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Books tie in to Xmas TV

29.11.07 Anna Richardson

Television channels will feature a number of bestselling authors and tie-in programmes this Christmas, with Philip Pullman, Richard Hammond, Heston Blumenthal, Alan Titchmarsh and Peter Kay all appearing in festive line-ups.

The BBC’s holiday entertainment includes Christmas specials of “Doctor Who”­—coinciding with a trio of new novelisations from BBC Books—“Extras” and “Strictly Come Dancing”; the second adaptation of Philip Pullman’s Sally Lockhart novels, “The Shadow in the North”, the first of which attracted an average of more than 6.5 million viewers last year; “Richard Hammond Meets Evel Knievel”, in which the “Top Gear” presenter meets the stunt legend; a new adaptation of Oliver Twist; and films including adaptations of Girl With a Pearl Earring, Sin City and The History Boys.

ITV1’s Christmas season features “Parkinson” specials, as the chat-show host wraps up his final series with appearances from some of his most popular past guests, including David Beckham, Peter Kay, Billy Connolly and David Attenborough.

Also on ITV1, Alan Titchmarsh hosts a Christmas episode of his daytime chatshow; Antony Worrall Thompson presents “Christmas Cooks” in the week starting 17th December with the help of Oz Clarke and Rick Stein; and “The X Factor” winner will be crowned.

Channel 4’s line-up includes a Christmas episode of “Jamie at Home” and a week of “Deal or no Deal: Scrooge vs Santa”, and Five’s features “Polar Bear Week” with Nigel Marven, and the Royal Institution Christmas lectures with doctor, extreme sports enthusiast and Walker books author Hugh Montgomery.

Media Anna Richardson BBC Channel 4 ITV

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