Christmas TV 2015: Best factual programmes from Walking the Himalayas to Great Barrier Reef with David Attenborough

Gerard Gilbert picks the programmes not to miss over the festive season

Levison Wood

David Walliams, David Attenborough, David Beckham, Darcey Bussell, Downton Abbey, Doctor Who, Dickens... the alliteration may stop there, but not the sense of déjà vu as television broadcasts a host of new productions within what is a now well-established template.

Factual

Inside Lego at Christmas, Boxing Day, 8pm C4

The Danish building-block manufacturer is followed over the busiest three months of its year – the run up to Christmas.

Walking the Himalayas, Sun 27 Dec, 8pm C4

Levison Wood’s Walking the Nile was my TV travelogue of the year, and this time he arguably undertakes a more dangerous route, along the entire route of the Himalayas. First up, Afghanistan, eating sheep’s eyeballs and trying to prove he isn’t a member of Isis.

A Frozen Christmas , Mon 28 Dec, 7.05pm C4

A look at the logistics behind the craze for ice sculptures, much in demand at swanky weddings and corporate events, apparently, showing how they are carved, stored and transported. Of course, disposal is no problem.

Royal Institution Christmas Lectures 2015, Mon 28 Dec, 8pm BBC4

Kevin Fong begins his trilogy lectures on how the human body copes with life in space, with input from Britain’s first astronaut, the International Space Station freshman Tim Peake.

Meerkats join David Attenborough for the BBC’s ‘The Life of Mammals’ (BBC)

Great Barrier Reef with David Attenborough, Wed 30 Dec, 9pm BBC1

When David Attenborough first visited the world’s largest living structure in 1957, he could only show it in black and white. Obviously, it’s much more stunning in colour, as the broadcaster returns to Australia for a three-part series, in front of camera after recent narration-only roles.