BBC One

BBC One announces star-studded New Year’s Eve slate

The night begins at 9pm with The Big New Year’s In hosted by Paddy McGuinness.

Celebrity guests will join McGuinness in a live show of music, games, surprises and a hilarious quiz of the year.

Graham Norton will then continue the countdown with his traditional end of year talk show, joined by Emily Blunt, Jamie Dornan, Tom Hanks, Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, Jessica Chastain, Nish Kumar, and with music from Sophie Ellis Bextor.

BBC One announces a documentary about Marcus Rashford MBE’s child food poverty campaign

Marcus Rashford (Credit: BBC)

Rashford has previously spoken about his own experiences of child food poverty and the sacrifices he and his family faced while he was growing up. 

The Premier League striker will learn about how child food poverty affects millions of children across the UK and how COVID-19 has exacerbated the issue. 

Cameras will uncover the obstacles and successes Rashford has gone through to try and eradicate child food poverty in the UK permanently, including the pressure his campaign put on the UK Government to offer support to over 1.7 million children. 

BBC One releases sneak peek of A Perfect Planet with Sir David Attenborough

Featuring an original score from composer Ilan Eshkeri, the prequel introduces the forces of nature supporting life on Earth that the series will explore.

Eshkeri said: “Composing the music for A Perfect Planet has also been enormously challenging - not least because of the unprecedented logistical issues of trying to record an orchestra during the lockdown!

“I’m grateful to everyone at the BBC and Silverback who supported me and the ideas I threw at them and I hope my music can play a small part in helping to inspire change.”

Line of Duty will return to BBC One in early 2021

Vicky McClure, Martin Compston and Adrian Dunbar in line of Duty (credit: BBC)

Filming for the new series started up again in September and is still ongoing, with Adrian Dunbar, Vicky McClure and Martin Compston reprising their roles as detectives Superintendent Ted Hastings, DI Kate Fleming and DS Steve Arnott.

AC-12, the anti-corruption unit, will be met with a new, inscrutable adversary called DCI Joanne Davidson, played by Kelly Macdonald (Giri/Haji),

The series will pick up a year and a half after the closure of Operation Pear Tree, with Hastings returning to head up the unit after his exoneration at the end of series five.

BBC One commissions three new The Truth About… specials on coronavirus

The Truth About… Improving Your Mental Health

One in four of us will experience mental health difficulties in our lifetime, and that’s without the added pressures of the pandemic.

The programme will discuss the findings of Imperial College London and the BBC’s national survey of our mental health, which, with over 350,000 participants, provides a unique insight into the impact of COVID-19.

The Vicar of Dibley is returning to BBC One for three new Christmas specials

(credit: BBC)

With three ten-minute episodes, the vicar will be reflecting on the past extraordinary year, giving sermons on everything from making home-made wine to the danger of having Owen Newitt cut your hair. Geraldine will be joined by Hugo Horton (James Fleet) and some local primary school children.

The three sermons will then be compiled into a thirty-minute compilation which will air over Christmas on BBC One.

Dawn French said: “Back in the dog collar, back in Dibley and back on your telly at Xmas. I couldn’t be happier. Bless you.”

Small Axe: The real Black British experience

In 2010, Tracey Scoffield, co-founder of Turbine Studios and executive producer of the Emmy-winning movie The Gathering Storm, received an email that would change not only the course of her next 10 years, but the boundaries of television drama.

It was from Steve McQueen’s agent. At the time, the London-born director had just made a name for himself with his debut feature film, Hunger, the story of Bobby Sands and the IRA hunger strikes.

BBC One commissions new factual drama The Sixth Commandment

The true crime drama explores the death of Peter Farquhar in the Buckinghamshire village of Maids Moreton, and the remarkable events that followed over the next three years.

The series will follow the story of the seeming friendship between the teacher Peter Farquhar and a charismatic young student, Ben Field, which turned into one of the most complex murder cases in recent history.