Tea With Judi Dench

9pm, Sky Arts
A wickedly funny and hugely moving hour spent with Judi Dench and her longtime friend Kenneth Branagh. They share a pot of tea in Dench’s country home (complete with an “I’ve been expecting you Mr Bond” doormat), where one minute she’s introducing her potty-mouthed parrot and the next she’s reminiscing over her career, beloved husband and starry friends who have gone. It’s made even more poignant as the actor recently announced she cannot work any more due to worsening health problems. Hollie Richardson

Celebrity MasterChef: Christmas Cook Off

8pm, BBC One
A show that was cancelled last year amid the Gregg Wallace furore is back in a subtly new guise: rather than previous contestants returning, this is more like a Strictly special where rookies have a one-off tilt at winning a Golden Whisk. Reality TV star GK Barry, actor Kola Bokinni, presenter Nikki Fox and standup comedian Iain Stirling compete. Jack Seale

Amanda and Alan’s Spanish Christmas

9pm, BBC One
Keep feeding us Alan Carr on a drip! The Traitors hero reunites with his best mate, Amanda Holden, in their Spanish renovation to throw a party for the locals. How badly will they clash over tinsel? Will Amanda’s nan’s boozy trifle go down well? Will they brave a pre-feast skinny dip? Before all that, they start with a public rendition of Feliz Navidad. HR

Secrets of the Conclave

9pm, BBC Two

Secrets of the Conclave. Photograph: Vatican Pool//BBC/Wag Entertainment Limited/Getty

“Spondeo, voveo ac iuro …” That’s a promise to be entirely confidential made by the 133 papal conclave members this year, which led to white smoke signalling Pope Leo XIV’s election (incidentally, months after the film Conclave cleaned up at the Baftas). There’s exclusive footage from inside the Vatican, as some of those involved speak about the process. HR

Taskmaster: Champion of Champions 2025

9pm, Channel 4
There are now 20 comics with a shonky gold representation of Greg Davies’s noggin in their toilets. In this special, five recent winners get to go one better and prove themselves worthy of being called Champion of Champions. Andy Zaltzman, John Robins, Maisie Adam, Mathew Baynton and Sam Campbell are the contenders. Phil Harrison

Mammoth Christmas Special

10pm, BBC Two
Deer, oh deer: this special episode of the nostalgia-fuelled comedy sees back-from-the-dead PE teacher Tony Mammoth (Mike Bubbins) lambasted for a racy rendition of Deck the Halls. Suspended from his job and on the brink of wrecking his first Christmas en famille since his homecoming, can he turn things around? Hannah J Davies

Film choice

Challengers (Luca Guadagnino, 2024), 10.40pm, BBC One

Zendaya in Challengers. Photograph: Collection Christophel/Alamy

Luca Guadagnino’s love-triangle drama set on and around the tennis court teases and thrills, with the game itself never filmed so creatively before. Zendaya stars as the woman in the middle, Tashi, a former player who coaches her husband, Art (Mike Faist), to grand slam success. Josh O’Connor is a smash as Art’s estranged best mate Patrick, who is more talented but less focused than his old partner. A challenger tournament match-up provides them with the chance to replay old entanglements and resolve long-held animosities as the temperature rises. Simon Wardell

The Favourite (Yorgos Lanthimos, 2018), 11.05pm, Film4
With Kinds of Kindness and now Bugonia, Yorgos Lanthimos seems intent on retreating to the more cerebral end of his film-making spectrum. However, The Favourite shows how much fun he is when he simply tries to be human. A glorious pile-up of wigs, jealousy and rabbits, The Favourite is a fevered retelling of the 18th-century court of Queen Anne. Olivia Colman teeters on the verge of a breakdown throughout, while Emma Stone and Rachel Weisz vie for her attention. Historical dramas don’t get any more sumptuous, vicious or absurd than this. Stuart Heritage