Also: Bill Nye returns to the Save the World once again.
This week’s TV (luckily) is not only Lifetime and Hallmark holiday movies. A British time traveler celebrates the end of an era and the beginning of a new one with a momentous annual Christmas special. Later on, to help you recover from the food commas, the fourth season of an acclaimed dystopian anthology series finally arrives and a beloved science guy returns to try to save the world yet again.
To help you keep track of the most important programs over the next seven days, here’s our guide to everything worth watching, whether it’s on broadcast, cable, or streaming for December 24th –30th (all times Eastern):
Doctor Who: Twice Upon A Time (BBCA, Monday 9pm)
Christmas episodes have often been momentous occasions for Doctor Who, and such is the case for this year’s “Twice Upon A Time.” It will mark the departure of both Peter Capaldi as the Twelfth Doctor and Steven Moffat as showrunner, and it will see the return of David Bradley as the First Time Lord. Both Doctors will find themselves stranded in a forbidding snowscape, as they refuse to face regeneration, while a British army captain (Mark Gatiss) doomed to die, is taken from the trenches of World War I to play his part in the Doctor’s story. Jodie Whittaker’s first female Doctor will also debut in the Christmas special and Pearl Mackie will reprise her role as Bill Potts. This is definitely an episode fans should not miss.
Black Mirror (Netflix, Friday)
If you have the mental strength to binge-watch utterly bleak dystopias right after the holidays, we have good news for you. The long-awaited fourth season of Black Mirror finally arrives with six new nightmarish stories: “Crocodile,” “Hang the DJ,” “Arkangel,” “Metalhead” (shot in black and white), “USS Callister“ (a feature-length Star Trek spoof starring Jesse Plemons and Cristin Milioti), and “Black Museum;” directed by the likes of Jodie Foster, David Slade, and John Hillcoat. Our own Max Covill has declared them “fascinating” in his spoiler-free review, so let the techno-paranoia fest begin.
Bill Nye Saves The World (Netflix, Friday)
Since the US has pulled out of the Paris Agreement and the Flat Earth Society is still a thing, Netflix deemed another season of Bill Nye saving the world from scientific ignorance necessary. The Science Guy returns, along with regular correspondents Karlie Kloss and YouTube’s Derek Muller, to explore new topics like the use of medical marijuana and time travel. New guests join him in his crusade for knowledge and scientific literacy, such as Drew Carey, Ali Wong, Erica Rhodes, Byron Scott, David Arquette, and Zach Braff. Learning, T-Rex costumes, and things burning are guaranteed.
SUNDAY
The Girlfriend Experience S2E5&6 “Free Fall” & “Relapse” (Starz, 9pm) – season finale
MONDAY
Cable Girls S2 (Netflix) – season premiere
Call the Midwife (PBS, 9pm) – holiday special episode
Doctor Who: Twice Upon A Time (BBCA, 9pm) – holiday special episode
TUESDAY
Todd Barry: Spicy Honey (Netflix) – standup comedy special
Travelers S2 (Netflix) – season premiere
The 40th Annual Kennedy Center Honors (CBS, 9pm) – special event
WEDNESDAY
Marvel’s Runaways S1E8 “Tsunami” (Hulu)
The Librarians S4E5&E6 “And The Bleeding Crown” & “And The Grave of Time” (TNT, 8pm)
Happy! S1E4 “Year of the Horse” (Syfy, 10pm)
THURSDAY
Van Helsing S2E12 “Crooked Falls” (Syfy, 9pm)
Ghost Wars S1E12 “There’s No More Room In Hell” (Syfy, 10pm)
FRIDAY
Bill Nye Saves The World S2 (Netflix) – season premiere
Black Mirror S4 (Netflix) – season premiere
The Mantis S1 (Netflix) – foreign series premiere
American Masters: Bob Hope (PBS, 9pm) – director’s cut premiere
Superstition S1E9 “Uncle Bubba” (Syfy, 10pm)