CHANNEL 4 BRINGS SEASONAL SPECIALS TO THE FESTIVE PERIOD

Channel 4 celebrates the festive period with a raft of Christmas specials featuring some of the channel's most popular faces, and a bold range of factual and drama programming.

Following the massive success of Peter Kay's Britain's Got the Pop Factor and Possibly a New Celebrity Jesus Christ Soapstar Superstar Strictly on Ice, Channel 4 airs Britain's Got an Extra Pop Factor and Then Some 2 + 1 , a follow-up to Britain's Got the Pop Factor.., a retrospective companion piece presented by Ben Shephard. This one-hour spoof programme features a countdown of the best performances from the series as voted by the 'viewers', exclusive interviews with this year's winner Geraldine McQueen, more auditions, more music, plus a few special surprises. Channel 4 will also give viewers the first chance to see the music video of Geraldine's Christmas single.

In The Charlotte Church Nutcracking Christmas Special, Wales' favourite stocking filler hosts a seasonal edition of her entertainment show, with yuletide sparkle coming from Ronnie Corbett and Gavin and Stacey's James Corden and Ruth Jones. Russell Brand holds forth on all that is Christmas in a special Ponderland, contemplating everything from the concept of Santa to Saxon celebrations. Justin Lee Collins and Alan Carr present a festive themed edition of The Friday Night Christmas Project with guest host Simon Pegg taking the hot seat. Alan Carr's Celebrity Ding Dong returns for a Christmas one-off as two teams of celebrities battle in the guise of panto 'goodies' and panto 'baddies', and a specially televised version of Derren Brown's most recent live stage show Evening of Wonders, makes its television debut.

Following last year's hugely popular Christmas show, Jamie Oliver opens his Essex home in Jamie Cooks Christmas, preparing some more of his favourite festive dishes with help from his mentor Gennaro Contaldo. Budgets may be tight, but Jamie's determined to show how to make this Christmas amazing in this hour-long special. This year, River Cottage Christmas Special celebrates a family Christmas with everyone getting involved to make this dinner their very best yet. Full of festive ideas, Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall and friends will, among other things, try to transform the fortunes of the much-maligned Brussel sprout and show viewers how to make perfect Christmas trimmings. In Willie's Perfect Chocolate Christmas, eccentric chocolatier Willie Harcourt-Cooze takes care of the menu for the holiday season, preparing a series of mouth-watering chocolate-themed recipes that are both sweet and savoury.

Channel 4's observational documentary series, The Family, returns for a one-off Christmas special in The Family at Christmas; a warm but sometimes tense instalment in which the whole family comes together to celebrate the festive season. In a special edition, The Secret Millionaire Changed My Life updates the stories of some of this year's millionaires and the people that they have helped. Robert Beckford embarks on a personal quest to uncover the real meaning of the Christmas story in The Nativity Decoded, asking what historical evidence there really is for the story, and understand the true significance of key elements that we all know, but few really grasp.

4Dance 2008 celebrates the best of dance on film from around the world in an eclectic and accessible 90-minute special, while The Eternity Man is a new opera film by director Julien Temple whose films, including The Great Rock 'N' Roll Swindle and Joe Strummer: The Future Is Unwritten, helped to define rock on the big screen. Written by Jonathan Mills, it tells the story of a World War One veteran and recovering alcoholic, who haunted Sydney's seedy bars and brothels until he received a revelation in a soup kitchen chapel.

Having debuted on More4, John Adams comes to Channel 4 this Christmas. This epic seven-part mini-series won a record 13 awards at the 2008 Emmy Awards and charts the life story of one of the most influential men of the American Revolution who went on to be the second President of the United States.

A new film version of the RSC's acclaimed production of King Lear, starring Ian McKellen as Lear and directed by Trevor Nunn, forms the centrepiece of More4's McKellen season, which celebrates the work of one of Britain's best-loved actors. Other plays featured in the season include Othello, also directed by Trevor Nunn, with Ian McKellen as Iago; Richard III, in which he stars alongside Annette Bening; and Macbeth with Judi Dench. Plus Ian McKellen, Diana Rigg and Zoe Wanamaker are among the actors interviewed in To Be or Not to Be... in Shakespeare, a documentary on the challenge of playing Shakespeare's great heroes.

Also on More4 this Christmas, Dr Pamela Connolly puts her husband Billy Connolly on the couch in a one-off special of the acclaimed interview show Shrink Rap. Drawing on her background as a psychologist and author of the multi-million selling biography Billy, Dr Pamela Connolly interviews her husband about how he has come to terms with his cruel and loveless childhood in post-war Glasgow.

And, of course, Channel 4's Christmas Message will broadcast on Christmas Day.