The Unofficial Science of Home Alone
9pm, Sky Max
Would the Wet Bandits have survived those Home Alone traps in real life? They’re 10/10 lethal, says engineer and scientist Dr Zoe Laughlin, who proves her point by helping James Acaster and Guz Khan recreate stunts such as a blowtorch to the head (this time on a turkey in a woolly hat) and tins of paint to the face. Hollie Richardson
Mary Berry’s Ultimate Christmas
8pm, BBC One
Twice-roasted potatoes, tiny cheese scones and a trifle made with tinned pears? Mary Berry is back with this warm hug of a festive cooking show. As well as showing us how to rustle up her easy(ish) recipes, she makes pumpkin tortelli with Angela Hartnett, takes Rylan on the hunt for brussels sprouts (the TV duo we didn’t know we needed), and tries Monica Galetti’s traditional Samoan dish palusami, which promises to “blow your Christmas mittens off”. HR
QI XL
9pm, BBC Two
Gyles Brandreth is holding up a mangled teddy bear and Chris McCausland is fondling a toy turkey: it’s Christmas, QI-style. Sandi Toksvig holds it all together, with Alan Davies and Aisling Bea also in the house. Brandreth turns up with Fozzie Bear and a sackful of facts, but the other guests bring plenty of comedy trimmings. Hannah Verdier
Live at the Apollo Christmas Special
9.45pm, BBC Two
“Merry fucking Christmas! I am your gay Christmas tree!” Rosie Jones, in her multicoloured and tiered dress, is the best choice of host for this festive special of the standup show. Taking to the stage after Jones’s warm-up: Cally Beaton takes on the cost of living crisis as a single parent, then Eshaan Akbar talks deafness, public transport and supermarket Christmas adverts. All the good stuff, then. HR
Christmas University Challenge
8.30pm, BBC Two
The annual Christmas quiz kicks off with Soas University of London v Balliol, Oxford, in another round of the long-running trivia show that can make one feel infinitely superior, then incredibly gormless, in the space of seconds. Includes questions (“comfortingly difficult, although I’d say easier than in the student series,” withers Paxo) on Alan Turing, Tchaikovsky and the Crab Nebula. Ali Catterall
Five Star Christmas: Inside Corinthia
8pm, Channel 4
The pressure is on as the expensive London hotel gears up for a festive season that will be its biggest earner of the year – but if everything’s not perfect, some of those wealthy patrons won’t be back next Christmas. In the restaurant, Tom Kerridge’s new menu requires the finest British beef and exquisite trimmings, with a nervy launch night in the offing; a big corporate party, meanwhile, has to wow guests as well as pamper them. Jack Seale
Film choice
Back to the Future (Robert Zemeckis, 1985) 2.45pm, ITV1
Fire up the DeLorean and crack out your best Chuck Berry shuffle, Marty McFly is back with the 80s’ greatest time-travelling comedy (and its sequels, on Tuesday and Wednesday). Michael J Fox and Christopher Lloyd make a great comic team, as 1985’s Marty (Fox) returns to 1955 – courtesy of a time machine invented by Doc (Lloyd) – and inadvertently interferes with the courtship of his parents (Crispin Glover and Lea Thompson). A witty spin on the high school movie, with a heavy dose of 50s nostalgia and a star-making turn from the affable Fox. Simon Wardell
