ON THE BOX
From returning dramas to the new Doctor, foodie specials to feline fun, enjoy the gift of these great shows this Christmas
by BENJIE GOODHART
Christmasis brilliant. Not only do we all get to eat and drink too much, sleep whenever we like, and enjoy a new pair of novelty socks, but it is also the time of some absolutely cracking TV.
It’s more than two years since the submariner murder mystery Vigil (BBC One) made waves (ahem) across the nation, and this month Suranne Jones and Rose Leslie return as DCI Amy Silva and DS Kirsten Longacre respectively.
The first series attracted 13.4 million viewers, making it the UK’s highest-rated drama for three years. The hotly anticipated second series centres on a string of unexplained fatalities during drone weapons testing by the British Air Force. The action takes place in Scotland and the Middle East, and among those joining the cast are Dougray Scott and Romola Garai, for a thrilling, high-octane dive into a murky military conspiracy.
There are also sinister state shenanigans aplenty in another excellent returning series: Apple TV+’s Slow Horses, following a group of formerly disgraced MI5 agents under the command of world-weary chief Jackson Lamb (Gary Oldman). Season three of the drama launches this month, with the team probing the disappearance of agent Catherine Standish (Saskia Reeves) and trailing a rogue agent. A superb cast includes Kristin Scott Thomas, Freddie Fox, Jonathan Pryce and Samuel West.