TV Tonight: our highlights for Monday, Dec. 27

By Joanne Lowles
published

'The Voice Kids' is just one of the gems on TV tonight.

TV tonight - Coaches Danny, will.i.am, Pixie and Mel.
Coaches Danny, will.i.am, Pixie and Mel. (Image credit: ITV)

On TV tonight, Spice Girl Melanie C joins the judging panel of The Voice Kids on ITV, there's food of the highest standard in MasterChef: The Professionals Rematch 2021 on BBC1 and comedian Joe Lycett is the new host of Travel Man: 96 Hours in Iceland on C4. Here’s what you shouldn’t miss on TV tonight. 

  • Our hand selected recommendations for what's on TV tonight include three TV shows, a film, live sport and the latest trending need-to-binge-on-now box set 
  • Keep up to date with the latest soap spoiler storylines on TV tonight with our daily soap synopsis 
  • For more information about what’s on TV tonight see our TV Guide 

What's on TV tonight

Our expert TV journalists have picked the best things on TV tonight...

Best TV shows on TV tonight

The Voice Kids, 7.30pm, ITV

TV tonight Mel C joins the judges.

Mel C joins the judges. (Image credit: ITV)

Adding some zig-a-zig-ah to your Christmas, Spice Girl Melanie C joins Danny Jones, will.i.am and Pixie Lott as a coach for this festive special showing over three consecutive nights. The show begins with a performance from our superstar coaches (where Mel makes quite the entrance!), then it’s into the blind auditions in which performers aged seven to 14 sing their hearts out to get the coaches’ big red chairs turning. The chosen ones will progress to tomorrow and the final is on Wednesday. 

★★★★ VW 

MasterChef: The Professionals Rematch 2021, 8pm, BBC1

TV tonight Santosh, Bart, Philli and Jamie are back to cook

Santosh, Bart, Philli and Jamie are back to cook. (Image credit: BBC)

Four finalists from the previous series return to MasterChef HQ to showcase their best dishes, ideas, and ingredients. In round one, Philli Armitage-Mattin, Santosh Shah, Bart van der Lee (finalists from 2020), and Jamie Park (finalist in 2017) cook a main course and dessert for food critics Grace Dent, Jimi Famurewa, and Jay Rayner, before creating a show-stopping festive centrepiece to impress judges Monica Galetti, Marcus Wareing and Gregg Wallace. 

★★★ JL

Travel Man: 96 Hours in Iceland, 8pm, C4

TV tonight Joe and Bill are in Iceland

Joe and Bill are in Iceland. (Image credit: C4)

Richard Ayoade has put away his suitcase and handed over presenting duties to comic Joe Lycett. Joe’s first trip is to Iceland, where he enjoys a festive mini-break with his first travel companion, Bill Bailey. The pair go on a whistle-stop tour of the Land of Fire and Ice, visiting glaciers and geysers, and also sample the local cuisine.

★★★★ MC

Best box set to watch on TV tonight

Emily in Paris, season 2, Netflix

TV tonight Lucien Laviscount as Alfie and Lily Collins as Emily.

Life gets even more chaotic for the star of the Netflix drama.  (Image credit: Netflix)

Sex and the City creator Darren Star’s glossy comedy drama was a big hit for Netflix last year, providing a bright spot during a gloomy time. Lily Collins stars as American-abroad Emily Cooper, an eager young marketing executive with a unique fashion sense, who has relocated from Chicago to Paris for work. The second season sees life becoming more complicated and chaotic for Emily as she finds herself caught up in a love triangle with Gabriel (Lucas Bravo), and his ex and her new friend Camille (Camille Razat), who wants to rekindle their romance.

Best film to watch on TV today

Paddington 2, 5.55pm, BBC1

TV tonight You just can’t rush a bear

You just can’t rush a bear. (Image credit: BBC)

With Ben Whishaw’s velvet tonsils and CGI magic, the bear from Peru returns in a family film even finer than the first. It’s a joyous experience, even though Paddington ends up in the clink after being framed for a theft by a conniving actor (Hugh Grant, who seems to have a thoroughly fine old time hamming it up). Hugh Bonneville and Sally Hawkins return as Paddington’s adoptive parents, with a smattering of well-known faces fleshing out possibly the most charming rendition of London you’ll ever see.

Live Sport

  • EFL, Doncaster Rovers v Sunderland, 12pm (k-o 12.30pm), Sky Sports Main Event/NOW
  • EFL, Derby County v West Bromwich Albion, 2.45pm (k-o 3pm), Sky Sports Main Event/NOW
  • EFL, Queens Park Rangers v Bournemouth, 5.15pm (k-o 5.30pm), Sky Sports Main Event/NOW
  • Premier League, Newcastle United v Manchester United, 7.30pm (k-o 8pm), Sky Sports Main Event/NOW
  • Cricket, The Ashes, 11pm, BT Sport 1

Soaps on TV tonight

If you watch just one thing on TV tonight…

Don't miss The Voice Kids on TV tonight – Spice Girl Melanie C is a great addition to the judging panel. 

Not found anything you want to watch on TV tonight? Check out our TV Guide. 

Happy viewing!

Joanne Lowles
Joanne Lowles
Freelance writer and editor

Joanne Lowles has been writing about TV since 2002. After graduating from Cardiff University with a Postgraduate Diploma in Magazine Journalism, she worked for All About Soap magazine covering the ups and downs of life on the cobbles, the square and the Dales. 

Next came nearly 10 years at TV Times magazine as a writer and then deputy features editor. Here she spent many happy days interviewing the biggest names in entertainment and visiting the sets of some of our most popular shows including Downton Abbey, Call the Midwife and Strictly Come Dancing. 

With a love of nature and wildlife she’s also interviewed the leading experts in this area including David Attenborough, Chris Packham and Steve Backshall. She’s also travelled the world visiting Mongolia, Canada and South Africa to see how the best in the business make the most brilliant natural history documentaries. 

Freelance since 2013, she is now is a digital writer and editor for What to Watch, previews the best on the box for TV Times mag each week and loves being constantly surprised, entertained and informed by the amazing TV that she is lucky enough to watch.