Irish celebrities tell us about their treasured Christmas TV memories

Despite brand new specials like Rwandan-Scottish star Ncuti Gatwa’s first outing as Doctor Who on BBC One, and epic movie premieres like Daniel Craig’s final outing as James Bond in No Time To Die on RTÉ One, it’s golden but olden choices such as Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory and Love Actually that are sure to leave the most lasting memories for those watching them for the first time — and to recapture that warm and fuzzy feeling for those watching them for the 50th time.

Here, some familiar faces from the small screen, recall their favourite memories of curling up on the couch at Christmastime as a child, and reveal what they can’t wait to tune into this year.

Katie Hannon from Upfront on RTÉ One:

“In my mind’s eye, everything about Christmas telly was warm and twinkly and backed by a choir of carolling angels.

“The arrival of the Christmas RTÉ Guide was a big moment in our house every December. When I was still writing letters to Santy, our Toshiba television set only showed RTÉ One. When RTÉ2 was launched we thought we were spoilt for choice!

“The first thing you checked in the RTÉ Guide was what movies were going to be played when. Because of course, back then, you had to actually be watching the TV when your favourite film was broadcast. We didn’t even have a VCR at that stage.

“I lived for the annual blast of Willy Wonka — the Gene Wilder version, of course. I also associate those early Christmases with Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and, for some reason, The King and I. They always seemed to play it around Christmas and I remember being obsessed with Deborah Kerr’s enormous hooped dresses. Good times.”

Emmett Scanlan from Kin:

“Christmas Day is for the kids. If I had my way they’d be watching The Snowman followed by Jim Carrey’s How the Grinch Stole Christmas. And maybe with the right amount of festive bribery and coercion, I will get my way.

“Come night time though, we oiled-up adults will sit down to watch Die Hard again. Nothing encapsulates the festive spirit more than Bruce Willis saying, ‘Yippee-ki-yay, motherf***er!’”

Dáithí Ó Sé from Today

“I always remember watching Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory with my sister Marianne. It was always a day with a big fire on and, of course, we were wrecked after Santa’s visit and needed a day to chill.

“There was no Sky+ at that time and no recording anything, so we actually had to watch it when it was on TV. I remember we were always mad at Charlie and Grandpa Joe for drinking the fizzy lifting drink, but knew that it would all work out at the end.

“It was a simpler time for us all.”

Tommy Bowe from Ireland AM

“There’s something special about sitting down as a family to watch a movie in the run-up to Christmas.

“We just watched Home Alone for the first time with our children, Emma (6) and Jamie (3), and that brought back a lot of great memories.

“Home Alone was a movie I absolutely loved growing up, so to get to share it with my own kids all these years later, and see them laughing at the same funny bits, was great fun altogether.”

Mairéad Ní Chuaig from TG4:

“I love Christmas and I love movies! I went to LA earlier this year to cover the Oscars for TG4, where An Cáilín Ciúin was nominated in the International Feature Film category.

“It’s an incredibly exciting time for Irish-language films. Kneecap, based on the origins of the Belfast Irish-language rap group, will become the first ever Irish-language film to have its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival next month.

“TG4 also has some incredible films this Christmas, from Róise & Frank to Dirty Dancing.

“On Christmas Eve, I’ll be on weather and continuity duty with my lovely colleagues. But I’ll definitely be watching hands-down the best Christmas movie of all time, Die Hard, which is airing at 9.30pm that night.”

Mateo Saina from First Dates

“On Christmas Eve, I am normally working on a full service in Glas Restaurant in Dublin. So when I get home very late, I love a bit of Bruce Willis in Die Hard or Mel Gibson in Lethal Weapon. That, to me, means Christmas is right around the corner.

“I have two kids, Isabelle Luna, aged five and half, and Noah is two and a half, so this will be a good time to introduce them to The Gruffalo and Home Alone. The kids are great fun.

“My lady, Vjerana, loves Dirty Dancing and watches it any chance she gets. She doesn’t care about Christmas movies, so we’ll watch it anyway. It’s tradition.”

Deric Hartigan from Ireland AM

“A Christmas Eve movie was always a childhood tradition growing up. Wwith the excitement in the build-up to Santa, Miracle on 34th Street was always a festive favourite. A remake of the 1947 classic starring Richard Attenborough, Elizabeth Perkins & Dylan McDermott; it still oozes quintessential classic Christmas vibes. The 1947 original starring John Payne and our very own late, great Maureen O’ Hara actually scooped three Oscars at the time with a more serious tone to the 1994 remake. It’s still a perennial top pick, never disappoints and gives me that old-school feel-good factor every time I watch it.”

Martin King from Six O’Clock Show

“As a child, my parents knew we all loved music so they would put the Christmas Day edition of Top of the Pops on the telly. It was always on at around 2pm. They’d use that time to finish cooking the dinner. Dinner was served just after The Queen’s Speech. My mam loved the Queen. She didn’t watch to hear what she said, she wanted to see what she was wearing. After dinner we watched whatever movie was on – it was always a big film. These days we don’t turn the TV on until Christmas night for Emmerdale. Then we pick a movie and we’d all watch it together. Home Alone II or Elf is always a hit in our house.”