31st December 2025

0925 - ITV1

Dick Van Dyke is a 100 years old and an international treasure so you owe it to him to start your New Year’s Eve viewing with one of his great films. It’s a big bloated mess of a thing but when it clicks it’s a banger. And then The Goonies for another great slice of Bank Holiday entertainment. Although, given the time it’s on, I can only assume they’ve chopped out all the swearing which really is half the fun

1050 - BBC2

More musical fun with a double bill of top tier examples; Funny Girl is worth it for Don’t Rain On My Parade by itself, but the second is probably the superior film. A tour de force of choreography making it a proper belter

1400 - BBC1

A great end to the trilogy, this time stepping away from the convoluted nature of the second into a pretty straight western. And a good western it is too!

1500 - Legend

A John Carpenter treat! Well, a bit of a treat as whilst it’s a good film Chevy Chase does his best to grump his way through it bringing the vibes down. Tell you what though, even it’s not from Carpenter himself, it really does have a banging soundtrack

1700 - 5 Star

Another batch of romcoms here, although the first film is Gerard Butler versus the weather which is an admittedly tough act to follow. The pick of the following is either Mary or About a Boy depending on how much you dig the Farrelly Brothers style comedy.

2030 - BBC1

A fine film for the New Year’s evening, the first in a near 30 year run which honestly doesn’t bare thinking about. The first one is a bit twistier than the others but can still pull some big budget sequences out of its back pocket when needed

2330 - BBC1

So now we come to what you’ll be watching when the bells strike; Ronan Keating and friends sounds like a load of smug folks singing various big hits which should be good enough to have on in the background

2330 - 5

This sounds like it will be pretty much be the same as BBC1, only with Jane McDonald belting out some random songs as you give the buffet another sweep

2330 - BBC2

But really you’ll be watching this, right? Everyone ends up with Jools on at some point, it’s nothing to be ashamed of.

2340 - Film4

Here’s a rogue pick for midnight, sticking on Withnail & I as your when the bells strike treat. It’s a very good if bleak film about two pals one of whom is very drunk going off to the countryside

0100 - Legend Xtra

Once you've got the midnight stuff out of the way and picked up all the party popper mess then you can welcome in 2026 with this belter of a film, your second John Carpenter of the day this time at his near peak with a score strong enough to knock out a charging rhino