This week’s highlights
| Date | 19 December 2020 |
| Author | Kevin Courtney |
| Published date | 19 December 2020 |
| Publication title | Irish Times (Dublin, Ireland) |
What genius thought it was a good idea to bring Ray D'Arcy, Dustin and Zig and Zag back together? No really, it was genius. Viewers of all generations have gone gaga for the return of the gang , and all agree that D'Arcy and the lads have saved Christmas 2020. This Christmas special promises to be a merry hour of festive madness and mayhem, as the gang look back on Christmas specials of the past, and create some special moments in the present.
Catherine Celebrates… Christmas
Monday, RTÉ One, 7.30pm
Right now, we're all in the headwreck of Christmas preparations, and the last thing we need right now is another smug telly chef who has all their shitake together, creating the perfect festive feast and making the rest of us look bad. Happily, Catherine Celebrates is more focused on the simple joys of Christmas, as Catherine Fulvio meets up with Irish artisan producers and incorporates their ingredients into tasty but not too complicated yuletide recipes.
Upstart Crow: Lockdown Christmas 1603
Monday, BBC Two, 9pm
David Mitchell returns as aspiring 16th- century playwright Will, who dreams of having a hit on the stage and escaping his humble origins in Stratford-on-Avon. In this Christmas special, London goes into lockdown due to a pesky plague that's ravaging Europe, and Will has to self- isolate in his lodgings. He decides to use the forced confinement to come up with a cracker of a play to please the new king. Trouble is, he can't find any inspiration, and if he doesn't get past this dose of writer's block, his head will be on the block.
The Busk - A Decade of Christmas on Grafton Street
Tuesday, RTÉ One, 10.10pm
Every year, stars such as Bono, Glen Hansard, Imelda May, Hozier, Mundy, Hudson Taylor gather in Dublin's city centre to raise their voices and raise money in aid of the Simon Community. But this year the streets will be silent due to COVID restrictions. Never mind - we can relive some of the greatest moments from the Christmas Busk over the years via this special telly celebration, led by the master crowd-puller himself, Glen Hansard.
Motherland
Wednesday, BBC Two, 9pm
When we think of Christmas specials, we think heartwarming, touchy-feely, message-of-hope-and-goodwill. But the cut-throat world of the "Alpha Mums", Christmas is just another arena in which to assert your dominance and cruelly sleigh all who get in your way. Anna Maxwell Martin stars as working mum Julia, who is trying to hold her own among the a south...
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