Glad Tidings of Christmas Television
Christmas often brings us tidings of both comfort and joy, some of which are glad. One of the best ways that we can remain both comfortable and glad throughout the December season is by plonking ourselves down in front of the gogglebox and ingesting TV Content from other jurisdictions.
Here are our hand-picked highlights.
Beintehaa (“Endless Love”)
The “Beintehaa” team mark the shortest day of the year with episode #82 of their much-loved soap-u-drama. Ever-present couple Aliya and Zain have faced a number of trials since the beginning of the series, with each trial bringing us closer to the edge of our dearly beloved seats. If you remember The Event, then you’ll be satisfied by this episode, in which the story arc that began in episode #63 once again makes contact with our TV screens.
A series of misgiving forces the couple into an arranged marriage. Will the newly-wed couple be able to take on the battle? Five stars for Beintehaa!
★★★★★☆
21st December, 13:00 (UTC+2)
Glow TV, Botswana
Un Halloween Monstuoso
Gather round, ye Panamanian scions of the future, for the time has come again to celebrate the Ha’ll’owe’en which visits us once a year, yes indeed, as delivered by Santa Claus unto us on the 25th of December. In this harrowing tale of holiday cheer, a young inventor accidentally creates a science fair monster. This comes to pass during his semi-annual rooting around in the neighbour’s garden, where he makes a non-semi-annual startling discovery.
Not suitable for diabetics, the latest foray by director Gordon Crum (Voltron Force, The Naughty List) into the dark underbelly of a suburban holidaytide is fun for the entire family! Five stars for Un Halloween Monstuoso!
★★★★★☆
25th December, 20:00 (UTC-5)
Cartoon Network, Panama
The Queen’s Speech
Christmas wouldn’t be Christmas without the Queen’s speech. She’s a wonderful lady — who could forget her since she took to the throne in 1972? It’s a long-held tradition to gather the whole family around and watch Her Majesty speak forth unto the nation. Last year she brought us a reconciliatory message of peace. This year, for the first time, we expect her to break with tradition and use a teleprompter instead of those damned cards. Five stars for Queen Margrethe II!
★★★★★☆
31st December, 18:00 (UTC+1)
DR1, Denmark
リルリルフェアリル
Give unto your eye sockets a strong sense of Christmas joy in the form of shrill anime faeries that just want to get by in life. Helpfully continuing on from the previous episode, this episodic anime does a great job of suggesting the mundane amongst a flurry of fairy dust, spells, and general magic-related frippery. Just don’t let the theme song get stuck in your head. Not nice! Five stars for リルリルフェアリル!
★★★★★☆
24th December, 09:30 (UTC+9)
TV Tokyo, Japan
In Touch with Dr. Charles Stanley
This heartwarming ode to the nation’s favourite TV doctor, Dr. Charles Stanley, offers a moving series of vignettes touching on the earlier years of his all-too-short life. Beginning with his birth from the inside of a human body all the way to the outside of said body, we then experience the joy of his doctorhood confirmation ceremony, held in a surprisingly non-Catholic church. The twist? Well, you’ll just have to watch it for yourself. Five stars for the touching Dr. Charles Stanley!
★★★★★☆
25th December, 07:00 (UTC-5)
Lifetime, “Georgia”
