You can count on the festive season to serve us fresh, new period dramas and Christmas 2022 is no exception. So here’s my seasonal guide to ALL the new period dramas and Christmas specials you can watch on British TV this year.

23rd December

All Creatures Great and Small Christmas Special – Channel 5 – 9pm

I must admit I’ve never personally got into this period drama, but its kicking off the festive slate this year!

It’s Christmas in Darrowby and everyone is trying to make the most of things while the world is at war. A young guest brings some wonder, mischief and cheer to Skeldale House while everyone waits for important news. When Mrs Pumphrey heralds the arrival of a kitten in need of extra care at Pumphrey Manor, James has just the person to take him under their wing. Siegfried is asked to pay a visit to an injured River just before a big race and makes an important discovery which Sebright Saunders uses as leverage to get the horse back on the racetrack

Count Magnus – BBC Two – 10pm

It wouldn’t be Christmas without a ghost story on Christmas Eve, and once again Mark Gatiss provides the BBC with the goods.

Sweden, 1863. A country not much visited by Englishmen. An exception is the inquisitive Mr Wraxhall, whose innocent rummaging through the archives of the noble de la Gardie family takes a sinister turn.

Wraxhall becomes fascinated by the long-dead founder of the dynasty, the fearsome Count Magnus, a tyrannical ruler who dabbled in alchemy and who once made a strange journey to the Holy Land on most unholy business. Despite the warnings of his hosts, Wraxhall is drawn ever deeper into the Count’s dark world and discovers that the dreaded aristocrat may not lie easy in his tomb…

Christmas Day

Call The Midwife Christmas Special – BBC One – 7.55pm

Can you believe that Call The Midwife is nearly on its tweltfth series?! The Christmas specials are almost as staple a part of Christmas Day as the royal speech!

It is December 1967, and with Christmas fast approaching, life in Poplar is returning to normal after the terrible train crash.

The midwives move the maternity clinic into new premises and are delighted when one of their first patients through the door is Rhoda Mullocks, who the team know well. Rhoda is heavily pregnant and understandably nervous after her last baby was born with limbs affected by Thalidomide.

Nurse Crane cares for a heavily pregnant single mother, recently released from prison, while Sister Frances is called out to deliver a Sylheti mother’s child in a garment factory in a rough area of Poplar.

Meanwhile, Fred decides that Poplar needs to come together to raise money for those families still affected by the train crash and pitches the wonderful idea of a festive talent show – Poplartunity Knocks!

That Funny Period Between Christmas and New Years When No-one Is Sure What Day Of The Week It Is

Marie Antoinette – BBC Two – 9pm

That funny period between Christmas and New Year’s Eve when no one is particularly sure what day of the week it is is prime new period drama time – and I have been looking forward to this new period drama about one of the most famous queens from history!

Created and written by Deborah Davis (The Favourite), Marie Antoinette tells the story of the incredibly modern and avant-garde young queen, played by Emilia Schüle. This brand new series explores the dark, manipulative and misogynistic world of Versailles. Travelling deep inside Marie Antoinette’s head, we discover who she is through her internal voice that often contrasts with the dramatic situations she finds herself in.

New Years Day

Call The Midwife Series 12 – BBC One – 8pm

Kick of 2023 with the twelfth series of the popular show that chronicles the lives of a group of midwives living in East London in the late 1950s to late 1960s.

It is April 1968 and change is coming to Nonnatus House. The sisters intend to make a good impression on new recruit Sister Veronica. It’s clear she is no shrinking violet and will ruffle a few feathers. Racial tensions cast a shadow over Poplar following Enoch Powell’s incendiary ‘Rivers of Blood’ speech. Nancy and Trixie team up to support terminally ill patient, and Fred is saddened to receive an official letter confirming the disbandment of the Civil Defence Corps.

Like this post about period dramas for Christmas 2022? Then make sure you bookmark my 2023 period drama guide so you can stay up to date with all the new period dramas airing in the UK.