What's on - TV and streaming picks for Christmas Day

Updated / Thursday, 25 Dec 2025 11:37 Frank Sinatra and Gene Kelly in 1949's On the Town Harry Guerin By Harry Guerin Multimedia Journalist We're all about the movies - and documentaries about the movies - this Christmas Day. Gene Kelly - Réalt an Rince 10:05pm, TG4 Push the settee back and get your dancing shoes on... Christmas wouldn't be Christmas without another class documentary on TG4 about an icon of Hollywood's golden age. This time, it's the turn of actor, dancer, singer, and director Gene Kelly, the genius behind some of the greatest musicals of all time, including Singin' in the Rain , On the Town , and An American in Paris . "The grandson of Irish immigrants, Kelly was extremely proud of his Irish heritage and carried an Irish passport, holidayed in Ireland frequently, and was fascinated by Irish dance, culture, and history," says TG4. Its latest doc also features "an exclusive interview with Gene's eldest daughter, Kerry Kelly Novick, who offers unique insights into her father's private and professional life and reveals a wealth of never-before-seen archive". After all these years, that smile still dazzles. As for the moves... Jaws Night 9:15pm, BBC Two Three men in a boat - (L-R) Robert Shaw as Quint, Roy Scheider as Brody, and Richard Drefyuss as Hooper in the masterpiece that changed Hollywood forever You're going to need a bigger Selection Box as the BBC marks 50 years of the film that changed Hollywood forever. First up at 9:15pm, it's another chance to inhale the salty magic of the 1976 rager - famously described by Billy Connolly as a film about a shark that plays the cello. Then, at 11:15pm, it's the feature-length documentary Jaws@50: The Definitive Inside Story as Steven Spielberg and his famous fans relive events on Amity Island all those years ago. Best watched in the dark. Belfast 11:35pm, RTÉ One A beautiful coming-of-age story, a pitch-perfect celebration of family, and a fitting tribute to the goodness in a city and its people, Belfast crams a lot into an hour and a half. Writer-director Kenneth Branagh's Oscar-winning return to his birthplace to explore his early years inspired him to deliver his best work - poignant, funny, and timeless. It's the kind of charmer that parents or grandparents would watch whenever it came on the telly way back when. It may well be one of your own go-to movies already. Filmed in black and white to conjure the magic of old photographs, Belfast glides from one snapshot to another with the kind of enchantment you feel when turning the pages in an album. It's also proof, if needed, that you can go home again. Local Hero Channel 4 Player A comfort movie of the highest quality If it's unhurried charm you're after, then the Highlands are waiting in writer-director Bill Forsyth's glorious fish-out-of-water story. Peter Riegert plays Macintyre, the Houston oil executive who's the point man on the "acquisition of Scotland", or, rather, "the-bay-in-a-million" fishing village of Ferness....

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