Music, food, history, comedy! The KERA TV holiday viewing guide

Make the 2023 Christmas season even more special with these holiday programs on KERA TV. We also invite you to sign up for the KERA TV Insider email, where you’ll receive even more on-demand and on-air viewing recommendations each week.

_{Merry Berry’s Ultimate Christmas airs December 11 at 8 p.m.; December 23 at 4 p.m.; and December 24 at 4 p.m. / Credit: PBS}

Many of these programs will air on KERA TV and can be streamed online at kera.org/video. Tap the title of each program to click through. Some full episodes and films are free to watch. Some require Passport, the KERA member benefit available for as little as $5/month or $60/year. Learn more about Passport. All trailers and clips are free to watch.

Monday, December 11

▸ 8 p.m. – Mary Berry’s Ultimate Christmas

Dame Mary Berry shares her ultimate Christmas feast with all the trimmings.
_{Also:
December 23 at 4 p.m.}
_{December 24 at 4 p.m.}

Tuesday, December 12

▸ 7 p.m. – A Preston Hollow Christmas with John Rutter

A Christmas music performance at Preston Hollow Presbyterian Church in Dallas featuring choirs, ringers, organ and orchestra, along with the St. Mark’s Boys Choir.

_{Also:
December 23 at 2 p.m.
December 24 at 11 a.m. and 8 p.m.}

▸ 8 p.m. – Season of Light with the Tabernacle Choir

The Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra at Temple Square join with award winning artists Lea Salonga and Sir David Suchet.

_{Also:
December 22 at 8 p.m.}

▸ 9:30 p.m. – The Real Bedford Falls: It’s a Wonderful Life

This documentary captures the excitement of the annual It’s a Wonderful Life Festival.

_{Also:
December 25 at 8:30 p.m.}

Friday, December 15

▸ 10 p.m. – The Nutcracker and the Mouse King

Alan Cumming recounts the origin story of how a prince got put into a nutcracker.

_{Also:
December 23 at 8:30 p.m.}

Monday, December 18

▸ 8 p.m. – Mary Berry’s Highland Christmas

Dame Mary Berry shares holiday recipes and traditions from her mother’s native Scotland.

_{Also:
December 23 at 5 p.m.
December 24 at 5 p.m.}

▸ 9 p.m. – Christmas at Belmont

Christmas at Belmont 2021 features Belmont University students performing holiday songs.

Wednesday, December 20

▸ 7 p.m. – Santa’s Wild Home | Nature

Get an intimate look at the wildlife of Lapland. This region in northern Finland is the fabled home of Santa Claus and the actual home of reindeer, great gray owls, wolverines, eagles, wolves, musk oxen, brown bears and more.

Friday, December 22

▸ 8 p.m. – Seasons of Light with the Tabernacle Choir

▸ 9:30 p.m. – All is Calm: The Christmas Truce of 1914

Christmas 1914. Allied and German soldiers suspend arms for a night of song and hope.

Saturday, December 23

▸ 8 a.m – Clown by Quentin Blake

Quentin Blake’s Clown is a half-hour animated special that brings to life the adventures of a little toy clown who has been thrown away. On Christmas Eve, Clown goes on an exciting journey to find a new home for himself and his friends.

_{Also:
December 25 at 10:30 p.m.}

▸ 8:30 a.m. – The Nutcracker and the Mouse King

▸ 12:30 p.m. – A Chef’s Life Holiday Special

Join Vivian as she prepares foods that draw on her Southern heritage and Ben’s Chanukah traditions.

▸ 1 p.m. – Christmas at Westminster: An Evenings of Readings and Carols

This performance is of the oldest musical celebrations of Christmas in the United States and boasts more than 450 students from Westminster’s renowned choirs and orchestra.

_{Also:
December 24 at 6 a.m. and 1 p.m.}

▸ 2 p.m. – A Preston Hollow Christmas with John Rutter

▸ 3 p.m. – Lucy Worsley’s 12 Days of Tudor Christmas

Discover the surprising Tudor origins of some favorite Christmas traditions.

_{Also:
December 24 at 5 a.m. and 3 p.m.}

▸ 5 p.m. – Mary Berry’s Highland Christmas

▸ 6 p.m. – European Christmas Markets

Travel through Germany, France and Switzerland and explore Europe’s best Christmas markets. The town center, market square or just the narrow, cobblestone streets come alive in winter with festively decorated wooden stalls offering all sorts of treats and delights.
_{Also:
December 24 at 9 a.m.}

▸ 7 p.m. – Agatha Christie’s Poirot: A Poirot Christmas

The tyrannical patriarch of a dysfunctional but wealthy family summons his adult children for a Christmas reunion, but prior to the holiday his throat is slashed apparently by one of them.

▸ 8 p.m. – Mary Berry’s Ultimate Christmas

Sunday, December 24

▸ 5 a.m. – Lucy Worsley’s 12 Days of Tudor Christmas

▸ 6 a.m. – Christmas at Westminster: An Evenings of Readings and Carols

▸ 7 a.m. – O Holy Night: Christmas with the Tabernacle Choir

Stars Megan Hilty and Neal McDonough join The Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square to celebrate the holidays with a return to the Emerald Isle.
_{Also:
Later this afternoon, December 24 at 2 p.m.}

▸ 8 a.m. – Holiday Handbells with the Raleigh Ringers

This internationally acclaimed community handbell choir based in Raleigh, North Carolina, present the sequel to their critically acclaimed holiday special, One Winter Evening at Meymandi.

_{Also:
Today, December 24, at 12 p.m.}

▸ 9 a.m. – Christmas at Westminster: An Evenings of Readings and Carols

▸ 11 a.m. – A Preston Hollow Christmas with John Rutter

▸ 12 p.m. – Holiday Handbells with the Raleigh Ringers

▸ 1 p.m. – Christmas at Westminster: An Evenings of Readings and Carols

▸ 2 p.m. – O Holy Night: Christmas with the Tabernacle Choir

▸ 3 p.m. – Lucy Worsley’s 12 Days of Tudor Christmas

▸ 4 p.m. – Mary Berry’s Ultimate Christmas

▸ 5 p.m – Mary Berry’s Highland Christmas

▸ 6 p.m – Clown by Quentin Blake

Celebrate the heartwarming PBS Masterpiece series with clips and behind-the-scenes memories of its Christmas finales. Experience the kindness, empathy and love in the magical village of Darrowby and the stunning Yorkshire Dales during the holiday season.

▸ 7 p.m. – All Creatures Great and Small: Christmas in the Dales

▸ 8 p.m. – A Preston Hollow Christmas with John Rutter

▸ 10:30 p.m. – A Christmas Carol Goes Wrong

The Olivier Award-winning Mischief Theatre Company returns to the small screen with their take on Dickens’s famous festive fable.

▸ 11:30 p.m. – Blackadder Christmas
Blackadder is shown what the future would be like if he were a bad person. It turns out to be quite an enticement.

▸ 12:30 a.m. – Merry Christmas, Mr. Bean
On Christmas Eve, Bean heads to town to purchase preparations for the holidays, during which he plays with a Nativity scene at a department store. Then on Christmas Day, he attempts to cook a turkey … during which he accidentally gets his head stuck inside it.