Luther, January 1, BBC One 9pm

A new four-part series of the dark, London-set drama sees Idris Elba returns for a fifth time to the role that made him famous. Well, in Britain anyway: his performance as Stringer Bell in epoch-defining US crime series The Wire had already made his name Stateside, but it took us a while to catch up with his talent.

Here he runs up against new partner DS Catherine Halliday – played by Wunmi Mosaku, soon to be seen in HBO’s upcoming horror Lovecraft Country – and pits his wits against local gangster George Cornelius (Patrick Malahide). The big question, though, is will also see the return of Ruth Wilson as Alice Morgan, the Moriarty to Luther’s Sherlock. The word on the street is yes.

Neil Gaiman’s Norse Mythology, Boxing Day, BBC Radio 4, 3pm

Diana Rigg (as the narrator) and Derek Jacobi (as Odin) lead the cast in this dramatization of Neil Gaiman’s typically idiosyncratic re-telling of the stories of the Norse gods. Gaiman himself has a part to play – he voices a character called The Radio – and he’s joined by Natalie Dormer, Colin Morgan and Nathaniel Martello-White who play Freya, Loki and Thor respectively. Avengers: Infinity War it ain’t. What it is is another classy Christmas adaptation of a work by one of the world’s greatest fantasy writers, here turning his attention to Ragnarok.

We’re Going On A Bear Hunt, Christmas Eve, Channel 4, 4.10pm/The Snowman, Christmas Eve, Channel 4, 4.40pm, The Snowman And The Snowdog, Christmas Eve, Channel 4, 5.10pm

A triple whammy of festive animations. First up, the classic children’s book by Michael Rosen and Helen Oxenbury is turned into a 30-minute animation, which features the voices of Olivia Colman and Pam Ferris as well as a specially-commissioned song from George Ezra. Then it’s the famous 1982 film version of Raymond Brigg’s The Snowman, followed by its award-winning 2012 sequel. Go on, you know you want to.

A Series Of Unfortunate Events: Season Three, Netflix, streaming from January 1

A late Christmas present for fans of Lemony Snicket’s 13-strong novel cycle A Series Of Unfortunate Events: the third series of Netflix’s exquisitely-rendered, Emmy-nominated adaptation begins streaming on New Year’s Day. Once again, the three young Baudelaire children – Violet (Malina Weissman), Klaus (Louis Hynes) and baby Sunny (Presley Smith) – face off against the nefarious Count Olaf (Neil Patrick Harris) in a final series which condenses the last four books into seven parts. Among those making their ASOUE debuts as guest stars are Richard E Grant and Max Greenfield.

Raymond Briggs: Snowmen, Bogeymen & Milkmen, December 31, BBC Two, 9pm

Squeezing yet more juice out of Raymond Brigg’s famous children’s book The Snowman is this hour-long portrait documentary. In it, celebrity fans such as Andy Serkis, Nick Park, Steve Bell and Posy Simmons offer their take on Briggs and his oeuvre alongside interviews with the man himself. Finally, there’s specially commissioned animations from political cartoonist (and Goth Girl creator) Chris Riddell.

It isn’t just The Snowman under discussion of course: there’s also Fungus The Bogeyman and Briggs’s heart-rending anti-nuclear parable When The Wind Blows. Just try not to cry.

The Queen And I, Christmas Eve, Sky One, 6pm

This chuckle-inducing adaptation of Sue Townsend’s 1992 novel stars Samantha Bond as HRH the Queen, who’s forced to abdicate and move to a council estate after the election to the position of Prime Minister of Republican-minded Jack Barker (David Walliams, as if he wasn’t already busy enough this Christmas).

The Queen’s new home is Hellebore Close, somewhere in the north of England, where her new neighbours include Tony (Emmanuel Ighodaro) and odd-job man Spiggy (the wonderful Johnny Vegas). And the rest of the family? William and Harry go a bit feral, the Queen Mum (Julia McKenzie) develops a gambling habit and the Prince of Wales (Oliver Chris) is sent down for a stint at one of Her Majesty’s prisons.

Gary Goes To Hollywood, BBC One, December 31, 10pm

That’s Gary as Gary Tank Commander, aka comedian and actor Greg McHugh, who’s deployed to Los Angeles for a chin-wag or two with some of the Scots living and working Stateside. Among those he encounters – staying completely in character of course – are Marvel Avengers star Karen Gillan and Ross King, LA-based correspondent for ITV Breakfast. What is it that keeps them in Californian sunshine when they could be slogging through wind, rain and sleet back home in Scotland? He seeks answers to these and other searching questions.

Cities: Nature’s New Wild, Sunday December 30, 8pm, BBC Two

A new three-part series looking beyond the arid savannah and the snowy mountain top at some of the natural life which instead makes the world’s biggest cities its home. Over the course of the series we’ll meet the humpback whales living in New York’s Hudson Bay, watch otters travel through a Singapore underpass, see Cape Town’s penguins, Bangkok’s Burmese pythons and (even more unsettling perhaps) the colonies of “mega-bats” which thrive in the Australian city of Adelaide.

Carols From King’s, Christmas Eve, BBC Two, 5.50pm

As it is every year, so it will be in 2018: a solo chorister will sing Once In Royal David’s City to open A Festival Of Nine Lessons And Carols, the world-famous concert from the Chapel of King’s College, Cambridge. That’s followed by a selection of carols which this year includes Silent Night, What Sweeter Music and, a new composition, O Mercy Divine, written by Judith Weir. Among the readings is a letter written a British soldier in France during the First World War in which he details the events of the 1915 Christmas truce. And if you’d rather listen on the wireless, it’s broadcast on the BBC World Service at 3pm.

Escape At Dannemora, January 1, Sky Atlantic, 9pm

Directed by Ben Stiller and based on a real-life prison break from New York’s Clinton Correctional Facility in 2015, this seven-part series follows convicted murderers Richard Matt and David Sweat as they go on the lam after being helped to escape by prison worker Tilly Mitchell, with whom both men are having an affair. Benicio del Toro and Paul Dano play Matt and Sweat and Patricia Arquette, in a performance which has since seen her nominated for a Golden Globe, plays Tilly Mitchell.

BROS: After The Screaming Stops, today, BBC Four, 10pm

The Proclaimers have recently had the BBC Four treatment and now it’s the turn of those other performing twins, Luke and Matt Goss, who blazed brightly but briefly in the 1980s as part of three-strong British pop behemoth BROS (the third member, as all pop trivia fans will know, was Kirkcaldy-born Craig Logan). In this documentary the film-makers follow the twins as they’re re-united for a series of gigs at the O2 venue in London, pieces together what they’ve been up to since their split in 1992 and recalls the days when they were one of the biggest bands in the world.

The Great Christmas Bake Off, Christmas Day, Channel 4, 8pm

Judges Paul Hollywood and Prue Leith are joined by Sandi Toksvig and Noel Fielding for a seasonal Bake Off which sees special guests from the 2016 and 2017 series – Jane Beedle, Andrew Smyth, Liam Charles and Flo Atkins respectively – pitted against each other for the title of Christmas Star Baker. Oh, and there’s a musical treat (if that’s the right word) in the shape of rock band The Darkness, performing their song Christmas Time (Don’t Let The Bells End). And if you still haven’t had your fill after that lot, The Great New Year’s Bake Off airs at 7.40pm on January 1.

Tidying Up With Marie Kondo, Netflix, streaming from January 1

If you haven’t heard of Marie Kondo, she’s the gazillion-selling author of books such as The Life-Changing Magic Of Tidying Up. If you have, you’ll know that she’s responsible for the way you roll up your t-shirts, so you can see which is which when you pull out your neatly-arranged drawers. In this eight-part series she takes the next obvious step and turns her decluttering and organizing philosophy into a TV series, turning up at people’s homes and telling them what to junk, what to keep, and how to store it. If your New Year’s resolution is to clear out the spare bedroom/garage/attic/man cave then this is the programme for you.

Doctor Who, January 1, BBC One, 7pm

For the first time since the 2005 series re-boot there will be no Christmas Day special for Doctor Who fans. That’s the bad news. The good news is that it has simply been shifted to New Year’s Day and with a specifically New Year’s Day-themed story line. This one involves something nasty resurfacing from long ago in Earth’s history. And no, it isn’t The Last Of The Summer Wine. As ever, Jodie Whittaker stars alongside Tosin Cole as Ryan, Mandip Gil as Yaz and Bradley Walsh as Graham.