There’s something cosy and old school about watching a movie on the telly – and we’re not talking about any of that Netflix or Prime Video business. Casually flicking through the channels and stumbling upon an old favourite in the wild is special. You didn’t know you needed to watch Die Hard and yet, there it is – brandishing a machine gun in a sweaty vest, beckoning you in. It takes the whole painful business of choice out of your hands and replaces it with two hours of pure enjoyment and a handful of stolen detonators.
But what if you don‘t have to idly flick through the channels in the hope of finding something great to watch? What if, say, someone compiled a bumper list of the best movies on the UK’s terrestrial TV stations between Saturday and New Year’s Day? Well, hello there! We’ve scoured the networks and cherry-picked the finest in free film viewing this Christmas: everything from Christmas classics to, well, regular classics. Red-button all of them and you’ve got your own Criterion cupboard for the year ahead. And if you’d rather hit the streamers, check out the newest festive fare on Netflix, Prime Video and the like here instead.
Saturday, December 21
On Her Majesty’s Secret Service
2.15pm, Sat Dec 21. ITV1
What’s Up, Doc?
3.20pm, Sat Dec 21. BBC2
Stardust
3.30pm, Sat Dec 21. Channel 4
Apocalypse Now: Final Cut
Midnight, Sat Dec 21. Channel 4
Pan’s Labyrinth
12.45am, Sat Dec 21. BBC2
Sunday, December 22
A Christmas Carol (1951)
10.55am, Sun Dec 22. Channel 5
Chariots of Fire
12.30pm, Sun Dec 22. BBC2
Ron’s Gone Wrong
3pm, Sun Dec 22. Channel 4
The Holiday
6.30pm, Sun Dec 22. Channel 5
Die Hard
9pm, Sun Dec 22. Channel 4
Quadrophenia
11.45pm, Sun Dec 22. BBC2
Monday, December 23
Meet Me In St Louis
11.05am, Mon Dec 23. BBC2
Coco
3.15pm, Mon Dec 23. BBC1
Ghostbusters
4.50pm, Mon Dec 23. BBC1
The Haunting (1963)
11.20pm, Mon Dec 23. BBC2
Tuesday, December 24 (Christmas eve)
Great Expectations (1946)
9.50am, Tue Dec 24. BBC2
White Christmas
2.15pm, Tue Dec 24. BBC2
A Christmas Carol (1984)
2.10pm, Tue Dec 24. Channel 4
Moana
2.20pm, Tue Dec 24. BBC1
It’s a Wonderful Life
2.30pm, Tue Dec 24. ITV1
Catch Me If You Can
4.35pm, Tue Dec 24. Channel 5
Home Alone
6.05pm, Tue Dec 24. Channel 4
Beetlejuice
10.45pm, Tue Dec 24. BBC2
Close Encounters of the Third Kind
11.25pm, Tue Dec 24. Channel 4
The Rocky Horror Picture Show
12.15am, Tue Dec 24. BBC2
Wednesday, December 25 (Christmas Day)
High Society
11.05am, Wed Dec 25. BBC2
Toy Story 3
11.20am, Wed Dec 25. BBC1
Some Like It Hot
3.10pm, Wed Dec 25. BBC2
North By Northwest
5.05pm, Wed Dec 25. BBC2
Miracle on 34th Street (1994)
5pm, Wed Dec 25. Channel 4
Doctor Who: Joy to the World
5.10pm, Wed Dec 25. BBC1
Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl
6.10pm, Wed Dec 25. BBC1
Raiders of the Lost Ark
8.20pm, Wed Dec 25. Channel 4
Gavin & Stacy: The Finale
9pm, Wed Dec 25. BBC1
Notting Hill
10.35pm, Wed Dec 25. Channel 4
Thursday, December 26 (Boxing Day)
Inside Out
9.55am, Thu Dec 26. BBC1
The Big Sleep
10.55am, Thu Dec 26. BBC2
Seven Brides For Seven Brothers
12.10pm, Thu Dec 26. Channel 5
Casablanca
12.45pm, Thu Dec 26. BBC2
Paddington
1.50pm, Thu Dec 26. BBC1
The Magnificent Seven
2.25pm, Thu Dec 26. BBC2
Grease
3pm, Thu Dec 26. ITV1
Zulu
3.50pm, Thu Dec 26. Channel 4
Matilda (2022)
5.40pm, Thu Dec 26. BBC1
Gladiator
9pm, Thu Dec 26. BBC2
Point Break
12.10am, Thu Dec 26. BBC1
Friday, December 27
Big
10.25am, Fri Dec 27. ITV1
Oliver!
11.25am, Fri Dec 27. Channel 4
Brief Encounter
12.10pm, Fri Dec 27. BBC2
West Side Story (1961)
1.35pm, Fri Dec 27. BBC2
Jurassic Park
3.30pm, Fri Dec 27. ITV1
The Hunt for Red October
3.40pm, Fri Dec 27. Channel 4
Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle
6.45pm, Fri Dec 27. Channel 4
Beyond Paradise
9pm, Fri Dec 27. BBC1
I, Tonya
11.15pm, Fri Dec 27. BBC2
The Naked Gun
12.55am, Fri Dec 27. Channel 4
Saturday, December 28
Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan
9.30am, Sat Dec 26. Channel 5
The Incredibles
1.40pm, Sat Dec 28. BBC1
A Hard Day’s Night
11.25am, Sat Dec 28. BBC2
Cast Away
7pm, Sat Dec 28. Channel 4
The Godfather
9.45pm, Sat Dec 28. Channel 4
Sunday, December 29
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
1.05pm, Sun Dec 29. Channel 5
The Firm
1.30pm, Sun Dec 29. Channel 5
The Sound of Music
3.45pm, Sun Dec 29. BBC1
Witness for the Prosecution
12.55pm, Sun Dec 29. BBC2
Gosford Park
10pm, Sun Dec 29. BBC2
Slumdog Millionaire
11.55pm, Sun Dec 29. Channel 4
Don’t Look Now
12.15am, Sun Dec 29. BBC2
Monday, December 30
The Titchfield Thunderbolt
12pm, Mon Dec 30. BBC2
The Goonies
1.15pm, Mon Dec 30. ITV1
Whisky Galore!
5.25pm, Mon Dec 30. BBC2
Rocketman
9pm, Mon Dec 30. Channel 4
When Harry Met Sally…
11pm, Mon Dec 30. BBC1
Tuesday, December 31 (New Year’s Eve)
The Famous Five
10.20am, Tue Dec 31. BBC1
She Wore a Yellow Ribbon
11.40am. Tue Dec 31. BBC2
The Railway Children
1.05pm, Tue Dec 31. BBC1
Grease
1.15pm. Tue Dec 31. ITV1
The Big Country
1.20pm. Tue Dec 31. BBC2
The Guns of Navarone
2.05pm. Tue Dec 31. Channel 4
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
6.40pm. Tue Dec 31. Channel 4
Black Panther
8pm. Tue Dec 31. BBC1
The Godfather Part II
11.05pm, Tue Dec 31. Channel 4
Wednesday, January 1 (New Year’s Day)
Top Hat
8.35am, Wed Jan 1. BBC2
Lawrence of Arabia
12.20pm, Wed Jan 1. Channel 4
The Searchers
1.15pm, Wed Jan 1. BBC2
Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl
1.55pm, Wed Jan 1. BBC1
The Man Who Would Be King
3.10pm, Wed Jan 1. BBC2
Mary Poppins
3.15pm, Wed Jan 1. BBC1
The Traitors (series)
8pm, Wed Jan 1. BBC1
SAS Rogue Heroes (series)
9pm, Wed Jan 1. BBC1
The Untouchables
10pm, Wed Jan 1. BBC2
La La Land
11.55pm, Wed Jan 1. BBC2
This list was curated by Time Out’s film editor Phil de Semlyen.
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