James R | On 30, Nov 2019

Christmas is finally upon us and Sky is unwrapping a host of festive specials for its TV series, from The Reluctant Landlord and A League of Their Own to In the Long Run, plus some not-so-cheerful true crime docs, including The Killing of Jessica Chambers and Homicide for the Holidays. The jewel in the crown, though, is its big family seasonal production, Cinderella: After Ever After, starring David Walliams.

Don’t have Sky? You can stream all of the above live and on-demand through NOW, Sky’s contract-free VOD service, which costs £8.99 a month for an Entertainment Membership. For more information, click here.

Sky Cinema, meanwhile, is serving up a bumper pack of blockbusters, including Avengers: Endgame, Mary Poppins Returns, The Kid Who Would Be King, The LEGO Movie 2 and the entire Harry Potter collection – all joining the original Star Wars saga.

Again, if you don’t have Sky, you can stream all of Sky Cinema live and on-demand through NOW, for £11.99 a month. For more information on that, click here. For sports, you can also sign up to NOW’s Sky Sports Pass on a contract-free basis. For more information, click here.

All of these you can stream in HD (or, in the case of the Harry Potter films, UHD) by adding a NOW Boost to your account, which costs an additional £3 a month. For more information, click here.

Here’s your guide to what’s coming soon in December 2019:

TV

Method of a Serial Killer (Sky Crime, 9pm) – 1st December

Among serial killers, Israel Keyes is an enigma. When police picked him up in Texas in March of 2012, it was for the murder of 18-yearold Samantha Koenig, whom he had brazenly kidnapped from a coffee stand in Anchorage, Alaska. However, after an intense game of cat and mouse, the FBI uncovered one of the most calculated serial killers they had ever encountered.

Madam Secretary: Season 6 (Sky Witness, 10pm) – 5th December

Téa Leoni returns as Elizabeth McCord – US former Secretary of State and an expert at navigating international affairs, White House politics and family drama. Following the events of Season 5, McCord has now taken on the role of President of the United States. Early into her first stint as President, an unexpected investigation into her past threatens to destroy everything she holds dear.

The Killing of Jessica Chambers (Sky Crime, 9pm) – 8th December

When Jessica Chambers is found outside her burning car on a rural Mississippi road in 2014, she is severely burned and would die hours later. With no obvious suspect of this vicious crime, an onslaught of online sleuths – spurred on by an interest in true crime documentaries and podcasts – descend digitally on the grieving community

Homicide for the Holidays: Season 3 (Sky Crime, 9pm) – 10th December

You better watch out. Homicide for the Holidays makes its Sky Crime debut with another series of seasonal manslaughter. In the first case of the season, the body of a young mother is found strangled inside a burning car just before Christmas in a quiet Minneapolis suburb. After investigation, detectives suspect she was killed by someone very close to her.

Romesh’s Look Back To The Future 2 (Sky One, 9pm) – 17th December

Romesh Ranganathan returns to present his comedy panel show with a twist. At the start of this year, Romesh and special guests Tom Davis, Jo Brand and Gino D’Acampo tried their luck at predicting the future for 2019. One year later, we find out whose crystal ball has won them the top prize.

Cats: The Musical (Sky Arts, 9pm) – 17th December

Ahead of the brand new big screen adaptation starring Taylor Swift and James Corden, Sky Arts will be showing the 1998 performance of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s furry phenomenon Cats, which remains one of the longest running musicals on both Broadway and the West End. At the time, this was the first musical of Lloyd Webber to have been presented on film. The performance was recorded from the New London Theatre on Drury Lane, and features Elaine Page as Grizabella and Sir John Mills as Gus the Theatre Cat.

A League of Their Own Christmas Holiday (Sky One, 9pm) – 19th December

Join Freddie Flintoff and Jamie Redknapp as they challenge each other to winter sports in Austria, for the third annual A League of Their Own Christmas special, in which teams of comedians, celebrities and sports stars have their sporting knowledge put to the test.

Cinderella: After Ever After (Sky One, 5pm) – 24th December

David Walliams OBE and BAFTA-Award winning comic Siân Gibson star in a Sky original comedy that brings a brand-new twist to the classic fairy-tale. What does it mean to live ‘happily ever after’? Cinderella soon discovers that married life with a narcissistic Prince Charming isn’t all it’s cracked up to be and embarks on a journey to save The King (Sir Tom Courtenay) from the clutches of her wicked Stepmother Madame Blackheart (Celia Imrie).

Magnum PI: Season 2 (Sky One, 8pm) – 29th December

If the short nights are starting to bring you down, you can head to Sky One for a dose of tropical punch. The explosive Hawaiian-set reboot returns with Thomas Magnum back in the driving seat. As the season kicks off, Magnum is waiting to hear from Higgins as to whether she’s officially in as his new partner. But there’s new cases to take on and no time to lose.

Hawaii Five-O: Season 10 (Sky One, 9pm) – 29th December

In the latest season of this hit American police drama based on the 1968 classic, the CIA informs Steve McGarrett that his mother has gone AWOL and may have killed someone. McGarrett travels to Mexico to find his mother and discover the truth.

NCIS LA – Decoy: Season 11 (Sky One, 10pm) – 29th December

The high-stakes cop drama starring Chris O’Donnell and LL Cool J returns for an eleventh season. As the season begins, the NCIS team is faced with multiple cases worldwide, forcing them to split into two, with one travelling to Tel Aviv and the other remaining in LA – but are they spread too thin?

In the Long Run Christmas Special (Sky One, 10pm) – 20th December

Idris Elba’s semi-autobiographical sitcom set in the 1980s returns for its 2019 Christmas special, starring Bill Bailey, Madeline Appiah, and Jimmy Akingbola among others.

The Reluctant Landlord Christmas Special (Sky One, 9pm) – 22nd December

The Christmas special of this hit British comedy series created by Romesh Ranganathan features more of Rom’s high jinks, as he battles to escape a fate pulling pints at his late father’s pub.

Moominvalley: Season 2 (Sky One, 2pm) – 21st December

Moomintroll, Sniff, Snufkin and Little My all return in the second series of the
heart-warming TV adaptation of the beloved books by Tove Jansson. Over
another five episodes, we head out on a new set of adventures with Moomintroll
and his extraordinary family and whimsical friends.

Modern Family: Season 1 to 10 – Date TBC

Binge-watch this Golden Globe and Emmy Award-winning mockumentary comedy series ahead of the final season, to discover the crazy and funny daily lives of the Dunphy’s, Pritchett-Delgado’s and Tucker-Pritchett’s. Ty Burrell, Sofia Vergara, Sarah Hyland and Jesse Tyler Ferguson star.

 

Sky Cinema

Charlie Says – 11th December

Fresh from Netflix’s Alias Grace, director Mary Harron returns to her specialist subject of serial killers. Based on Ed Sanders’ book The Family, the film primarily focuses on the work of Karlene Faith, founder of the Santa Cruz Women’s Prison Project. She finds herself drawn into the aftermath of the Manson Killings, interviewing and attempting to help Leslie (Hannah Murray), Patricia (Sosie Bacon) and Susan (Marianne Rendon) through her role as behind-bars educator. This well acted study of consent, complicity and compassion makes for quietly intriguing, disturbing viewing.

Glass – 13th December

M. Knight Shyamalan returns to the world he introduced in Unbreakable and continued in Split, as the hero, the mastermind and the villain collide. Bruce Willis, Samuel L. Jackson and James McAvoy reprise their roles, as Dunn pursues the man who used to be known as Crumb but has now devolved fully into his most feared personality: The Beast. Meanwhile, the wheelchair-bound Mr Glass lurks in the shadows, pulling the strings of both men.

Bumblebee – 20th December

In 1987, injured Autobot Bumblebee takes refuge from his race’s intergalactic war by hiding as a VW Beetle in a Californian junkyard. It’s there that 18-year-old Charlie (Hailee Steinfield), a despondent teen with a flair for engineering, comes across the broken bug and manages to get him back up and running – only to discover this is no ordinary Volkswagen.

Mary Queen of Scots – 21st December

Oscar-winning actresses Margot Robbie and Saoirse Ronan star in this epic historical drama focusing on damaged family ties, loyalty and national pride. Winner

Harry Potter Collection – 23rd December

Watch the entire magical saga from Philosopher’s Stone to Death Hallows.

The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part – 24th December

The citizens of Bricksburg face a dangerous new threat when LEGO DUPLO invaders from outer space start to wreck everything in their path.

Mary Poppins Returns – 25th December

Disney’s all-new sequel celebrates the spirit of the original classic with a fresh sensibility. Mary Poppins (Emily Blunt) is back to help the next generation of the Banks family find the joy and wonder missing in their lives. The practically perfect nanny with unique magical skills can turn any task into a fantastic, unforgettable adventure, along with her friend Jack (Lin-Manuel Miranda), an optimistic street lamplighter who helps bring light—and life—to the streets of London.

Avengers: Endgame – 26th December

Catch the final instalment of the Avengers saga, as heroes from across the Marvel Cinematic Universe unite to save the world from the horrifying actions of Thanos.

The Kid Who Would Be King – 27th December

Attack the Block director Joe Cornish keeps the focus on a young cast but makes things considerably (and unashamedly) more family friendly in this Arthurian adventure set in modern-day London. When bullied school kid Alex stumbles upon the mythical Excalibur and inadvertently awakens the dark sorceress Morgana, he must unite and his friends and enemies and become the leader he never thought he could. Sadly a bomb at the box office, this magical adventure was for whatever reason passed over by cinema goers. An old school vibe meets a modern message that the future of the world lies with the young – it’s impossible to dislike and destined to become something of an overlooked gem.

The Aftermath – 31st December

Set in the ruins of Hamberg, 1946, Rachael Morgan (Keira Knightley) arrives in the bitter winter to be reunited with husband Lewis (Jason Clarke), a British colonel charged with rebuilding the shattered city. However, to her surprise she finds that Lewis has decided they will be sharing a grand home with its previous owners – a German Widower (Alexander Skarsgård) and his troubled daughter. Before long, relationships between the inhabitants begin to get tangled and the tension is set to ignite.

 

Other movies coming soon to Sky Cinema in December 2019:

1st December
Harvie and the Magic Museum

2nd December
The Christmas Swap

3rd December
Above the Shadows

4th December
Dirty Cops

5th December
Nobody Leaves

6th December
The Grinch
How to Train Your Dragon Homecoming

7th December
Happy Death Day 2U

8th December
Bel Canto

8th December
A Christmas in Royal Fashion

10th December
Crypto

12th December
Jacob’s Ladder

14th December
Ladybug

16th December
A Wedding for Christmas

17th December
Accident Man

18th December
The Keeper

19th December
The Flood

21st December
Little

23rd December
Domino

28th December
Wonder Park

29th December
What Men Want

30th December
Greta

31st December
The Aftermath

Add to Watchlist