Put your feet up and enjoy a cosy Christmas in front of the telly with some of these cracking festive specials. Oonagh Robinson picks out the highlights

CHRISTMAS is the season to be jolly - and the TV schedulers are going all out to make this year the merriest of occasions.

There's something for everyone in the coming days, whether you enjoy drama, adventure, comedy or explosive soap action.

BBC Sports Personality of the Year

(Tomorrow, BBC1, 8pm)

Join the sporting greats to review the past year and elect the people's champ from the all-male shortlist.

The Many Lovers of Jane Austen

(Friday, BBC2, 9pm)

Amanda Vickery looks at the enduring popularity of one of Britain's favourite authors.

Lapland

(Christmas Eve, BBC1, 10pm)

We won't be visiting The Royle Family this Christmas but that doesn't mean we'll miss out on seeing Sue Johnston playing a matriarch this festive season, as she has a new clan, the Lewises of Birkenhead, for comedy drama Lapland.

Text Santa

(Christmas Eve, ITV1, 7.30pm)

Don't miss the ever popular Ant and Dec, who'll take over an entire channel for two and a half hours in the festive charity marathon.

Doctor Who

(Christmas Day, BBC1, 7pm) This year's seasonal episode is a lovely mix of sci-fi and 1940s blitz spirit. Matt Smith is as watchable as ever as the caretaker of a creepy country house, while Claire Skinner (who plays the long-suffering mum in Outnumbered) will break your heart as a tragic war widow. But the Doctor is set to have some stiff competition in terms of those all-important ratings this year, thanks to a new addition to the schedules.

Downton Abbey

(Christmas Day, ITV1, 9pm) This looks likely to be the must-see programme of the day – with a special festive episode containing heartbreak, love, sadness, redemption, a huge Edwardian Christmas tree and the fabulous Dowager Duchess herself, Dame Maggie Smith.

Keep your hankies ready as you're going to be sniffling into your Baileys by the end of proceedings.

The Gruffalo's Child

(Christmas Day, BBC1, 6.30pm) She's stepping out of the deep dark wood and into your living rooms to delight the young and old with a story again based on a book by Julia Donaldson and illustrated by Axel Sheffler. James Corden reprises his vocal role as the mouse, while Helena Bonham Carter, Rob Brydon, Robbie Coltrane, John Hurt and Tom Wilkinson also star.

Poirot

(Boxing Day, ITV1, 9pm) With David Suchet heading a star-studded cast in The Clocks. The sleuth is called in to help when an unidentified body surrounded by stopped clocks is discovered in a blind woman's house. Look out for Phil Daniels, Geoffrey Palmer, Jaime Winstone and Lesley Sharp in this unusual tale.

The Borrowers

(Boxing Day, BBC1, 7.30pm) The BBC's feature-length tale about the little folk, with a stellar cast including the fabulous Christopher Eccleston and Stephen Fry. These modern-day Borrowers live under the floorboards of a London home and borrow their wardrobes from Barbie and Action Man.

The Royal Bodyguard

(Boxing Day, BBC1, 9.30pm)

David Jason is back on the Beeb in what promises to be a delightful comedy in which he plays Captain Guy Hubble, a lifelong soldier who's about t o retire - and is put in charge of Royal security.

Great Expectations

(December 27, BBC1, 9pm)

If you love a Dickens of a Christmas, you're in luck this season – with this new three-part version of the classic which will provide a memorable end to the year.

Look our for some superb casting, including Gillian Anderson as Miss Havisham and Ray Winstone as Magwitch – with a rather angelic-looking Douglas Booth as our hero, Pip. What larks.

Fast Freddie, the Widow and Me

(December 27, ITV1, 9pm) This will also tug on your heart strings, as Laurence Fox stars in a weepy story about a sleazy car dealer and a dying boy. Also stars Tamzin Outhwaite as Patsy Morgan and Jack McMullen as Freddie.

Read on for how to plan your Christmas TV viewing.