The EastEnders star will reflect on events from the past year, including the ongoing Brexit debates in Westminster, where “there’s been more backstabbing than we have in Albert Square.”
He will also raise a toast to mark the 100th anniversary of both the women’s vote and the First World War Armistice.
It really is the season to be jolly as far as television is concerned, the line-up is full of one-off specials, film premieres and climatic soap storylines.
So, crack open the port, grab a selection box and feast on our compilation of some of the finest moments in the history of Christmas television.
Matthew Bell takes notes as top screenwriters explain how to pen a hit drama
British soaps have made huge strides in portraying the lives and loves of gay characters since the genre’s first on-screen kiss in EastEnders three decades ago.
But, argued the actors, writers and producers on the panel at an RTS event in mid-July – “LGBTQ in soap: job done?” – the fight against prejudice is not yet won.
“Soaps are incredibly powerful in terms of being able to get a message out and in changing people’s perceptions,” said Daniel Brocklebank, who plays gay vicar Billy Mayhew in Coronation Street.
The Fake News Show is back! Stephen Mangan returns as host, bringing viewers up to speed with false claims and alternative facts in line with the upcoming UK General Election.
Katherine Ryan and Richard Osman will act as team captains, joined by Miles Jupp and Stanley Johnson.
Sean O’Connor insists that not much has changed since he returned to EastEnders as executive producer last summer, after an 11-year absence from the soap.
“All these shows renew themselves…I think they are sort of like chameleons, they change for the time that they are written in and are performed in but fundamentally they remain the same.”
The service, named BritBox, will bring a huge catalogue of British content to the United States in one ad-free subscription service.
The platform, which is set to rival providers like Netflix and Amazon in carrying British content across the Atlantic, will premiere shows including Anthony Horowitz-created BBC drama New Blood, and ITV’s historical epic Tutankhamun.
The show's fifth series recently concluded on Sky1. Episodes featured former EastEnders actor Kemp investigating the ivory trade in Mozambique, overseeing the production of cocaine in Columbia, and visiting rebel groups fighting ISIS in Syria.
Series six will see the Bafta-winning documentary-maker explore migrant smuggling, the War on Drugs, and violent extremism in Libya, the US, and the UK.
Executive Producer Tom Sheahan, of Freshwater Films, said: “We’re thrilled to have the greenlight for series six of Extreme World.
