Gays on Christmas TV: Your guide to the festive season’s best LGBT TV and film
Let the 10-day TV coma begin.
By Will Stroude
Words: Hugh Kaye
Two much-missed gay superstars – both victims of the HIV/Aids pandemic – get the profile treatment this Christmas.
Following the huge success of Bohemian Rhapsody at cinemas, it’s timely that The Freddie Mercury Story: Who Want to Live Forever? (5Star, Weds 26 Dec, 12.50am), looking at the life of the Queen frontman, gets another airing.
Meanwhile, The World According to Kenny Everett (ITV, Thurs 27 Dec, 11.05pm) focuses on the anarchic funnyman and radio DJ.
On a lighter note, there’s eye candy galore on Alan Carr’s Christmas Cracker (C4, Tues 25 Dec, 10.15pm). The chat show host welcomes the likes of Channing Tatum, Danny Dyer and Freddie Fox to his alpine lodge. I’m beginning to suspect that he’s in charge of who gets invited!
Also holding court this festive season (groan) is His Honour Rob Rinder. But there’s a twist as children bring him their complaints and disputes in Judge Rinder’s Christmas Kids Court (ITV, Mon 24 Dec, 5.30pm).
On the film front, Ben Whishaw stars in the big-screen version of Evelyn Waugh’s Brideshead Revisited (BBC2, Fri 28 Dec, 2.25pm). He plays aristocratic Sebastian Flyte, who falls for Charles Ryder (Matthew Goode) in an England prior to WWII.
In addition, there’s the sight (albeit very brief) of a somewhat-younger Will Young’s rear in the wonderful Mrs Henderson Presents (Sony Movie Channel, Mon 24 Dec, 9pm).
If you are one of those who thinks Christmas isn’t Christmas without a ghost story, try The Dead Room (BBC4, Mon 24 Dec, 10pm).
The story, written by Mark Gatiss, revolves around the host of a radio show, played by Simon Callow, who finds dark forces at work in his old studio.
You can read our exclusive interview with Mark and Simon in the January issue of Attitude, available to download and to order globally now.
