Need a little Christmas? We’ve got plenty this month with a sleigh full of holiday episodes, music specials and cooking/entertaining shows. Joe Elmore and the Tennessee Crossroads crew put together a collection of an hour-long Tennessee Crossroads Christmas Special, premiering Thursday, Dec. 20, at 7 p.m. Tune in for nine holiday-themed stories including Chad’s Winter Wonderland in Wilson County, the Chattanooga Power Board windows, and a woman with a massive collection of Santa items. The special also features two vintage story segments and a look at Cheekwood Estate and Gardens in all of its holiday splendor.
The new Call the Midwife Holiday Special airs Tuesday, Dec. 25, at 8 p.m. It wouldn’t be Christmas at Nonnatus House without new arrivals – this time greets a new nun and four Chinese orphans. We’re also airing the Call the Midwife 2016 specials on Saturday, Dec. 15, at 9:30 p.m.; and the 2017 special airs Saturday, Dec. 22, at 9:30 p.m.
Christmas at Belmont is one of our most popular holiday programs! See the 2015 concert hosted by Kathy Mattea on Friday, Dec. 21, at 7 p.m. and the 2017 concert hosted by Sheryl Crow at 8 p.m. Then, Jordan Smith ’tis the Season airs at 9 p.m., and Happy Holidays with the Boston Pops caps off the night at 11 p.m.
Holiday eats
Hosts Bridget Lancaster and Julia Collin Davison (pictured) and the rest of the America’s Test Kitchen crew share favorite recipes, traditions and personal memories in the new Home for the Holidays special, airing Friday, Dec. 14 at 7 p.m.
Chef Lidia Bastianich serves up A Heartland Holiday Feast, on Tuesday, Dec. 18, at 8 p.m. In this new Lidia Celebrates America special, Bastianich goes on a cross-country trip to sample tamales, ribs, pies and other culinary traditions of America’s rural communities.
Shows of Christmas Past
Keeping Up Appearances Christmas episodes air Saturdays, Dec. 15 ‒ 22, at 8 p.m. Christmas episodes of Still Open All Hours air Saturdays, Dec. 15 (2016) and 22 (2017), at 9 p.m. The Lawrence Welk Show celebrates Christmas 1966 on Saturday, Dec. 22, at 7 p.m. and New Year’s 1970 the following Saturday at 7.
Performance treats
Tony Award-winning Broadway star Sutton Foster and actor Hugh Bonneville host Christmas with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir in a new holiday performance premiering Monday, Dec. 17 at 8 p.m. Other performers include the eight-person Gabriel Trumpet Ensemble, a percussion ensemble and a handbell choir.
Spend Christmas Eve at a cozy Vermont Inn via an encore presentation of Irving Berlin’s Holiday Inn ‒ The Broadway Musical on Monday, Dec. 24, at 8 p.m. on Great Performances.
The holiday season wouldn’t be complete without the Nutcracker. Sunday, Dec. 16, at 11 p.m., young dancers compete for roles in an annual production in Getting to the Nutcracker. Meanwhile, Chicago’s Joffrey Ballet transplanted the famous story to the city’s 1893 Columbian Exposition (The White City) with choreography by Christopher Wheeldon. Enjoy a behind-the-scenes look in Making a New American Nutcracker, airing Thursday, Dec. 20, at 11 p.m.
Stocking stuffers
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u’ll find a collection of festive episodes on NPT Passport, our members-only streaming portal. The programs include two Downton Abbey Christmas episodes, a Christmas masterclass from The Great British Baking Show and a classic Julia Child show on how to roast a turkey. Click here for the complete playlist and here for information on NPT Passport. The collection will be available through the end of the year.
Apollo 8 was the first lunar space mission that took humans around the back side of the Moon. The mission came at the end of 1968, launching on Dec. 21 and including a poignant moment when the three astronauts took turns reading from Genesis during a live broadcast on Christmas Eve. Sunday, Dec. 23, at 10:30 p.m., Earthrise on POV Shorts, discusses the mission’s iconic photograph of Earth rising dramatically over the Moon’s horizon. On Wednesday, Dec. 26, at 8 p.m., NOVA’s Apollo’s Daring Mission on chronicles that entire lunar adventure.
New Year’s in
What are you doing New Year’s Eve? We’re airing Live from Lincoln Center featuring the New York Philharmonic and Renée Fleming on Monday, Dec. 31, at 8 p.m. That’s followed at 9:30 p.m. by Austin City Limits Hall of Fame New Year’s Eve show. This year’s guests include Chris Isaak, Boz Scaggs, Gary Clark Jr., and Norah Jones.
Hugh Bonneville returns as host of Great Performances’ broadcast of the New Year’s Celebration from Vienna. The show airs Tuesday, Jan. 1, 2019, at 8 p.m. and will feature the Vienna Philharmonic led by Christian Thielemann, principal conductor of the Staatskapelle Dresden, and the Vienna City Ballet.
Find our complete programming schedule at wnpt.org/schedule.