TV tonight: ‘The Batch Lady’ prepares Christmas dinner three months early

21 hours ago 2

Batch from Scratch at Christmas

8pm, Channel 4
Would you make your Christmas dinner three months before the big day? Suzanne Mulholland – AKA The Batch Lady – swears by a frozen turkey and prepared trimmings in this heavily Lidl-sponsored programme. She and Joe Swash join a family hosting Christmas for the first time to show them how it’s possible to whip up a festive feast in just half an hour, as well as lobster mac and cheese and a tiramisu that the kids can make. Hollie Richardson

World’s Biggest Christmas Market

8pm, Channel 5
Absolute festive overload ahoy as Tom Read Wilson heads to the German city of Cologne to visit the city’s famous shrine to Christmas. He’s set himself a mission to find gifts for his friends and entire family – but will the glühwein get in the way? Phil Harrison

The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon

9pm, Sky Max
The zombie spin-off that doubles up as a picturesque European travelogue reaches its season three climax. Laconic biker Daryl (Norman Reedus) and whip-cracking cowgirl Paz (Alexandra Masangkay) must go undercover for a rescue mission in Barcelona, while Carol (Melissa McBride) follows her heart. Graeme Virtue

All Her Fault

9pm, Sky Atlantic

Johnny Carr and Michael Peña standing in kitchen looking out the window with shocked expressions

Abby Elliott was in the Christmas episode of The Bear, so she knows something about intense family showdowns: this is right up there. The Irvine clan put the whole kidnapped-child problem on hold when a revelation from the past, with Lia (Elliott) at the centre of it, causes an unholy row. Jack Seale

Daddy Issues

9.35pm, BBC One
A surprise weekend break is on the cards as this charming sitcom continues. An off-season caravan park with sticky tables and cafe meals served “suspiciously quickly” is further soured by the unexpected addition of Malcolm’s estranged, dodgy dad Jackie (Philip Jackson). Can Malcolm win the talent contest? And can Jackie actually convince anyone to join his pyramid scheme – “an energy drink for ladies called Shoes”? Ali Catterall

The Graham Norton Show

10.40pm, BBC One
Kate Winslet has directed her first film – and, funnily enough, it’s a Christmas one. She’ll be talking to Graham Norton about Goodbye June on his red sofa, along with fellow guests former prime minister of New Zealand Jacinda Ardern, The Celebrity Traitors winner Alan Carr and US talkshow host Seth Meyers. Cat Burns performs her single There’s Just Something About Her. HR

Film choice

Jay Kelly (Noah Baumbach, 2025),Netflix

George Clooney standing in a bus full of people pointing at something in the film Jay Kelly

Jay Kelly is Noah Baumbach’s meditation on the meaning of true celebrity, and he benefits greatly from casting George Clooney – perhaps the last classic movie star – in the lead. Co-written with Emily Mortimer, it explores the personae A-listers tend to adopt, and what happens when that public front starts to fall away. It’s a role right in the centre of Clooney’s comfort zone, and he inhabits it perfectly; imagine the heightened knowingness of Hail, Caesar! twinned with the easy charm of his Nespresso adverts. Plus, it helps that he’s backed by a couple of Baumbach all-timers in Adam Sandler and Laura Dern. Catch it now, before the Oscar buzz kicks in. Stuart Heritage

You Were Never Really Here (Lynne Ramsay, 2017), Friday, 1.50am, Film4
Lynne Ramsay may be best known for her films that push the struggles of parenthood to the extreme, such as We Need to Talk About Kevin and Die My Love. But there’s an argument to be made that 2017’s You Were Never Really Here represents her high-water mark. A politician’s daughter is kidnapped by human traffickers, and Joaquin Phoenix’s ex-mercenary has to save the day. Though it may sound a bit Jason Stathamy, this is an extraordinarily violent and tender film that will never leave you. A huge accomplishment. SH