This year its flagship Christmas Day offering is a specially commissioned adaptation of the Charles Dickens classic David Copperfield, starring Dawn French, Bob Hoskins and Ian McKellen. Market forces But critics say that elsewhere the BBC is pandering to market forces. Before They Were Famous IV - which all run on Christmas Day evening on BBC One. Many say that in a bid to grab audience share, the two biggest stations have lost sight of quality, family-oriented programming that used to characterise Christmas. Then there were just three channels to choose from.
Today there are hundreds.
In a bid to inform your decision BBC News Online looks back at prime time Christmas Day listings for BBC One and ITV 25 years ago, in 1974, and compares them to what's on offer this year. Bruce Forsyth and the Generation Game Brucie and hostess Anthea Redfern present the family-based game show with plenty of stunts. Some Mother Do 'Ave 'Em. The Mike Yarwood Christmas Show Impressionist famed for taking off Harold Wilson and others is joined by special guest Max Bygraves. Kwai Epic war film starring William Holden, Alec Guinness and Jack Hawkins.