Paddington 2 on Christmas TV
TV

Bank Holiday TV: Viewers fume over repeats of shows and films shown only days before

Surely there were other films!

Christmas TV in 2020 has been littered with repeats, and viewers are fuming over the lack of new programmes.

COVID ravaged the production of many telly favourites throughout the year.

But that was no excuse according to many viewers, who noticed that some programmes were shown again despite only airing several days before.

Paddington 2 was repeated again on Christmas TV
Paddington 2 on today (Credit: YouTube)

What repeats on Christmas TV 2020 did viewers fume about?

Today (Monday December 28), viewers settled down for the Bank Holiday.

On BBC One, glorious family comedy Paddington 2 was on this morning.

Read more: Diana Rigg in Black Narcissus: Was this her last role before her death?

However, viewers saw it only four days earlier on Christmas Eve.

And it wasn’t just the BBC – other channels have employed the same tactic.

What did viewers say about the repeats?

One viewer said on Twitter: “Thank god for streaming services, Christmas TV has been terrible… repeats are one thing, but ITV are literally repeating stuff shown the day before.”

Another wrote: “See the BBC are repeating films shown on Christmas Eve today, #Paddington2 is on again.”

Finally, a third asked why the BBC was repeating Paddington 2 and said: “There’s no excuse to put it on twice surely?? There should be more variety! Explanation please!”

However, some viewers shared a different opinion.

“#Paddington2 has to be the only film I don’t mind the BBC repeating endlessly this Christmas. Such a wholesome joy,” one said.

What else did viewers say about Christmas repeats?

There was more outcry because of the amount of repeats.

Viewers once again took to social media to bemoan the lack of new shows.

One said: “Congratulations BBC1, BBC2, ITV and Channels 4 & 5 for serving up repeats and tv rubbish we’ve all seen before, no new films?

“Why do we have to pay a tv licence again, Virgin you served us rubbish too!”

Gavin and Stacey christmas episode
Gavin and Stacey was repeated this year (Credit: BBC)

What percentage of Christmas TV were repeats?

When the schedules were released in early December, The Sun newspaper found that half of BBC One’s festive output were repeats.

Read more: BBC Christmas TV 2020: Call The Midwife, Mrs Brown’s Boys and Black Narcissus announced

With the likes of 2019’s Gavin and Stacey’s Christmas special, Christmas Eve was found to be the worst culprit with eight repeats.

One view called it the “worst Christmas TV scheduling I have ever seen”.

Bryn's cringe story at Christmas drinks 😂 - Gavin & Stacey | BBC

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Nancy Brown
Associate Editor