People Are Slamming The BBC’s Christmas Schedule For Being ‘Boring’

As Christmas Day inches closer, many of us wait for that sweet TV schedule to drop - sitting down with a copy of the festive Radio Times issue and a biro, ready to work out exactly what we're going to be binging on and when.

A bit of Mary Poppins here, a bit of Shrek there. Maybe a Sherlock or Dr Who special to round off the day before everyone eventually dozes off with the tin of Quality Street perched on their knee.

But many people have been left disappointed this year after the BBC released its Christmas programming, with some deeming it 'boring' or 'bloody awful'.

Along with some boring churchy stuff, the Queen's Christmas broadcast and the usual Wallace and Gromit action, film-wise we have The Good Dinosaur (which was unequivocally shit) and The Jungle Book (which was pretty good; worth it for Idris Elba's Shere Khan, let's face it).

via GIPHY

In the evening, we've got Christmas specials from the Strictly Come Dancing, Mrs Brown's Boys and Call the Midwife stables, as well as a festive show from Michael McIntyre. Ah, and there's an episode of EastEnders just to ensure everyone's day isn't too jovial.

If anyone's still awake at 12.30am, they can also treat themselves to Michelle Williams flick, My Week WIth Marilyn - though most people will be sleeping off the sherry by that point.

One person tweeted: "This is a totally uninspiring lineup - time for licence fee to end."

Another wrote: "BBC1 doing their bit to encourage a resurgence in family board games there. #NotASingleprogrammeOfInterest."

Someone else said: "Christmas Day used to be the TV highlight of the year... now it's the lowlight!"

Another added: "Good job I don't watch tv on Xmas day, that's got to be the shittest bbc 1 line of programmes I've ever seen."

A fourth simply wrote: "Bloody awful."

Many others said they found the programming so uninspiring that they'd be opting for Netflix, Amazon or even DVDs on Christmas day.

Some people tried to defend the schedule, with one arguing: "I can't believe people are blasting this schedule. Christmas is ruined?! Surely Christmas is more about people, family and loved ones, rather than what's on the television? There are 364 other days to watch programmes - think outside the gogglebox!"

Plus, there's always the New Year's Day action to look forward to, which boasts, above all else, the absolute gem that is Inside Out, Pixar's suprisingly deep and thoroughly brilliant 2015 family flick.

There's also the original 1967 Jungle Book, The Railway Children and Avengers: Age of Ultron.

See, it's not all bad, kids.

Topics: Christmas, Entertainment, TV and Film, News, UK

Jess Hardiman

Jess is a journalist at LADbible who graduated from Manchester University with a degree in Film Studies, English Language and Linguistics - indecisiveness at its finest, right there. She also works for FOODbible and its sister page Seitanists, which are both a safe haven for her to channel a love for homemade pasta, fennel and everything else in between. You can contact Jess at [email protected].

@Jess_Hardiman