Disney+
The latest offspring of the Star Wars franchise gives new life to a character whose massive popularity with fans has far outweighed the sum of his relatively minor appearances across the franchise to date. New Zealand actor Temuera Morrison plays bounty hunter Boba Fett (he also played the character’s father, Jango Fett, in Star Wars: Attack of the Clones) who, in this incarnation, attempts to make a name and a fortune for himself by stepping into the vacuum left in the galaxy’s criminal underworld since the demise of Jabba the Hutt. “Jabba ruled by fear. I intend to rule with respect,” says Fett, whose helmet makes it impossible to see if his tongue is planted firmly in his cheek. His partner in the endeavour is the part-cybernetic mercenary and assassin Fennec Shand (Ming-Na Wen), whose quick wit tends to make up for some of Fett’s silent-but-deadly qualities. As with Disney+’s other recent Star Wars spinoff The Mandalorian – which conveniently confirmed in its second season that he wasn’t, in fact, devoured by a sarlacc in Return of the Jedi – the action is intense and the special effects are second to none. It’s a rousing sci-fi spectacular. Gerard O’Donovan

Kipps: The New Half a Sixpence Musical
Sky Arts, 6.30pm
“Such a pleasure you don’t want it to end,” said The Telegraph’s critic of this West End extravaganza in 2016. Cameron Mackintosh’s production of Julian Fellowes’s reworking of the hit 1960s musical Half a Sixpence returns it to its literary roots in HG Wells’s novel, Kipps.

Billionaire Blooms
Channel 4, 7pm
Luxury florist Jamie Aston, floral designer Paula Rooney, and rising stars Romy St Clair and Iona Mathieson are among the UK designers featured in a colourful documentary exploring a highly competitive world where extravagant floral displays are demanded by super-rich clients.

Harry Potter: Hogwarts Tournament of Houses
Sky Max, 7pm 
As part of Sky’s 20th-anniversary celebrations of the Harry Potter film franchise, Dame Helen Mirren hosts a four-part fiendishly difficult quiz in which Potter superfans compete to be named House Cup champion. Tonight’s opening round sees the Hufflepuffs take on the Gryffindors for a place in the final.

Worzel Gummidge: Calliope Jane
BBC One, 7.15pm
Another completely charming episode sees scarecrow Worzel (Mackenzie Crook) oddly discombobulated by the arrival of a funfair at Scatterbrook, until Aunt Sally (Vicki Pepperdine) and her friend Calliope Jane (Nneka Okoye) find a way for him and his scarecrow pals to enjoy all the fun of the fairground. Bill Bailey guest stars. 

Pauline Collins: Britain’s Sweetheart
Channel 5, 8pm
A tribute to the much-loved actress who first gained recognition as parlourmaid Sarah in Upstairs, Downstairs and went on to find global fame in Shirley Valentine. Among those sharing memories and favourite film clips here are Simon Callow, Tom Conti, Nerys Hughes and playwright Willy Russell.

Frankie Boyle’s 2021 New World Order
BBC Two, 10pm & 10.45pm
Frankie Boyle casts his customary caustic eye over the past 12 months in an end-of-year special in which he and regular guests Miles Jupp and Kiri Pritchard-McLean, among others, dissect the most bewilderingly awful moments of 2021 (there’s been a few). It’s followed by a clip-show featuring highlights and previously unseen segments from the series. GO

Inside Out (2015) ★★★★★
BBC One, 1.40pm
Pixar proves at the peak of its heart-tugging powers in this animation which also nods to the old adage: joy and sadness aren’t opposites, they’re allies. It goes literally inside the mind of 11-year-old Riley, struggling when her family move to a new town, and is told from the perspective of her emotions – Joy, Sadness, Anger, Fear and Disgust – as she tries to process the upheaval. An ingenious concept, well executed. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry.

The Italian Job (1969) ★★★★
ITV4, 6.10pm  
Is there a film that delivers a greater infusion of pure joy than The Italian Job? The cast of this chirpily patriotic movie is led by Michael Caine as Charlie Croker, a dollybird-friendly criminal who inherits a plan to rob the Fiat factory in Turin by causing the world’s largest traffic jam. Caine’s performance is counterbalanced by Noël Coward as the urbane crime lord Mr Bridger. Peter Collinson directs with wit and vibrancy.

A Star Is Born (2018) ★★★★
BBC One, 9pm
The fourth remake of the 1937 William A Wellman original is an utter doozy. Bradley Cooper plays Jack, a booze-addled country singer who meets Ally, a waitress with big dreams. They shack up together as they try to negotiate the music industry – as well as their fragile, budding love. What ensues is a story of Oscar-winning emotional dynamite. George Cukor’s 1954 version is on Mon, BBC Two, 10.05am & Thurs, BBC Four, 10.50pm.

Rita, Sue and Bob Too (1987) ★★★★
Talking Pictures TV, 9.05pm  
Alan Clarke’s raucous comedy about a middle-aged lothario’s (George Costigan) illicit affair with two teenage babysitters from a northern housing estate caused quite a stir on its release. It’s part sex comedy and part critique of the divisions of Thatcher’s Britain and despite its politically incorrect nature, the resulting film is keenly observed, emotionally taut and politically sensitive.

Thursday December 30

Attenborough and the Mammoth Graveyard 
BBC One, 8pm
Not long ago, fossil hunters Sally and Neville Hollingworth came across a find so astonishing that even David Attenborough wanted to get involved. They discovered a graveyard of mammoth bones dating back to the Ice Age, and alongside them flint tools, which may provide proof that early humans were hunting and eating the animals. This fine documentary presented by the revered naturalist sees him explore the site near Swindon in Wiltshire, and chat to the experts who are excavating it. Attenborough explains the significance of the find – archaeologists know little about this period, and mammoth remains are a rare find in the UK. This time-travel through the gravel is presented as a whodunit – what kind of mammoths are they and how and why did they die here? Attenborough and various experts explain the numerous discoveries they’ve made so far and present viewers with a helpful timeline of the Ice Age, making it easy for the casual viewer to grasp the magnitude of this find. Attenborough speaks with customary authority, his enthusiasm for the natural world undimmed. Watching the great communicator onscreen is always a treat.Vicki Power

The Great British Sewing Bee: Celebrity New Year Special
BBC One, 9pm; Scot, 10.35pm
Have judges Esme Young and Patrick Grant been swigging from the sherry bottle? Tonight’s holiday special of the garment-making competition includes a challenge to sew a dress based on party food. The resulting bacon and fondue-themed frocks add to an air of festive frivolity among contestants that include journalist Kirsty Wark.

One Night in London Zoo
Channel 4, 9pm
It’s every kid’s dream to get the run of a zoo, which makes this instalment of Alex Brooker and Josh Widdecombe’s sleepover-in-tourist-attractions show magical. With Desiree Burch and Guz Khan, the hosts feed camels and spy on amorous lions.

Wogan: Now You’re Talking
Channel 5, 9pm
The late broadcaster Terry Wogan is celebrated in this one-off special in which friends and colleagues pay tribute to his wry, reassuringly unfussy style. It includes clips of the twinkly Irishman’s best chat show moments and highlights from Blankety Blank, as well as a few hidden archive gems.

Dean Martin: King of Cool
Sky Arts, 9pm
An evening of repeated Rat Pack films includes this complimentary new documentary by Tom Donahue about the laidback singer and brilliant straight man to Jerry Lewis. Dean Martin’s daughter, and the likes of actresses Carol Burnett and Angie Dickinson, take us into Martin’s world, although ultimately the star remains something of an enigma.

Celebrity I Literally Just Told You
Channel 4, 10pm
Lorraine Kelly, Aisling Bea, Alex Horne and Asim Chaudhry try to recall everything that’s been said during the course of tonight’s instalment of the quirky game show, so that they can regurgitate it later to win the jackpot. It’s a daft format that works, thanks to host Jimmy Carr’s skill at controlling the chaos and relentless mick-taking of his famous guests.

Walden
Sky Arts, 11pm
Doing its bit to remind us of the magic of theatre, Sky Arts presents this filmed version of Amy Berryman’s play staged earlier this year at London’s Harold Pinter Theatre. Gemma Arterton and Lydia Wilson play sisters at odds over their life paths. The actors give nuanced turns in an intelligent play about sisterhood and climate activism. VP

The Jungle Book (2016) ★★★★
BBC One, 3.35pm
Jon Favreau’s beautiful CGI-and-live-action update of the Disney classic keeps the songs and the fun, but adds fresh emotional weight to the story. Among the familiar gang lending their voices are Idris Elba’s evil tiger Shere Khan, created in extraordinary detail, Christopher Walken’s imposing King Louie, the last Gigantopithecus, and – best of all – Bill Murray having a blast as the kind-hearted, honey-loving sloth bear Baloo.

The Remains of the Day (1993) ★★★★
BBC Two, 4.50pm
The success of Merchant Ivory’s Oscar-nominated adaptation of Kazuo Ishiguro’s Thirties-set novel, a well-observed study of regret, is built around its perfectly cast leads: Anthony Hopkins as James, the butler to the doltish aristocrat Lord Darlington (James Fox) and Emma Thompson as a housekeeper who tries to draw him out of his sterile shell. Get more Hopkins in Shadowlands at 2.45pm.

Judy (2019) ★★★★
BBC Two, 9pm  
Rupert Goold’s biopic of the American actress focuses on the final months of Judy Garland’s life in 1968, when she was ravaged, rake-thin, bankrupt and adrift in an alcoholic haze. Renée Zellweger brilliantly embodies her, if “embodies” is quite the word for this spectral, rasping, self-pitying figure. The script aims for compassion but its tabloidy zoom in on the car-crash years is faintly unseemly. An intimate, seething portrait.

Ready Player One (2018) ★★★★
BBC One, 10.35pm  
Based on Ernest Cline’s dystopian Young Adult bestseller, this tech-savvy blockbuster would have been a nerd’s dream even if Steven Spielberg hadn’t sat down in the director’s chair. On the decrepit Earth of 2045, a corporate virtual-reality game provides escape to Olivia Cooke, Tye Sheridan, Ben Mendelsohn and the like – but it’s a race against time to keep the suits from assuming total control. Plays out like Tron, with better haircuts.

Friday December 31

New Year’s Eve