Billionaire Boy
7pm, BBC1
The BBC once again adapts a David Walliams novel for the festive season. Walliams owes a great deal to Roald Dahl, and this is another tale of a forlorn child in a world of cruel and stupid adults. Elliot Sprakes stars as Joe, whose factory worker dad Len (John Thomson) becomes a billionaire after inventing a new type of toilet roll. But as his dad embraces the bling and a glamorous girlfriend (Catherine Tate), Joe yearns for a normal life and friends. Reliable family fun, with Walliams himself co-starring as a dinner lady. David Stubbs
Jamie and Jimmy’s Friday Night Feast
8pm, Channel 4
Third series of the matey cooking show, with Messrs Oliver and Doherty serving up more smashing grub and convivial banter from their artfully distressed caff on Southend pier. Elf visitor Orlando Bloom drops in to attempt a classic Moroccan tagine, while Doherty bodges together a sausage-making machine from a drainpipe. The lads also embark on a Ford Escort Mk1 road trip to the Cotswolds to try some goat meat, a delicious food source that’s regularly binned by dairy companies. Graeme Virtue
Race to Escape
8pm, Discovery
A new series in which two teams of strangers are pitted against each other in trying to escape from various themed rooms. There’s $25,000 in cash for the winners, but throwing a prize at it doesn’t quite answer the obvious question: why? This first instalment finds the red team and the blue team trying to escape from a 60s-themed barbers shop. Initially tied into chairs, they have to work together to solve puzzles that will release them. It’s like The Krypton Factor meets The Crystal Maze. Ben Arnold
Sherlock
9pm, BBC1
It’s goodbye 2015 and hello 1895, as Benedict Cumberbatch is flung back in time with Martin Freeman and Una Stubbs and forced to play the original characters they ripped off. Preview copies of this episode are being kept in a locked room, but The Abominable Bride promises a delicious mix of mystery and MR James-y ghost story as a ghastly ghoul, clad in her wedding dress, stalks the streets of old London, hell-bent on revenge. Who cares why? It’s guaranteed to be executed with pure Moffat-y/Gatiss-y glee. Julia Raeside
The Big Quiz – Coronation Street v Emmerdale
9pm, ITV
It’s been a whopper of a year for Emmerdale and Corrie, what with a helicopter crash in the Dales and fire ripping through the Street. There’s also someone buried under Gail’s new extension. But how much do the stars of the two rival soaps know about the big storylines and funniest moments? Quizmaster Stephen Mulhern is about to find out as cast members playfully battle it out to see if Team Rovers Return or Team Woolpack will win. Joy for diehard soap fans, confusing for the rest of the world. Hannah Verdier
Underworld, Inc
9pm, National Geographic
Once a byword for stirring elephant documentaries and suchlike, National Geographic is more likely these days to produce sub-Ross Kemp fare such as this. Backed by a macho voiceover, it follows police as they track down the makers and sellers of moonshine – illegal liquor brewed deep in the Appalachian mountains. This then finds its way on to the streets of New York, sold by illegal vendors. It’s a dirty business, for sure, but a part of you can’t help rooting for the “bad” guys: romantic outlaws in a world dominated by big business. DS
Mrs Brown’s Boys New Year Special
10.30pm, BBC1
Not to everyone’s taste, but Mrs Brown’s Boys is widely watched over the festive season. There’s precious little concession to the holidays in this New Year special – more, as ever, a procession of near-the-knuckle jokes, delivered while the cast try their hardest (not always successfully) to avoid laughing. Tonight, Robert Bathurst guests as a surprise visitor to Foley’s Bar. He has designs not on Kathy (who has “been on so many blind dates she needs a guide dog”) but on Agnes Brown herself. John Robinson
Film choice
Monsters Vs Aliens Rob Letterman, Conrad Vernon, 2009) 10.25am, BBC1
This terrific DreamWorks 3D animated caper pits a bunch of heroic monsters – led by the Reese Witherspoon-voiced 50ft woman, Susan (AKA Ginormica) – against an alien invasion fleet. It’s a feisty blend of eyeboggling action with witty references to Dr Strangelove and any number of sci-fi classics. Paul Howlett
The Sound of Music (Robert Wise, 1965) 1.15pm, BBC1
The soaring screen version of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s musical won best film and best director Oscars for its exuberant tale of singing nun Maria (Julie Andrews), who is attached first to the seven Von Trapp children, then Von Trapp himself (Christopher Plummer). It was shot handsomely on location around the Alps and Salzburg, but it’s Andrews and her joyful songs that make it irresistible. PH
Kingsman: The Secret Service (Matthew Vaughn, 2015) 4pm, 8pm, Sky Movies Premiere
Vaughn’s spy spoof stars Colin Firth as Harry Hart. He’s inducting young geezer Eggsy (Taron Egerton) in the mysterious ways of his secret crime-busting organisation, all the while foiling the world-conquering plans of Valentine (Samuel L Jackson). High-style entertainment, but it could do with an ejector button for some of the naff, laddish humour. PH
Les Misérables (Tom Hooper, 2012) 9pm, Film4
Even if you wouldn’t man the barricades in defence of musicals, or this long-running West End show, this is a stirring experience. Early 19th-century Paris is recreated on an epic scale, with star performances from Hugh Jackman as the reformed convict Valjean and Russell Crowe as Javert, the policeman who vindictively pursues him. Their singing (recorded live as they filmed) is unexpectedly moving. PH
Today’s best live sport
World Darts Championship Day 13, featuring the opening two quarter-finals. 1pm, Sky Sports 2, Sky Sports Darts
Premiership Rugby Union: Northampton Saints v Exeter Chiefs Top-flight encounter at Franklin’s Gardens. 2.30pm, BT Sport 1
Championship Football: Brighton & Hove Albion v Wolves The Seagulls look to continue their promotion charge. QPR v Hull follows at 5pm. 2.30pm, Sky Sports 1
Cross-Country Skiing Lenzerheide, Switzerland, hosts the World Cup meeting. 3pm, Sky Sports 2
