Macaque: Monkeys in the Mountains – A Dynasties Special
7.30pm, BBC One
Because it’s not Christmas without a David Attenborough documentary … Among the Barbary macaque monkeys of Morocco’s Atlas mountains, Mac is king of the swingers through scorching summers and frostbitten winters – until a vicious rival steals his crown. Can the banished Mac forge alliances, get his monkey mojo back and become top, err, dog, once more? Ali Catterall
The Year in Music at the BBC: 2022
6.30pm, BBC Two
One more tune! In a year that saw the emphatic return of live music, Lauren Laverne cherrypicks some highlights of BBC output. Encompassing everything from large-scale festivals to studio jams with Jools Holland, that means performances from Little Simz, Pet Shop Boys and Stormzy (plus, of course, Macca at Glasto). Graeme Virtue
My Old School
9pm, BBC Two
The Brandon Lee scandal is one of those that a newspaper headline cannot adequately explain. In 1994, a 30-year-old former student of Scotland’s Bearsden Academy re-enrolled, passing himself off as a 17-year-old. It takes a documentary like this one, made by a classmate of “Brandon’s” and starring Alan Cumming, to discover why. Ellen E Jones
Would I Lie to You? at Christmas
8.30pm, BBC One
Sophie Willan, Guz Khan, Gloria Hunniford and Christopher Eccleston are among the festive fibbers. Questions include: do Hunniford’s family run a sweepstake on when she’ll doze off? Did Khan use walk-on music when he was a teacher? And will this lovely format ever get old? Alexi Duggins
Celebrity Christmas Hell
10.15pm, Channel 4
Ever wondered how B-list celebrities really celebrate Christmas? Oh … well you’re about to find out anyway, as the likes of Joel Dommett, Jack Whitehall, Oti and Motsi Mabuse, Katherine Ryan and Alex Brooker invite cameras into their homes. Hollie Richardson
Jason Manford: Recent Nostalgia
10.30pm, BBC One
Recorded in September, the highlight of Manford’s lockdown-inspired standup is Assembly Bangers – a happy house medley of school assembly classics including This Little Light of Mine and Lord of the Dance. Fun! HR
Film choice
Raiders of the Lost Ark (Steven Spielberg, 1981) 8pm, Channel 4
The new year will bring a new Indiana Jones film (The Dial of Destiny!), but given that the teaser trailer features scenes revisiting the best moments from the original (Nazis, large rolling stones, whips), it’s probably better just to watch the 1981 film instead. Harrison Ford gave his Han Solo character a more donnish air, but the swashbuckling heroics are the same, as Indy races the Third Reich for the biblical Ark of the Covenant from Peruvian rainforest to Nepal to Egyptian desert – all controlled with an eye for a comic action set piece by Steven Spielberg. Simon Wardell
Live sport
Rugby Union: Sale Sharks v Leicester Tigers 7pm, BT Sport 1. Both sides play their final game of 2022 at AJ Bell Stadium.
