Today's picks include a legendary musician, a must-see movie and part two of a spooky new BBC drama . . .
Have Yourself A Mary Little Christmas, RTÉ One, 10.30pm
For 27 years, Mary Kennedy presented the annual Carols show on RTÉ One, featuring a rich variety of Irish musical talent, performing in beautiful settings all around the country. Here, she re-visits some of her favourites from those shows, including performances by Enya, Johnny Logan, Sinead O’Connor, Mick Flannery and Susan O’Neill, Donal Lunny, Ralph McTell, Imelda May, Loah and Lisa Hannigan and Eimear Quinn.
Idris Elba Meets Paul McCartney, 9.00pm, Virgin Media One
In a world exclusive, two of the biggest names in entertainment come together for a very special one-off show: music legend Paul McCartney is interviewed by Golden Globe-winning actor Idris Elba. Recorded in London in December 2020, Idris talks to Paul about his peerless career as the most successful musician and composer in pop music history. Paul talks about his writing process, which has produced some of the best-loved and most performed songs ever. As a producer and musician himself, Idris is fascinated by the craft and joy that drives Paul’s remarkable and prolific output and wants to find out what inspires Paul to continue to innovate creatively.
Mary Berry's Festive Feasts, 7.05pm, BBC One
Merry Berry (geddit?/!) knows a thing or two about cooking up a festive feast, and this year she is sharing her cooking skills with three novice cooks, cousins James, Jack and Leah, who want to throw a spectacular surprise feast for their respective mums and bring together their whole family for the first time in two years. With Mary's help, can they pull it off and give their mums a Christmas surprise they will never forget? Mary has also enlisted the help of Alex Jones and Patrick Grant. While Mary focuses on getting the novice cooks up to speed in the kitchen, Patrick and Alex oversee the extras that will make this Christmas reunion special. They are also on hand to offer moral support when temperatures rise in the kitchen.
Pulp Fiction, 9.30pm, TG4
Twenty-seven years (yikes!) after its release and Quentin Tarantino's portmanteau masterpiece still packs some knockout punch. It’s audacious, wild, violent, funny and disturbing and boasts career-high turns from John Travolta and Samuel L Jackson as a pair of jive talking hitmen, Bruce Willis as a boxer straight out of a film noir flick, and Uma Thurman as a gangster’s moll. That’s only some of the sprawling cast and all of their paths will cross in the fringes of an LA netherworld that screams danger. Pulp Fiction became iconic overnight and gave cinema an adrenalin shot like few movies since. Look out for Bronagh Gallagher in a Frames t-shirt! Great soundtrack, great direction, great acting, great fun.
The Girl Before, 9.00pm, BBC One
Based on the book of the same name by JP Delaney, this new four-part drama puts a thoroughly modern spin on the haunted house story. It follows Jane (Gugu Mbatha-Raw) who starts to have doubts about her new - and restrictive - way of life in a mysterious house when she learns about the fate of a previous tenant. The series stars former EastEnders actress Jessica Plummer and Ben Hardy as Emma and Simon, who go through some massive changes when they become the new tenants of a strange architect’s house. The mini-series will conclude on Wednesday night.
