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Cinderella

Saturday 25 December

3.00-5.00pm ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ TWO and ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ HD

Performed by the Birmingham Royal Ballet in its 20th anniversary year, ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Two broadcasts a new production of Cinderella – a dazzling visual experience choreographed by David Bintley.

The production brings together award-winning director and choreographer Bintley and internationally recognised artist and designer John MacFarlane, in their first-ever collaboration. Cinderella also sees Bintley collaborating with lighting designer David Finn for the first time.

Filmed by Ross MacGibbon – a former dancer with the Royal Ballet, now an award-winning film- maker, and set to Prokofiev's beautiful score, this much-awaited new production of the classic fairytale promises to be a magical treat for all the family.

Cinderella is simulcast on the award-winning ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ HD channel – the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ's High Definition channel, available through Freesat channel 109, Freeview channel 54, Sky channel 169 and Virgin Media channel 187.

RK2

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Peter Ginn, Ruth Goodman and Alex Langlands greet the arrival of spring on their Edwardian Farm

It's March on the Edwardian farm and the team – archaeologists Alex Langlands and Peter Ginn and domestic historian Ruth Goodman – greet the long-awaited arrival of spring. It's time to bring in the daffodil harvest, deliver lambs and break in a new pony.

The Tamar Valley was once the largest producer of early daffodils in Britain. The result of the region's mild climate combined with the arrival of a railway meant the flowers could be delivered to towns and cities across the country within hours of being picked.

After picking and packing, the daffodils are raced off to the train station, giving the team a chance to experience the period steam engines on the South Devon line. Ruth takes the opportunity to help operate the signal box and discover the ingenious ways that were used to ensure Edwardian trains ran safely and to strict time.

Meanwhile, Alex and Peter go up to Dartmoor for the annual pony trek – a time when wild ponies on the moor were rounded up. They also select a new pony for the farm, Laddie, but he needs training before he's fit for work. Mike Branch, a specialist trainer from Tennessee, arrives, following in the footsteps of American farmer John Solomon Rarey, who, in the 19th century, found fame and fortune in Britain with his revolutionary method of taming wild horses. Instead of "breaking" the horse physically, he used the technique now known as "horse whispering" – an astonishingly fast and effective means of making a wild horse fit for work, as Mike demonstrates.

But Laddie isn't the only new arrival – there's new life on the farm as the ewes begin giving birth to their lambs.

After a delightful start to the new season, the team are in high spirits for the celebration of Easter, which means feasting, a special church service and a surprise for Ruth – her daughter Eve arrives to spend Mothering Sunday on the farm.

Throughout November and December, ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Two showcases a range of new history programming, including Ancient Worlds; At ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ With The Georgians; Ian Hislop's Age Of The Do-Gooders; Pompeii; and JFK. ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ History programmes are known for their thought-provoking themes, meticulous research and expert contributors.

CD4

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It's April on the Edwardian farm and the team, archaeologists Alex Langlands and Peter Ginn and domestic historian Ruth Goodman, see in the start of the fishing season.

Farming in Devon was about far more than just livestock and crops. Farmers had to diversify, and this allows the team to explore the wider working countryside and embark on a host of new and challenging activities.

Edwardian Devonians lived with one foot on the land and one in the sea, but fishing was a hazardous enterprise that claimed many lives. Alex and Peter set sail in an Edwardian trawler; they master the singing of sea shanties as well as steering a wind-powered vessel and casting a net the old-fashioned way – but will they catch any fish?

Women were considered bad luck at sea, so Ruth stays ashore, foraging on the beach and preparing potted shrimp. She also builds a smoke-house and smokes some mackerel.

Back on dry land, Alex and Peter drive their herd of cattle along a dangerous route by foot to find new pasture and prepare for the birth of the herd's first calf, while Ruth explores one of the growing fashions of the Edwardian era by holding a séance.

CD4

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It's May on the Edwardian farm and tourism comes to the Tamar Valley. With Empire day approaching – a day when people celebrated their pride in being part of the British Empire – the team, Alex Langlands, Peter Ginn and Ruth Goodman, welcome a very special boat to Morwellham Quay.

The paddle steamer, Monarch, arrives at the farm, with summer tourists ready to part with their money. It's one of only three in the country that's still operational and it's the first time such a vessel has arrived at Morwellham in 80 years.

In Edwardian Britain, thousands of tourists began travelling to the Tamar Valley by paddle steamer every summer. The combination of reduced working hours and greater mobility encouraged a new form of tourism – day-tripping.

Local farmers cashed in on the visitors, so Ruth, Alex and Peter pull out all the stops to put on a party for the tourists: they've got to milk a cow who has never been milked before; take lessons in traditional clotted cream-making from the instructors at a "travelling dairy school"; and learn how to make the highly popular "cut round"; a Devonshire version of a scone.

To maximise profits the farming team must also come up with more things to sell: drawings of the Tamar Valley, bouquets of flowers and ice cream – not easy to make when you don't have a freezer. That's on top of harvesting their strawberries and getting them to the paddle steamer. Will they make it in time?

CD4

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Giles And Sue Live The Good Life – A Good Christmas

Tuesday 28 December

10.00-11.00pm ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ TWO and ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ HD

Sue Perkins and Giles Coren put the merry into Christmas

It's the season to be jolly but is it really possible to enjoy Christmas when you're strapped for cash? Giles Coren and Sue Perkins set out to prove that, by using a few old-fashioned Seventies handicrafts and an awful lot of enthusiasm, you can still put the merry into Christmas.

They begin by creating some very rudimentary home-made decorations, before calling in Seventies Blue Peter presenter Peter Purves who tries to show them how to assemble the famous Blue Peter advent crown. They take delivery of two turkeys, one of which Giles is determined will end up on the table come Christmas day. They haven't got any cash but Sue joins a local knitting circle and knits Giles a very festive Seventies-inspired Christmas jumper. Celebrity cook Sophie Grigson pops over to help them with a spot of Christmas baking and Giles and Sue invite all the neighbours to join them to sing carols.

Meanwhile, away from the frugality of Tom and Barbara Good's make-do Christmas, neighbours Margo and Jerry enjoy some intoxicating cocktails and plan their Christmas with military precision.

Giles and Sue wake up on Christmas Day to find it has snowed and, after a spot of snowballing, they're delighted when cook Mary Berry turns up to prepare a scrumptious Christmas lunch.

Giles And Sue Live The Good Life is simulcast on the award-winning ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ HD channel – the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ's High Definition channel, available through Freesat channel 109, Freeview channel 54, Sky channel 169 and Virgin Media channel 187.

PA/JD

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Jools' Annual Hootenanny 2010

Friday 31 December

11.00pm-1.15am ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ TWO and ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ HD

Seeing off 2010 and welcoming in 2011 in style Jools Holland presents his 18th Annual Hootenanny. The knees-up, recorded at London's Television Centre, features the stars that have made their mark on the musical landscape in 2010, along with the occasional surprise collaboration.

Joining Jools and his Rhythm And Blues Orchestra, with their massed horns, strings and backing vocalists, are a variety of big names old and new, performing an array of classics to get viewers into the swing of things.

As well as a feast of musical entertainment, stars from the worlds of TV, film, stage, comedy, art and beyond drop in to the studio, sharing thoughts of the old year and their hopes for the new. And the New Year is brought in, as ever, by The Pipes and Drums of the First Battalion of The Scots Guards.

Jools' Annual Hootenanny is simulcast on the award-winning ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ HD channel – the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ's High Definition channel available through Freesat channel 109, Freeview channel 54, Sky channel 169 and Virgin Media channel 187.

IW

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This is the extraordinary story of a musical that was initially panned by critics when it premièred at London's Barbican Centre in 1985; a show adapted by two unknown composers from a weighty French novel with an unpronounceable title, but which grew against all the odds to take over the world.

In this insightful documentary, Matt Lucas, one of the UK's best-loved comedians and a life-long music theatre devotee, ventures behind the scenes of the world's longest-running musical – Les Misérables. Invited to fulfil his dream and perform in Les Mis at the O2 Arena in its 25th anniversary year, he takes on the comic role of Thénadier alongside a cast of 400 stalwarts from previous Les Mis productions.

³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ cameras follow Matt in rehearsals as he prepares for the performance of a lifetime – in front of 18,000 people in the Arena and millions more watching on live cinema relay around the world. This is an intimate and exclusive portrait of Matt Lucas, both as himself and as he goes about creating his own version of the legendary Thénadier.

Contributors include Sir Cameron Mackintosh, Sir Trevor Nunn, Michael Ball and Frances Ruffelle.

RK2

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Miranda – The Perfect Christmas Ep 6/6

Monday 20 December

8.30-9.00pm ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ TWO and ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ HD

Miranda (Miranda Hart) attempts to have the perfect Christmas

Miranda tries to have the perfect Christmas in the final episode of the comedy series but, with a mum and dad like hers, it's not easy.

What with her mother's organisational chart, her father's obsession with the weather and a nightmare "best Christmas jumper party", Miranda decides she simply can't take any more and she and Stevie hide, spending Christmas in Miranda's flat with Gary, Clive and Tilly instead.

But this being Miranda, things still don't run smoothly. The presents she ordered online don't arrive, she has an infuriating encounter at the post office, a run in with some carol singers, argues with her friends and is forced back to her parents. Can Miranda salvage the situation and have a merry Christmas after all?

Miranda is played by Miranda Hart, her mother by Patricia Hodge, her father by Tom Conti, Stevie by Sarah Hadland, Gary by Tom Ellis, Clive by James Holmes and Tilly by Sally Phillips.

Miranda – The Perfect Christmas is simulcast on the award-winning ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ HD channel – the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ's High Definition channel, available through Freesat channel 109, Freeview channel 54, Sky channel 169 and Virgin Media channel 187.

JD/PA

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Mozart's Don Giovanni From Glyndebourne

Friday 24 December

2.45-5.45pm ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ TWO and ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ HD

Jonathan Kent's new production of Mozart's Don Giovanni was one of the highlights of the 2010 Glyndebourne festival season. It stars Gerald Findley, one of the world's leading baritones, in the title role as Mozart's charismatic but amoral seducer.

This production takes its inspiration from Fellini and the Italian cinema of the late Fifties and early Sixties, creating a world where old certainties are questioned and new personal freedoms cause excitement, but also danger and risk.

Paul Brown's stylish period costumes and spectacular set provide the background to a fast-paced and thrilling drama which propels Don Giovanni from adventure to adventure and, ultimately, to his doom. The opera is conducted by Glyndebourne's music director, Vladimir Jurowski.

Mozart's Don Giovanni From Glyndebourne is simulcast on the award-winning ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ HD channel – the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ's High Definition channel, available through Freesat channel 109, Freeview channel 54, Sky channel 169 and Virgin Media channel 187.

RK2

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Rob Brydon (second left) is joined by Alice Cooper, Jack Dee, Bryn Terfel and Jo Brand for his Christmas Show

Following the huge success of his recent first series, Rob Brydon returns for a Christmas Special in which he entertains special guests Jack Dee, Jo Brand and Alice Cooper in front of a live studio audience.

As always, Rob shares his experiences as a dad, husband and famous face. It's sure to be a hilarious night with more glimpses of Rob's unique take on the world. The Christmas Special includes a great night of live music from opera star Bryn Terfel, The London Welsh Male Voice Choir and one of New York's hottest jazz groups, The Hypnotic Brass Ensemble, performing as house band for this exciting evening.

ETS

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Written by Sarah Counsell and Simon James Green, this feature-length teen musical includes eight originated R&B pop tracks.

He's just a kid from the wrong side of town with no money and some big dreams. She's a boarding school girl with the world at her feet and a head full of ambition. When their worlds collide at swanky ad agency Passion, the fireworks are inevitable.

As the battle to successfully pitch for a big fashion contract heats up, Matt and Daisy are thrown together to work on the project, much to the annoyance of Daisy's boyfriend and co-worker Tarrant.

Daisy wonders if she can trust Matt when she discovers all her hard work has been sabotaged and the evidence suggests he's nothing but bad news. And what chance does Matt have with someone like Daisy when he's struggling just to keep him and his little sister together after their parents abandoned them, let alone trying to impress a girl and win his agency a new client?

This bitingly original urban musical stars Jacke Roche as Matt, Daisy Head as Daisy and Paterson Joseph as Tyler Angel.

ER

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Ruth Jones serves up a cracker of a programme

Ruth Jones, comedy actress and star of multi-award-winning comedy hit Gavin And Stacey, makes her UK debut hosting her own show with special guests Ricky Gervais, Miranda Hart and Will Young.

Ruth Jones' Christmas Cracker is the first of four scrumptious specials spread across the year. It is 40 minutes packed full of special guests, interview, musical performances, sketches and a generous serving of festive fun.

CP

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Following his hugely successful Rodgers and Hammerstein concert at this year's ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Proms, John Wilson returns to ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Two with this glamorous Christmas special – an exclusive celebration of festive musical treats from the "golden age of swing", performed by the John Wilson Orchestra with Seth MacFarlane, Anna-Jane Casey and special guest Curtis Stigers.

Presented by Sir Michael Parkinson, the programme includes interviews with John Wilson, as well as Christmas classics including Winter Wonderland, Baby It's Cold Outside, Let It Snow and White Christmas.

RK2

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When Harvey Met Bob

Sunday 26 December

9.15-10.45pm ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ TWO and ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ HD

Set between the winter of 1984 and the summer of 1985, When Harvey Met Bob focuses on the extraordinary relationship between Bob Geldof and Harvey Goldsmith as they create the historic Live Aid concert to "feed the world".

In October 1984, Geldof's career as a rock star is at a low point. Returning home one evening, Bob and his partner Paula Yates watch Michael Buerk's legendary ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ broadcast from the feeding camps in Eritrea Province. Deeply affected, Bob persuades a host of rock stars to give their name and talent free to the Band Aid record, Do They Know It's Christmas?, which, back then, becomes the UK's biggest selling single of all time.

Persuaded to go to Ethiopia to see the famine for himself, Bob realises that he needs to raise much more money to fulfil his promise that "every penny" of the £6m from the record will go to Africa. At this moment he conceives the idea of a televised global music event – two continents, one concert – to feed the world.

Enter Harvey Goldsmith, the famous and highly respected concert promoter. The sparks fly as two powerful and totally different personalities are forced to collaborate for 10 crazy, impossible weeks, trying to pull off something that no one has even attempted before. Under normal circumstances they'd have walked away – but Bob and Harvey are held together by stubbornness, by sheer dogged determination and by a shared belief that no one in the late-20th century should be allowed to die unnecessarily.

The story of those weeks is sometimes hilarious, sometimes deeply moving, as Harvey and Bob go from mad-cap idea and a list of unconfirmed acts, to that Saturday in July 1985, when one-and-a-half billion people watched the biggest televised international charity event in history.

Bob Geldof is played by Domhnall Gleeson and Harvey Goldsmith by Ian Hart.

When Harvey Met Bob is simulcast on the award-winning ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ HD channel – the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ's High Definition channel, available through Freesat channel 109, Freeview channel 54, Sky channel 169 and Virgin Media channel 187.

PPR

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Whistle And I'll Come To You

Friday 24 December

9.00-9.55pm ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ TWO and ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ HD

John Hurt stars as James Parkin in Whistle And I'll Come To You

John Hurt, one of Britain's most esteemed and prolific actors, stars as James Parkin in Whistle And I'll Come To You, the haunting story of a man's encounter with an apparition on a desolate British beach.

Updated for 2010 by screenwriter and novelist Neil Cross (Luther), Whistle And I'll Come To You is a thoroughly modern adaptation of MR James's atmospheric Edwardian ghost story. It focuses on one man, James Parkin, and his separation from his wife Alice, whom he has just left in the care of a nursing home.

John Hurt says: "Oh Whistle And I'll Come To You, My Lad is MR James's most evocative, and possibly best-known ghost story, and I'm thrilled to be involved in this contemporary reworking of it. I've not done a ghost story before, and I'm always looking for new challenges and different stories to tell."

Pensive and in emotional turmoil, Parkin travels to their favourite old rambling destination in an off-season British seaside town. There he encounters an apparition on a desolate beach which begins to haunt him, with terrifying consequences.

Providing a cinematic, unsettling and spooky addition to the Christmas schedules, Whistle And I'll Come To You delves into themes of ageing, hubris and the supernatural, adding a terrifying psychological twist in the tale to this family hearthside favourite.

Neil Cross says: "For reasons I don't quite understand, I always enjoyed tales that terrified me. I grew up loving ghost stories, classic and modern. But I never got to tell a ghost story ... until this opportunity."

John Hurt plays James Parkin, Gemma Jones plays his wife, Lesley Sharp plays Hetty the nurse and Sophie Thompson plays Carol, the hotel receptionist.

Whistle And I'll Come To You is simulcast on the award-winning ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ HD channel – the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ's High Definition channel, available through Freesat channel 109, Freeview channel 54, Sky channel 169 and Virgin Media channel 187.

GJ