Army comedy with Sergeant Bi I ko.
Black and white Repeat.....................

Comedy with the Marx Brothers
Otis B Driftwood must get a rich woman to invest her money in an opera.
Otis B Driftwood GROUCHO MARX. Fiorello CHICO MARX
. Tomasso HARPO MARX. Mrs Claypool MARGARET DUMONT. Rosa KITTY CARLISLE
Director Sam Wood (1935. U)
Black and white Subtitled ..................
+ See Films: pages 43-76

Musical beginning a season of Busby Berkeley films.
Starring James Cagney, Joan Blondell

When talking pictures put a musical-comedy producer out of work, he thinks up a plan to recapture his fame.
(1933, U) (Black and white) (Subtitled)

(Gold Diggers of 1933 is on Boxing Day at 7.40am)
See Films: pages 43-76

Musical starring Esther Williams
Julie Hallerton is determined to get her workaholic boss's mind off business and on to romance.
Director Charles Walters (1953) Stereo... ♦ See Films: pages 43-76

Documentary exploring the work of award-winning choreographer
Shobana Jeyasingh. Indian dance, martial arts and invented movement are used in three works originally created forthe stage.
Black and white/colour

Comedy western, shown in the season starring James Stewart
Also starring Marlene Dietrich
A mild-mannered lawman comes up against a brassy showgirl when he tries to clean up his town of Bottle Neck.
Director George Marshall (1939)
Black and white
The FarCountry is on Boxing Day at 4.45pm ♦ See Films: pages 43-76

Drama continuing the British at War season. Starring Kenneth More

After a flying disaster, doctors expect Douglas Bader to die. But his courage overcomes incredible odds.
(1956, U) (Black and white)
(Mrs Miniver is at 11.35am tomorrow)
See Films: pages 43-76

Six-part series about classical music, featuringconductorMarkWigglesworth. On the Beat. Rachmaninov's passionate Second Symphony takes Wigglesworth from conducting classes through to a pair of concert performances.

A celebration of Christmas from the chapel of King's College, Cambridge, told through the poetry of WH Auden and the words of the Bible.
See today's choices.
(Stereo)
(The service is on Radio 3 on Christmas Day at 1am)

This musical detective story uncovers the origin of the world's most famous Christmas carol. Using new evidence from the discovery in Austria of the song's oldest known version, it tells of Austrian priest Joseph Mohr and teacher Franz Gruber, who composed the work against a backdrop of war in the Salzburg region nearly 200 years ago.
A full performance of the carol re-creates the way in which it was probably heard for the very first time on Christmas Eve 1818. Narrated by Gabriel Wolf.

An animated cops and robbers film for the family from Oscar-winning British director
Daniel Greaves , following the trials and tribulations of a much-maligned cat called Geoff, a fish called
Chips and their accident-prone owner Matt Phlatt.
Repeated at 8.30pm on New Year's Eve
Producer Nigel Pay Stereo ♦ Family: page 12

Chef Gary Rhodes visits the Caribbean island of Grenada to track down the origins of Christmas spices such as nutmeg, cloves and cinnamon.
He also cooks alternatives to traditional festive fare, including peppered beef with sweet potato, satays of chicken, pork and exotic vegetables with peanut sauce, plus tropical fruit salad with rum-and-nutmeg syrup. Executive producer Fiona Pitcher Producer Gabrielle Jackson
Repeat Stereo

In this yuletide tour, chefs
Jennifer Paterson and Clarissa Dickson Wright visit Winchester, where they prepare a feast for thecathedral'schoirboys. For their meal, they select a goose from Walsgrove farm, which they stuff with pate and prunes and serve with Swedish red cabbage, before endingwith a Christmas pudding ice-cream bombe. Producer Patricia Llewellyn
Executive producer Peter Gillbe
♦ Food: page 28

The aliens' first impression of Christmas is that it's all about shopping and the killing of defenceless trees.
(Postponed from 18 December)
(Another episode is on Sunday 28 December at 8.15pm)

Followed by A Perfect Day for Christmas

Toy Stories
Thedocumentary series enters the action- packed, rocket-powered, space-hopping, train-driven, model-mad world of toys in a Christmas special that profiles the people who play with them. See today's choices.
Producer Stephen Walker ; Senes editor
Stephen Lambert ♦ Factual: page 10

Tonight's programme considers musa sapientum, the fruit of the wise. The Velvet Underground's John Cale tells the story behind Andy Warhol's famous LP cover, Auberon Waugh and John Walters recall their first encounters with the fruit after the war and footballer Brendan Batson considers how they became a symbol of racism hurled from the terraces.

(Another edition of Arena is tomorrow at 9.00 pm.)
(Stereo) (Subtitled)

Period drama, the first in a supernatural double bill, starring Valerie Bertinelli
A governess discovers that the children in her charge are haunted by ghosts of their nanny and valet.
Director Tom McLoughlin (1995)
♦ See Films: pages 43-76 ***

Horror, the second in a supernatural double bill. The sole survivor of a tragic car accident is plagued by strange and horrifying visions.
Director Herk Harvey (1962.15)
Black and white Subtitled.......
♦ See Films: pages 43-76 ****
Followed by Weatherview