With the Rt Rev Mark Santer , Bishop of Birmingham.
Sweets for My Sweet. Anna Hill follows a sugary trail from muddy fieldsto Christmas puddings. Producer Steve Peacock
Writer and critic Mark Lawson presents his personal selection of seasonal poetry and prose. Rptd at 10pm
Peter France asks why we find birdsong so beautiful and looks for answers in Psychology, jazz and religion. Producer Grant Sonnex. Revised repeat
Every December, nearly 100,000 people travel to a Norfolk farmyard to witness an event which sells more tickets than the Edinburgh Festival.
Aled Jones investigates the great and mighty wonder that is the Thursford Christmas Spectacular. Producer Bill Lloyd. Repeated at 7.15pm
Religious affairs correspondent Emily Buchanan presents a personal selection of seasonal reports from journalists around the world. At the end of a year of seismic world events, she reflects on a number of human stories - including her own adoption of a Chinese baby - and asks how these events affect our understanding of the meaning of Christmas.
God among Us. Canon Martin Shaw worships the Christ Child with the people of St Mary Redcliffe, Bristol. With LibbyPurves and the Rev
Tony Whatmough. St Mary's Choir is directed by Anthony Pinel. Organist Graham Alsop.
Producer Stephen Shipley. E-MAIL: sunday.worship@bbc.co.uk
A special edition of John Peel 's wry look at the foibles, frustrations and fun of family life. Producer Alison Hughes. PHONE: [number removed]
E-MAIL: home.truths@bbc.co.uk. Extended repeat 9pm
Repeated at 7,45pm
Reminiscences of life on the polar ice as writer Chris Eldon Lee travels with a party of British
Antarctic Survey veterans to revisit the "elaborate garden sheds" in which they spent their winters during the fifties and Sixties. Producer Chris Eldon Lee
Alcohol has been the bringer of disease and a cleanser of wounds, a tonic and a torment. Here at last, its story is told. Written and performed by Kevin Hayes. With Emma Clarke and Kim Wall.
Producer Julian Mayers. Repeated Boxing Day at 11.30pm
Simon Hoggart with the first of a two-part review of the best of the year's News Quiz, with contributions from Alan Coren , Andy Hamilton , Jeremy Hardy , Linda Smith and Francis Wheen , among others. Producers Lucy Armitage and Steve Doherty
Derek Cooper serves up a visual feast in this special programme for Christmas Day. Throughout the ages artists have celebrated the food we eat in their paintings but how well do we appreciate their mean ing? Producer Paula McGinley
Michael Parkinson entertains an audience with his choice of favourite writing, including a music-hall classic, pieces by Philip Larkin and Woody Allen , and some war poetry. The readers are Eve Matheson, Michael Fenton Stevens and Michael Elwyn. Producer Viv Beeby. Shortened repeat at 11.15pm
Repeated from Christmas Eve 7pm
By Noel Streatfeild. Dramatised for radio by Julie Wilkinson. Set in the summer of 1965. When their father falls dangerously ill, the youngGareth children are sent to stay with their eccentric Great Aunt Dymphna in her crumbling mansion on the coast of Ireland.
Director Sue Sutton Mayo (R)
Her Majesty 's Christmas message to the peoples of the Commonwealth.
It's rich, it's fruity, it's alcoholic - and it'll leave 25 million families fit to bust today. Yet at least half the population don't like it very much. Nigel Cassidy celebrates a uniquely British pudding. Director Neil Koenig
Martin Jarvis performs in a new five-part series of dazzling mystery stories by GrantAllen.
1: The Episode of the Missing Dividends. Colonel
Clay stalks his quarry, the morally dubious millionaire Sir Charles Vandrift, with a bagful of brazen schemes. Will Sir Charles be fleeced again or will he discover the true identity of the wily colonel at last? Director Martin Jenkins. Producer Rosalind Ayres
By John Mortimer. Christmas Day in a chilly Norfolk village and a trip to the pantomime provide Horace Rumpole with the opportunityto solve a crime involving a duplicitous dame and to indulge in a little seasonal, charitable blackmail.
Pantomime music written by Neil Brand. Director Marilyn Imrie
Satirical puppet masters Peter Fluck and Roger Law share their favourite paperbacks with Matthew Parris. Theirchoices include Seeds of Change by Henry Hobhouse , Anthony Bourdain 's Kitchen
Confidential and an account of an 18th-century It-boy. Producer Miles Warde. Repeated Sunday 30 December 11pm
Comedian Linda Smith concludes her investigation of the Christmas cracker, unwrapping among others the specialist "Spinster's Cracker" of 1913 and paying a visit to the World Cracker Pulling extravaganza.
(Repeated llpm)
In the last of this series of raconteurs' anecdotes, John Inman reminisces in front of a live audience about his early career in rep and his love of pantomime, and he shares some behind-the-scenes stories of working On Are YOU Being Served? Producer Claire Jones
Kathytothe rescue. Repeated Boxing Day 2pm
Repeated from 7.30am
2: Vera judges a mince pie contest, the au pair arrives with a live carp and Irene poisons the "Christingle".
For details see Christmas Eve. Repeated from 10.45am
Through personal story and commentaryfrom a variety of contributors, this programme explores the symbolism of candlelight.
Producer Sera Lefroy-Owen . Repeated Friday 28 December 11.30pm
Even experienced mountain climbers can die from extreme mountain sickness. A group of British medical researchers subject themselves to high altitude and ill health to find the cause of this mysterious ailment, and discover a possible cure. Producer Neil Walker
Extended rpt from 10am
Shortened repeat from 6am.
By Raymond Chandler. 2: LongJade Earrings. For details see Christmas Eve
Repeated from 6.15pm
Shortened repeat from 1.05pm
Travel writer William Dalrymple 's meditation on Christmas Day, exploring the unique mystery on which Christian belief hinges-the Incarnation.
Nigel Cassidy 's account of the Christmas tree story. Producer Neil Koenig (R)
