Emily in Paris to the Book of Boba Fett: all the best shows to stream this Christmas

Emily in Paris

The first season of this comedy-drama was one of the more perplexing TV events of 2020. The show did big numbers despite poor reviews and frequent lapses into absurdity. Clearly, Covid was a factor: many people wanted to disappear into escapism. On those terms, the adventures of American social media executive Emily Cooper (Lily Collins) as she wafted around Paris were just the ticket. However, the show was criticised for cultural insensitivity and there was bewilderment at its getting nominations at the Golden Globes. Will season two be a more chastened, modest creation?
Netflix, from Wednesday 22 December

The Wonder Years

The original Kevin Arnold would be entering his senior years by now. But nothing ever really dies in the world of streaming TV, and the coming-of-age classic has been rebooted with a few little differences. It’s directed by Fred Savage (who played Kevin in the original series), and Don Cheadle narrates, with charm to burn. But, most strikingly, this reboot’s “Kevin” (Elisha Williams’s Dean) is Black. Inevitably, this means there’s already a pointless but implacable online culture war slanging match raging around the show, which – as you might expect – remains essentially its old self: a likable mixture of mild comedy and gentle life lessons.
Disney+, from Wednesday 22 December

Frasier

All 264 episodes of the urbane sitcom starring Kelsey Grammer as the fussy psychiatrist Frasier Crane are now available on Channel 4’s streaming service. Marvel at Niles’s (David Hyde Pierce) waspish one-liners and endless neuroses. Swoon at Eddie the dog. Howl at the magnificently awful “British” accents of Daphne’s (Jane Leeves) regionally confusing family. And raise a can of beer to Marty (the late John Mahoney). With the reboot set to air in 2022, now might be the perfect time to catch up with Seattle’s finest in this landmark of 1990s TV.
All4, available now

Girls5eva

It’s just been renewed for a second season, but this is the first UK screening – on the Sky-affiliated Peacock platform – for this snarky, funny comedy (executive-produced by Tina Fey) in which a one-hit-wonder girl group from the 90s are sampled by a rapper and decide to reunite. It’s a format familiar to fans of the films of Christopher Guest, but it’s interesting to see it transposed on to glossy pop. The performances from the likes of Sara Bareilles and Busy Phillips are on the money, and the songs work as catchy-as-hell pop earworms and parodies of the same.
Peacock, from Tuesday 21 December

Spy City

Muted trumpets, endless cigarettes, neon lights reflected in puddles – all the traditional spy noir tropes are present in this new drama. Fortunately there’s a story to match, as British agent Fielding Scott (Dominic Cooper) negotiates cold war Berlin, attempting to plug leaks heading in the direction of Russia but also in search of answers to a more fundamental question: why did a British agent try to kill him? Scott is initially a closed book, but there are hints of enigma and vulnerability in a nicely modulated performance from Cooper.
BritBox, from Thursday 23 December

Yearly Departed 2021

A sort of 2021 roast, this comedy special features, among others, Jane Fonda, Chelsea Peretti, Meg Stalter and X Mayo, and will form a presumably not particularly fond farewell to the departing year. Given that 2021 has been almost as hard to love as 2020, expect the humour to be fairly barbed. Topics will include the dilemmas of vaccinated life and the miseries of everyone’s least favourite video conferencing platform, Zoom. Insecure star Yvonne Orji will host and there’ll be a musical send-off from Alessia Cara.
Amazon Prime, from Thursday 23 December

Jimmy Carr: His Dark Material

Much of the advance publicity for this new standup set from the talented but sometimes gratuitously “edgy” comic has surrounded Carr’s righteously brutal takedown of an anti-vaxxer who was brave (or stupid?) enough to identify himself in the crowd. But Carr might not always be on the side of the angels here, as we’re also promised a few jokes billed as “career-enders” – although we’ll believe that when we see it. An interesting option for release on Christmas Day then, but surely a bracing corrective to cloying festive kitsch.
Netflix, from Christmas Day

Stories of a Generation: With Pope Francis

Pope Francis and Martin Scorsese: together at last! An unlikely dream team for Christmas Day family entertainment but, then again, we guess the pope makes his own rules when it comes to creative collaborators. This one-off documentary – based on his 2018 book Sharing the Wisdom of Time – sees the pontiff exploring the stories of 18 people over the age of 70. Aside from legendary Hollywood directors, he also ropes in the likes of primatologist Jane Goodall, artist and activist Omar Badsha and surfing icon Felipe Pomar.
Netflix, from Christmas Day

Death to 2021

After last year’s farewell, the annual special from Charlie Brooker’s comedy stable returns to offer a none-too-affectionate send-off to arguably the second worst year. For this year’s roast, Diane Morgan, Tracey Ullman and Hugh Grant will be returning, alongside new recruits Nick Mohammed, William Jackson Harper, Stockard Channing and Lucy Liu.
Netflix, from Monday 27 December

Peter Crouch: Save Our Beautiful Game

The pink and navy scarves of Dulwich Hamlet – until recently the hipster’s football club of choice – have fluttered less defiantly in the last couple of years. Partly due to Covid, the club is facing serious financial problems. Can Peter Crouch save them? The former Liverpool and England star turned out for Hamlet in his youth, so he has a personal interest in helping to revive the club.
Discovery+, from Tuesday 28 December

The Book of Boba Fett

“Jabba ruled with fear,” says Boba Fett. “I intend to rule with respect.” Another of the gaps in the Star Wars universe gets filled in as the underworld is explored and the bounty hunter gets his own long-awaited series. In it, Boba and his mercenary pal Fennec Shand are returning to Tatooine to stake their claim to Jabba’s former territory. But the remains of his crime syndicate aren’t going to give up their territory without a fight. Temuera Morrison stars as the rogue clone, with Ming-Na Wen as his sidekick Shand.
Disney+, from Wednesday 29 December

Kitz

As showcased by Succession and The White Lotus, one of 2021 TV’s defining obsessions has been dramatising the dysfunction enabled by extreme wealth. Here’s another case study – this German thriller snowploughs into the heart of a clique of rich kids from Munich as they make merry in Kitzbühel (“The Aspen of the Alps”). Lisi (Sofie Eifertinger) is our guide to this world as she arrives in the resort, out of the loop and still trying to come to terms with the death of her brother, but inadvertently setting off an uncontrollable chain of events.
Netflix, from Thursday 30 December

Cobra Kai

Somewhat by stealth, this Karate Kid spin-off has been a big hit for Netflix – after beginning life on YouTube, its blend of martial arts, comedy and 80s nostalgia has become a genuine phenomenon. The series sees the high school rivalry between Ralph Macchio’s Danny LaRusso and Johnny Lawrence (William Zabka) rekindled in the context of middle-aged suburban life. This fourth series delves into the backstories of a few of the supporting cast, with Demetri (Gianni DeCenzo) and Eli (Jacob Bertrand) rebuilding their relationship.
Netflix, from New Year’s Eve

Queer Eye

“Don’t mess with Texas,” as the saying goes. Excitingly, the Queer Eye gang are about to do exactly that, and Texas can expect to be better groomed, better fed, more culturally aware and more emotionally literate as a result. This sixth series is set in the Lone Star state – for Houstonian Bobby Berk at least, this represents a homecoming, but – as ever – the Fab Five make friends everywhere they go with their mixture of practical advice, infectious empathy and good humour. A reliably uplifting way to start the new year.
Netflix, from New Year’s Eve

Stay Close

A woman about to marry her long-term boyfriend. A detective unwilling to give up on a cold case. The parents of a missing teenager. A gone-to-seed photographer … This nervy thriller adapted by Danny Brocklehurst from a Harlan Coben novel skilfully weaves these four strands together – there’s a sense of growing unease and tension as the past begins to swarm into the present. The catalyst looks likely to be Sarah Parish’s Lorraine; a woman who knows more about Megan (Cush Jumbo) than is entirely healthy.
Netflix, from New Year’s Eve