A mixture of Hollywood blockbusters, Christmas perennials, home-produced music and documentaries make up the RTÉ festive season schedule, unveiled yesterday.
Children and the young at heart are well catered for with films such as Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, Shrek and How the Grinch Stole Christmas taking high-profile slots in the Christmas programme.
James Bond fans also fare well with Die Another Day on Christmas Day. Octopussy, A View to a Kill and For Your Eyes Only will also be broadcast during the festive period. A number of perennial favourites include Mary Poppins (Christmas Eve), The Wizard of Oz, My Fair Lady, Casablanca (all Christmas Day), Spartacus (St Stephen's Day), and The Sound of Music (December 27th).
Thrillers include Mission Impossible 2 (New Year's Day) and Jaws (December 27th). Box office hits include Titanic (St Stephen's Day) and Cast Away (Christmas Eve).
On December 23rd there's A Mission to Beslan, a documentary charting the journey of director Adrian McCarthy and charity worker Debbie Deegan to the North Ossetia town besieged by terrorists last September. Later that evening, music lovers can tune in to Rhapsody in the Park with the RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra.
For sports fans, there will be highlights of English soccer on St Stephen's Day and New Year's Day in The Premiership. There will also be three days of live racing from Leopardstown.
On December 27th, Bonfires Over Bohola visits the surviving members of the last Mayo team to win the All-Ireland in 1951.