TV TONIGHT: Abandoned dogs search for loving homes in festive special | television

Christmas dog house

8pm on Channel 4
Teenager Keira has spent eight years trying to convince her father to get a dog – surely he would give in to the beautiful Labradoodle Luna? American bulldog Chico is looking for love, but is he too much for the queen? After an accident leaves Rick paralyzed, he’s got a bit of a miser’s temper – will Jenny the dog melt his heart? It’s a special celebration of a great dog matchmaking show. Holly Richardson

Back to heaven

8pm, BBC One
For the employees of a dating app, a spiritual day away is even more disturbing than usual: The boss ends up dead, even though he drank the same hallucinogenic tea as everyone else. Mac (Anna Samson) must uncover the team’s love life to solve a seemingly impossible crime. Jack Seale

It’s all her fault

9pm, Sky Atlantic
The action-packed kidnapping drama shifts focus from terrified mother Marissa (Sarah Snook) to the Chicago cop leading the hunt for her five-year-old. And Alcarras (Michael Peña) faces pressures at home, too — where the straight-arrow detective grapples with how to get his non-speaking son into a better school. Graeme Virtue

Greatest Basslines

9pm, Sky Arts

This fascinating new three-part series explores three very different scenes at the low end. Joy Division and New Order founding member Peter Hook is the first to remember the bass lines that defined their music, with Foo Fighters’ Nate Mendel, Melissa Auf der Maur of Hole and the Smashing Pumpkins featured in future episodes. Human resources

Father issues

9.35pm, BBC One
More from Season 2 of this charming comedy series starring Amy Lou Wood and David Morrissey as a chaotic parenting team. This time, Gemma is eager to escape into her ‘weapon dress’ for a night out. Can Malcolm take care of baby Sadie in the meantime? The answer is less clear than you’d hope. Phil Harrison

The Graham Norton Show

10.40pm, on BBC One
After her (thankfully small) role in the zero-rated All’s Fair – which has been ranked as one of the worst shows in television history – Glenn Close is now in the third Knives Out movie, which can only be so much better. She visits the red sofa alongside Alexander Skarsgård, Miriam Margulies and Nicola Coughlan. Human resources

Choose a movie

left-handed girl (Shih Ching Tzu, 2025), Netflix
Shih-Ching Tsou is a regular collaborator with Sean Baker, the Oscar-winning director of Anora. He returns the credit here by co-writing and editing her vibrant solo film, where its concern for society’s less fortunate members blends fruitfully with her intimate focus on her Taiwanese homeland. Janelle Tsai plays Xu-Fen, the single mother of five-year-old Ai-Jing (delightful Nina Yi) and tough young adult Ai-An (Xie-Yuan Ma). They arrive in Taipei to open a noodle stall, but financial and relationship pressures threaten to break up the family. An unforced, perceptive and utterly beguiling drama. Simon Wardle