A Christmas Carol - The MusicalOn: Monday, 24 December at 13h00
Golden Globe and Emmy winner Kelsey Grammer (Fraiser) breathes new life into the musical adaptation of Charles Dickens’s classic tale about repentance, love and forgiveness that transformed Scrooge.
Ever since that Christmas Eve seven years ago when Ebenezer Scrooge (Grammer) buried his longtime friend and business partner, Jacob Marley (Emmy and Golden Globe nominee Jason Alexander, Seinfeld), Scrooge’s melancholy has settled into an eternal bitterness toward the holidays and his fellow man.
His loyal but meek clerk, Bob Cratchit (Edward Gower), is the constant target of his cruelty and even Scrooge's own nephew inspires in his uncle no holiday sentiment. But this Christmas Eve is startlingly different. Scrooge has company- the ghost of his old partner has arrived to warn him of the consequences of the suffering he has caused and to extend an invitation for redemption.
Christmas VisitorOn: Tuesday, 25 December at 13h00
In the small American town of New Chatham, Christmas is approaching for the Boyajian family. But father George (Emmy and Golden Globe nominee William Devane, Knots Landing), mother Carol (Emmy nominee Meredith Baxter, Family Ties), and their daughter, Jean (Reagan Pasternak, Jailbait), have lost the desire to celebrate.
Immersed in grief since the death of their son on Christmas Eve 1991 in the Persian Gulf War, George and Carol have forgone the familial comfort and pleasures of the holidays. But this year, George’s annual visit to his son’s grave has renewed faith in a heartsick father.
Splitting logs for a Yule fire and retrieving old ornaments from the attic, George is determined to bring his family together. His wish comes true in ways none of them could have anticipated. It begins when George picks up a young man named Matthew (Dean McDermott, Brian's Song), a hitchhiker presumably without a place to stay.
Accepting the generous invitation to spend the night at George’s house, Matthew also agrees to a well-intentioned charade: to pretend, for Carol's sake, that he knew their beloved son in the war. But once inside the warmth of the Boyajian home, settled around a festively decorated tree, Matthew has a few surprises in store for all of them - ones that will renew their faith in each other and in the miracles of Christmas.
Single Santa Meets Santa ClausOn: Monday, 24 December at 16h30
Disillusioned since the untimely death of her husband, Beth Andrews (Crystal Bernard, Wings) is devoted to her career in the Los Angeles advertising world - and a new account that could seal her of its rising stars. All she needs to win over her client is the perfect Santa to hawk the latest in video-game technology.
To the cynical advertising wunderkind, nothing says Christmas quite like commerce. But she’s not all business. Beth, who never expects to find love again, is also committed to raising her fatherless young son Jake (Dominic Scott Kay, Minority Report) to be a realist and to never have faith in fantasies. With the holidays approaching, that’s a hard lesson for a child to learn.
Hoping against hope, Jake posts a letter to Santa asking for a new dad. Like magic, the letter flutters away and disappears into the starry night sky… It drops into the lap of Nick (Steve Guttenberg, Three Men and a Baby), the North Pole’s handsome heir to the throne of the Santa Claus. It’s time for Dad to pass the torch of gift-giving to his son, but there’s one problem. To qualify, Nick needs a Mrs. Claus before Christmas Eve.
Figuring he has an “in” with Jake, Nick heads to L.A. where he stirs every female’s fancy, can trim a tree in a matter of minutes, and effortlessly touches the heart of everyone he meets. That includes Beth, who’s sure that she’s found the perfect man to play Santa for her new campaign. When their professional relationship turns fairy-tale romantic, she decides to give love one more try. Nick’s dilemma? He’s told her the truth. What’s it going to take to convince Beth that she hasn’t fallen for a madman in a red velvet suit?
Angel In The FamilyOn: Tuesday, 25 December at 14h30
Sarah Bishop (Tracy Needham, JAG), a struggling, insecure artist and her estranged sister Beth (Natasha Gregson Wagner, Urban Legend), a successful and ambitious advertising executive, are reunited days before Christmas after their father Buddy (Ronny Cox, Total Recall) suffers a mild stroke.
Buddy, who’s never accepted the passing of his beloved wife Lorraine (Emmy nominee Meredith Baxter, Family Ties), wants only one thing for the holidays- to return with his daughters to the idyllic community of Trinity, California and to the family home they shuttered and abandoned after Lorraine’s death. With sweet memories of a life gone by comes Sarah’s impossible wish one starry night - that her mother could be there, too.
By morning it’s as if a winter prayer were answered. The aroma of their mother’s vanilla coffee wafts through the air, as does the scent of her freshly baked pies. Her favourite ornament sits atop the Christmas tree, and Buddy’s energy and spirit seem revitalized. He isn’t surprised in the least. After all, he believes in miracles. And a miracle is the only explanation for what Sarah and Beth see: their mother, looking luminous-and very much alive-has come for Christmas. Is it a dream?
Buddy implores his daughters not to question it, but rather to accept their mother’s return and to take to heart the message she brings with her. So begins a journey of self-reflection for the entire Bishop family.
ElizabethOn: Monday, 24 December at 21h00
and Tuesday, 25 December at 21h00
Multiple Oscar nominee and acclaimed British actress Helen Mirren (Gosford Park, Prime Suspect) joins Jeremy Irons (Die Hard, Deadringers) and Hugh Dancy (Black Hawk Down) in this two part drama about Queen Elizabeth I, the woman who reunited a nation divided by religious strife, faced down the Spanish Armada and after a forty-five year reign, died one of England’s best loved monarchs.
The woman who was subjected to a humiliating gynaecological examination when contemplating marrying a French Prince, to ensure she was still able to have children. The woman who ran a country but yet was not able to marry the man she loved. The woman, who in her fifties conducted a passionate affair with a man half her age.
Revealing the soiled, shameless underbelly behind the magnificence and decorum of the English court, this drama tells the intimate story of Britain’s most famous Queen.
Lion In WinterOn: Wednesday, 26 December at 21h00 and Thursday, 26 December at 21h00
In the waning years of his life, but no less brutal for it, King Henry II (Golden Globe and Emmy nominee Patrick Stewart, Moby Dick, King of Texas) is holding Christmas court at Chinon, during which he’ll announce the blood successor to his throne.
Assembled for this event are his equally calculating wife, Eleanor of Acquitaine (Emmy winner and Oscar nominee Glenn Close, Fatal Attraction), imprisoned for ten years by her husband for a political coup of her own; his shamelessly flaunted mistress, Alais (Julia Vysotskaia), and her venomous brother, King Philip of France (Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Velvet Goldmine).
Surrounding them are Henry’s three sons, Prince Richard the Lionhearted (Andrew Howard, Band of Brothers), who can’t fathom the depth of leadership, the shallow Prince Geoffrey (John Light, Dracula 2), and the luckless and bumbling Prince John (Rafe Spall, The Calcium Kid). What the three siblings share is a gift for treachery - they were taught by masters.
Richard, Geoffrey, and John prepare to engage in their own brand of deception to stake their claim. But as this unique celebration gets underway, it degenerates into an emotional gauntlet for everyone. More than a temperamental war of words - those alone will be sharp enough to draw blood - it becomes an exorcism of deep-rooted failures and long-held resentments as pretensions and inner demons are shrewdly stripped away.
Before the holiday is over, not only will a marriage, a love affair, a family, and an empire be in jeopardy, but lives as well, as Henry mercilessly wields the authority that has made him the greatest and most dangerous power in a thousand years.
Fallen AngelOn: Thursday, 27 December at 14h30
After his father's death, a man returns home and meets up with a woman he has not seen since childhood. He falls in love with her and realises what's truly important in life.
Wedding DazeOn: Saturday, 29 December at 13h00
Eagerly anticipating their second honeymoon, “empty nesters” Jack Landry (Emmy winner John Larroquette, The John Larroquette Show) and his wife Audrey (Emmy winner Karen Valentine, The Love Boat) have finally gotten their lives back.
Jack’s remodeling a den for himself and Audrey, a budding suburban Buddhist, has found her own peaceful corner for yoga and meditation. All is right in their world - until, one by one, their three daughters come home to roost. Teri (Jaime Ray Newman, Catch Me If You Can) has come back to mend a broken heart after losing a job and a boyfriend.
Meanwhile, supermodel Nora (Marina Black, The Trail to Hope Rose) has left home in Rome for her childhood bed to mend a broken leg. And then there’s Dahlia (Kelly Overton, The Ring 2), a bohemian-in-training whose apartment has just been condemned by the city. But now, one big happy family is about to get bigger.
Fast on Nora’s trail and hot from Rome is her personal photographer and current lover, the impossibly suave Italian Guillermo (Justin Baldoni, The Young and the Restless), with a proposal of marriage. That would be fantastico if Teri hadn’t stolen some of her thunder by being proposed to herself by former coworker Lyle (James Waterston, Dead Poets Society).
Not to be left out, Dahlia’s coming around quite nicely to Sam (Sebastian Tillinger, Hart’s War), a family friend who’s getting friendlier by the minute.
Now, with three impending marriages on the boards slated for one lavish three-ring ceremony, it’s the father of the bride who’s getting cold feet. Facing three giddy daughters, three nervous grooms-to-be, an over-the-top wedding planner (Emmy winner French Stewart, 3rd Rock from the Sun), and one dwindling bank account, Jack and Audrey are taking this fully catered nightmare one sanity-defying day at a time.
The Maldonado MiracleOn: Saturday, 29 December at 14h30
After the death of his mother, 11-year-old Jose Maldonado (Eddy Martin) and his dog Sanchez arrive in the dying Southern California town of San Ramos in search of his missing father. Mysteriously injured, bleeding, and frightened by the town’s sheriff, Jose seeks shelter in the church.
The next morning, the town is shaken by the alleged visions of Josephina (Soledad St. Hilaire, Real Women Have Curves), a devout parishioner who claims to have seen blood on the statue of Christ. As news of the miracle spreads, San Ramos teems with pilgrims, fanatics, and reporters, filling the poor box and restoring the faith.
The dispirited Father Russell (Golden Globe winner Peter Fonda, Easy Rider) is skeptical. Then again, San Ramos is prospering and his jaded parishioners believe in something at last.
As despair is replaced by hope, Sheriff Olcott discovers that the “miracle” was simply the blood of young Jose. Rather than reveal the truth to the inspired people of San Ramos, he conspires to send the boy, now in the sanctuary of Father Russell, back to Mexico. But not before another miracle changes everything for the people of San Ramos and truly tests their faith.
La Femme MuskateersOn: Saturday, 29 December and Sunday, 30 December at 18h00
The year is 1660. Loyalties among the people of France are divided between church and state, Cardinal and King - each of whom employs a private army. The Cardinal (Golden Globe winner Gérard Depardieu, Cyrano de Bergerac) has his guards. The King (Freddie Sayers, Diana) boasts his Musketeers. But there is one Musketeer who stands apart from the rest. She has her mother’s stunning looks - and her father’s legendary sword.
She excels in the art of dance to appease her mother, but Valentine D’Artagnan (Susie Amy, Sirens) wields her true skills in other ways. Her father is Jaques D’Artagnan (Emmy nominee Michael York, Austin Powers), the most famous Musketeer in all of France, and he has taught his daughter well.
With a gift of his sword and a letter of introduction to Commander Pinot (Roy Dotrice, Amadeus) of the Musketeers, D’Artagnan sends Valentine to Paris to fulfill her dreams. However, there has never been a woman appointed to the rank of a swordsman, let alone a Musketeer to King Louis XIV. To prove her mettle, Valentine joins forces with the three able sons of the elder Musketeers who rode with her father.
No sooner does Valentine let her hair down than the new Musketeers are handpicked for a special task. Bandits have commandeered a coach and kidnapped the bride-to-be of King Louis XIV, but the Musketeers soon discover that there is more at stake than the safety of the princess. Once again, it’s all for one and one for all as a mission to save the princess becomes a matter of life and death for the four young Musketeers.
She, Me and HerOn: Sunday, 30 December at 13h00
Nothing is as it seems in this role-reversal comedy in which there’s double the trouble thanks to warring twin sisters.
Lisa Thompson (Sandra Pires) is a beautiful and aspiring actress who could be heading straight for stardom - were it not for her diabolical twin sister, Maggie (also played by…Sandra Pires). Maggie resorts to stealing Lisa’s identity as well as her name to land the plum roles and one of the top managers in Hollywood, David Greenbaum (Ben Cross, Chariots of Fire). With Lisa’s career left sputtering, she plans to take a trip to Austria to test for a new musical.
Determined to spoil everything for her sister, Maggie poses as Lisa and boards the plane. Realising Maggie’s wickedness knows no bounds, Lisa decides to perform a role reversal of her own.
-----