ Japanese Corporation headquarters it does not bode well. The marvellous Alan Rickman reminds us how much fun an actor can have when given a truly evil role.

Julie Andrews in The Sound of Music

THE SOUND OF MUSIC
December 24, BBC1, 2.50pm
Give Christopher Plummer a guitar, stick him onstage and get him to sing Edelweiss. Watch the Nazis shrink away. The Sound of Music is a staple festive feelgood, with a collection of tunes that are as much as the common language as any carol today. And the triumph of love and family over fascism means sitting down and enjoying Dame Julie Andrews sing My Favourite Things is a political act.

Jude Law and Cameron Diaz in The Holiday

THE HOLIDAY
December 24, Channel 5, 3.25pm
If you want a toe-curling slushy 90 minutes but simply cannot risk watching Love, Actually ever again, The Holiday has that nauseating slush in spades. Taking the classic plot of the Anglo-American love affair used repeatedly in PG Woodhouse tales, we are transported to a remote yet Home Counties-based snowbound home and then sunny California for Cameron Diaz, Kate Winslett, Jude Law and Jack Black to sort their emotions out. The oceanic house swap leads to unexpected heart tremors.

WHITE CHRISTMAS
December 24, BBC2, 1pm
So you’ve been through the war and are now making your names as a song and dance duet. You fall in love with two performing sisters and after some concerted flirting all looks good. But what’s this? Your beaux are performing at your former commanding officer’s snow-laden Vermont guest house and entertainment lounge, which is hardly wall to wall with punters. Have no fear – Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye are on hand to croon their way through such classics as Happy Holiday, The Best Things Happen When You’re Dancing and of course White Christmas.

Ian Charleson in Chariots of Fire

CHARIOTS OF FIRE
December 25, BBC2, 11.15am
The 1981 story of Eric Liddell and Harold Abrahams, the devout Scot and the English Jew who ran in the 1924 Olympics, ushered in a decade of high-end British period drama. With career-defining performances by Ian Charleson and Ben Cross, Chariots remains a moving story of belief, duty, dedication and overcoming bigotry.

Peter Ustinov in Death on the Nile

DEATH ON THE NILE
December 25, BBC2, 3.10pm
Peter Ustinov made Poirot his own and his performances only look better today after watching Kenneth Branagh try to do the same recently. Agatha Christie’s classic pulls together a wonderful collection of motley characters to embark on a cruise up the Nile. And what a cast to spend Christmas Day with: David Niven, Bette Davis, Angela Lansbury, Maggie Smith and Mia Farrow.

Tom Hanks in Forrest Gump

FORREST GUMP
December 25, Channel 4, 10.40pm
Tom Hanks manages to pour every good old American character homily he has ever played out into Gump, and the Oscar-winning tale of the pure-as-snow innocent bearing witness to the latter decades of the 20th century is both an endearing personal story but also a jolting reminder of the social history of the USA.

THE GREAT ESCAPE
December 26, Channel 4, 3.30pm
In the days before streaming there were some landmark TV moments the pre-Netflix generations looked forward to. As well a Christmas Day Bond film, the most star-studded war film of the lot still gets a Christmas airing, and as you watch The Great Escape you’ll find yourself hoping that perhaps, just this once, as we watch this incredible true story for the millionth time, a few more of the brave PoWs make it home.

RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK
December 26, ITV1, 6.50pm
The original and still the best, Harrison Ford’s sexy archaeologist heads to Egypt to investigate a secret Nazi plot to find the Ark of the Covenant, a legendary artefact that contains mystical powers. Indy and his old girlfriend (Karen Allen) are thrown together to try and keep it out of Hitler’s hands.

THE COMMITMENTS
December 26, Channel Five, 11.25pm
Alan Parker’s adaptation of Roddy Doyle’s novel has a crashing energy that pulls the viewer to the front of the stage. Set in Dublin and telling the story of a soul fanatic wanting to bring some groove to Ireland, with a beautiful soundtrack and top class performances, Parker’s film is a joyous celebration of music and working-class culture.