RTE Release Xmas TV Line Up

Christmas is a busy time in TV land with the regular shows taking a well-deserved break and the schedule choc-a-block with Christmas specials and yuletide shenanigans.

RTE have just released their line-up for the festive season, which like last year, is set to include not one but two new Mrs Brown's Boys specials, one airing on Christmas Eve and the other on New Year’s Eve. While Mrs Brown’s Boys D’Movie is the big movie on Christmas Night. Your aul pair will be only delighted.

As well as that, we are taking a walk down memory lane with some of the cast of Glenroe in Well Holy God It’s Glenroe, airing on December 27th at 9.30pm. The cast and crew of Glenroe look back at how Wesley Burrowes’ rural Irish series became our favourite Sunday night ritual. Mary McEvoy, Emmet Bergin, Geraldine Plunkett and Mario Rosenstock revisit their much-loved characters, while the late Joe Lynch and Mick Lally, and their famous onscreen partnership of Dinny and Miley Byrne, are also remembered.

Fair City fans will also be getting an hour-long Christmas day special where this much talked about son of Debbie's called Emmet arrives and causes more trouble for the O'Briens. The Dillons get an unexpected surprise when Neasa arrives home for Christmas, Paul pulls out all the stops to give the Brennans a Christmas they will never forget while Eillie takes ill and ends up in hospital giving Heather the opportunity to bask in the reflected attention. There's no end to that Heather one.

The Queen of Ireland Panti Bliss will be talking about the highlights of the year on St Stephen's Day in Panti Does 2015 as she is joined by a host of celebrities to go through the highs and lows of the landmark year that it was for Ireland.

The Al Porter Show will be leading us into Christmas where the comedian promises an evening of all singing, all dancing and a lot of laughs on Christmas Eve.

While U2 will be taking centre stage on Christmas Day with their rescheduled U2 iNNOCENCE + eXPERIENCE concert recorded live in Paris which will air on Christmas Day at 11.10pm.

There will also be Christmas specials throughout the festive season from the likes of Daniel O'Donnell, Nathan Carter, Darina Allen, Neven Maguire and Republic of Telly, as well as The Shelbourne and The Rubberbandits’ Guide to 1916.

While Kathryn Thomas and 2FM’s Keith Walsh ring in the New Year live from the 3Arena on RTÉ 1.

In terms of movies, it's not looking too bad. Here's how it stands;

Movies on RTÉ One - Film fans can look forward to premiers including Mrs Brown’s Boys D’Movie (Christmas Day), Gravity (Christmas Eve), Oz The Great and The Powerful, Brave (Christmas Day), The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (St Stephen’s Day), Captain Philips (St Stephen’s Day) and Lincoln. Plus the Irish premiere of Les Miserables. There will be family favourites Up, Shrek the Third, Cars2, We Bought a Zoo and Home Alone 2: Lost in New York. There’s a bumper season of favourites, including The Quiet Man to mark the passing of the late great Maureen O’Hara, White Christmas, The Sound of Music, It’s a Wonderful Life, High Society, Beaches and Back to the Future, plus all the Indiana Jones movies.

Movies on RTÉ2 include premieres of Anchorman 2, Man of Steel, Elysium, Frankenweenie, I am Ali, Iron Man 3 and One Direction: This is Us, plus favourites ET, Happy Feet Two, James and the Giant Peach, Naked Gun and Airplane!

Don't know about you, but we're already dreaming of selection boxes in front of the fire watching this lot.