Best movies on UK TV this Christmas
Christmas has finally arrived and if you don't fancy a trip to the cinema to see the likes of Wonka, Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom or Godzilla Minus One, there are plenty of movie offerings on TV this festive season.
We've got the full festive TV schedules for BBC One, BBC Two, ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5 so you can see every movie on offer from December 23 through to New Year's Day.
If you fancy something brand new, we've also rounded up all the new movies available to watch on streaming services like Netflix, Sky Cinema, Disney+ and Prime Video.
There are loads of other choices to discover on each streaming service (here are the best Christmas movies on Netflix, for instance), but we're going to focus on the new premieres on each service in December. Be warned, though: they won't all be Christmassy.
So, without further ado, here are the best movies to watch on the small screen in the UK this Christmas. (Listings are subject to change but are accurate as of December 22, 2023.)
BBC One Christmas movies 2023
How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World – December 23, 1.15pm
Paddington – December 23, 6.45pm
Out of Sight – December 23, 11.50pm
The Boss Baby – December 24, 10.05am
The Sound of Music – December 24, 2.50pm
Far from the Madding Crowd (2015) – December 25, 12.55am
Cinderella (2015) – December 25, 11.15am
The Addams Family 2 – December 25, 12.55pm
Toy Story 4 – December 25, 3.10pm
Yesterday – December 26, 12.35am
Pokémon: Detective Pikachu – December 26, 9.50am
Abominable – December 26, 11.25am
Beauty and the Beast (2017) – December 26, 1.15pm
Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway – December 26, 3.15pm
The Lion King (2019) – December 26, 5.05pm
Crazy Rich Asians – December 27, 12.25am
Trolls – December 27, 10.15am
Spirit Untamed – December 27, 11.40am
The Croods: A New Age – December 27, 2.25pm
Ghostbusters (1984) – December 27, 3.50pm
Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie – December 28, 12.40am
Trolls World Tour – December 28, 10.05am
Inside Out – December 28, 11.30am
The BFG (2016) – December 28, 1.55pm
Ghostbusters II – December 28, 3.40pm
I Give it a Year – December 28, 11.45pm
The Good Dinosaur – December 29, 9am
Big Hero 6 – December 29, 10.30am
The Book of Life – December 29, 2.15pm
Alice Through the Looking Glass – December 29, 3.45pm
Game Night – December 30, 12.10am
The Secret Life of Pets 2 – December 30, 1.15pm
Finding Dory – December 30, 2.35pm
Paddington 2 – December 30, 6pm
The Martian – December 30, 11.45pm
Cars 3 – December 31, 9.55am
Saving Mr Banks – December 31, 2.20pm
The Jungle Book (2016) – December 31, 4.20pm
Marry Me – December 31, 8.25pm
Shaun the Sheep: Farmageddon – January 1, 9.55am
The Boss Baby 2: Family Business – January 1, 11.15am
Moana – January 1, 2.20pm
The Witches (2020) – January 1, 5.55pm
Ghostbusters (2016) – January 1, 10.55pm
BBC Two Christmas movies 2023
The Big Sleep (1946) – December 23, 1.05pm
Casablanca – December 23, 2.45pm
White Christmas – December 24, 1pm
9 to 5 – December 24, 10.30pm
Chariots of Fire – December 25, 11.15am
Death on the Nile (1978) – December 25, 3.10pm
Belfast – December 26, 1.45am
High Society – December 26, 9am
Brief Encounter (1945) – December 26, 12.45pm
North by Northwest – December 26, 2.10pm
The Courier – December 26, 10.30pm
Red Joan – December 27, 12.20am
Toy Story 4 – December 27, 6.25am
Suspicion – December 27, 8.45am
Believe – December 27, 10.20am
The Mirror Crack'd – December 27, 2.50pm
Evil Under the Sun – December 27, 4.35pm
The Woman in Black (2012) – December 27, 10pm
Great Expectations (1946) – December 28, 9.35am
Witness for the Prosecution (1957) – December 28, 2.30pm
Murder on the Orient Express (1974) – December 28, 4.25pm
Respect – December 28, 9pm
The Lion King (2019) – December 29, 6.40am
School for Scoundrels (1960) – December 29, 9.30am
Hello, Dolly! – December 29, 1.45pm
Funny Girl – December 29, 4.05pm
For a Few Dollars More – December 29, 11pm
Fiddler on the Roof – December 30, 12.20pm
Mary, Queen of Scots (1971) – December 30, 3.10pm
The Heroes of Telemark – December 31, 1.15pm
Whisky Galore (2016) – December 31, 5.20pm
Letters from an Unknown Woman – January 1, 8.50am
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid – January 1, 12.45pm
The Magnificent Seven (1960) – January 1, 2.30pm
Bonnie and Clyde (1967) – January 1, 10pm
In the Heat of the Night – January 1, 11.50pm
ITV Christmas movies 2023
Sing – December 23, 1.15pm
How the Grinch Stole Christmas – December 23, 3.20pm
Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald – December 23, 5.35pm
The Secret Life of Pets – December 24, 1.05pm
The Grinch (2018) – December 24, 2.40pm
Home Alone 2: Lost in New York – December 24, 5.25pm
Sing 2 – December 25, 4.30pm
Pitch Perfect 2 – December 25, 11.25pm
The Croods – December 26, 10.25am
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang – December 26, 3pm
Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit – December 30, 1.25pm
Jumanji – December 30, 3.05pm
Over the Hedge – December 31, 9.30am
About a Boy – December 31, 11.05am
Evan Almighty – December 31, 1.05pm
Matilda – December 31, 2.55pm
No Time to Die – December 31, 8.30pm
Babe – January 1, 10.30am
Gladiator – January 1, 10.15pm
Channel 4 Christmas movies 2023
Scrooged – December 23, 2.35pm
It's a Wonderful Life – December 23, 4.30pm
Men in Black 3 – December 23, 7pm
Die Hard – December 23, 9pm
Scent of a Woman – December 23, 11.35pm
Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues – December 24, 2.25am
Charlotte's Web (2006) – December 24, 12.30pm
A Christmas Carol (1984) – December 24, 2.40pm
Miracle on 34th Street (1994) – December 24, 5.45pm
Puss in Boots – December 25, 8.40am
Kung Fu Panda 2 – December 25, 10.25am
The Italian Job (1969) – December 25, 3.10pm
Home Alone – December 25, 5.30pm
Forrest Gump – December 25, 10.40pm
East Is East – December 26, 12.35am
Tad the Lost Explorer and the Secret of King Midas – December 26, 6.25am
The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie – December 26, 7.50am
Annie (1982) – December 26, 11.40am
The Great Escape – December 26, 3.30pm
Raiders of the Lost Ark – December 26, 6.50pm
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2014) – December 27, 1am
Alvin and the Chipmunks – December 27, 7.35am
Dora and the Lost City of Gold – December 27, 9.20am
Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events – December 27, 1pm
Stardust – December 27, 5.40pm
Catch Me If You Can – December 27, 10pm
Predator – December 28, 12.45am
Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel – December 28, 8.10am
Aliens in the Attic – December 28, 9.50am
The Ten Commandments – December 28, 1.10pm
Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle – December 28, 9pm
The Godfather – December 28, 11.20pm
Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked – December 29, 7.40am
Barnyard – December 29, 9.20am
Close Encounters of the Third Kind – December 29, 12.45pm
Planes, Trains and Automobiles – December 29, 3.25pm
Hidden Figures – December 29, 5.40pm
Cast Away – December 29, 8pm
The Godfather Part II – December 29, 10.45pm
Petite Maman – December 30, 2.25am
Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Road Chip – December 30, 6am
Father Goose – December 30, 11.25am
Lawrence of Arabia – December 30, 1.45pm
Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom – December 30, 7.40pm
Four Weddings and a Funeral – December 30, 10pm
The Godfather Coda: The Death of Michael Corleone – December 31, 12.15am
Dad's Army (1971) – December 31, 2.05pm
Zulu – December 31, 4pm
Men in Black: International – December 31, 6.55pm
Airplane II: The Sequel – January 1, 12.55am
Daddy Day Care – January 1, 11.05am
Paw Patrol: The Movie – January 1, 12.55pm
Mrs Doubtfire – January 1, 2.55pm
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade – January 1, 5.20pm
Channel 5 Christmas movies 2023
Miracle on 34th Street (1947) – December 23, 11.45am
Escape to Victory – December 23, 1.50pm
The Dirty Dozen – December 23, 4.10pm
Bridget Jones's Baby – December 23, 10.10pm
Scrooge – A Christmas Carol (1951) – December 24, 11.30am
The Man Who Invented Christmas – December 24, 1.20pm
The Holiday – December 24, 3.25pm
Road House – December 24, 11.30pm
The Wizard of Oz – December 25, 3.10pm
The Dirty Dozen – December 26, 10.25am
The Glenn Miller Story – December 26, 1.25pm
Kinky Boots – December 26, 4.55pm
The Commitments – December 26, 11.25pm
Gone with the Wind – December 27, 8.45am
The Dam Busters – December 27, 1.10pm
Where Eagles Dare – December 27, 3.50pm
Meet the Fockers – December 27, 10.25pm
The Secret Garden (1993) – December 28, 10.50am
Police Academy – December 28, 12pm
Sherlock Holmes – December 28, 1.50pm
Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows – December 28, 4.30pm
Out of Africa – December 29, 8.50am
The Money Pit – December 30, 10.25am
You've Got Mail – December 30, 12.10pm
The Terminal – December 30, 2.35pm
The Fugitive – December 30, 5pm
Seven Brides for Seven Brothers – December 31, 11.55am
Hook – December 31, 2.05pm
The Goonies – December 31, 4.50pm
An American in Paris – January 1, 9.10am
The Wizard of Oz – January 1, 12pm
Singin' in the Rain – January 1, 2.10pm
My Fair Lady – January 1, 4.15pm
Netflix Christmas movie releases 2023
Best. Christmas. Ever! – available to watch now
Family Switch – available to watch now
Christmas as Usual – available to watch now
The Archies – available to watch now
Leave the World Behind – available to watch now
Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget – available to watch now
Maestro – available to watch now
Rebel Moon – Part 1: A Child of Fire – available to watch now
Sky Cinema Christmas movie releases 2023
Genie – available to watch now
A Thousand and One – available to watch now
The Three Musketeers: D'Artagnan – available to watch now
May December – available to watch now
Mummies – available to watch now
The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry – available to watch now
Dance First – available to watch now
Shazam! Fury of the Gods – available to watch now
The Machine – available to watch now
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse – available to watch now
Silent Night (2023) – available to watch now
Allelujah – December 24
The Super Mario Bros Movie – December 25
Polite Society – December 29
Sisu – December 30
Disney Plus Christmas movie releases 2023
Dashing Through the Snow – available to watch now
The Naughty Nine – available to watch now
Theater Camp – available to watch now
Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Cabin Fever – available to watch now
Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny – available to watch now
Prime Video Christmas movie releases 2023
Elf Me – available to watch now
Candy Cane Lane – available to watch now
Your Christmas or Mine 2 – available to watch now
Merry Little Batman – available to watch now
You Might Also Like
