MasterChef: The Professionals, BBC2, 8pm
IT’S all over bar the shouting for this year’s competition – but will the final be as enthralling as last year’s? That saw 21-year-old Craig Johnston crowned the youngest-ever winner. In fact, it appeared as if the culinary arts are now a young person’s game with the oldest of the finalists aged just 27. This time, three people remain in the contest, and they face one last challenge. It involves preparing a starter, a main course and a dessert in three hours. The winner will have to demonstrate how they have taken their abilities to a new level since the series began, coupling their cooking abilities with flawless presentation and exciting flavours. Marcus Wareing, Monica Galetti and Gregg Wallace are the lucky judges who are getting to taste it all.
This is My Song, BBC1, 8pm
THE second of two programmes in which ordinary people are given the chance to work with leading music producers and vocal producers to record a song that has a special meaning for them. Those stepping into the booth tonight include cystic fibrosis sufferer Charles, 23, who sets out to sing for the first time since having a double-lung transplant. Meanwhile Bethany, 25, arrives at the studio with some cherished home recordings of her late father. Music was an important part of her relationship with him and she wants to know if the team can create a brand new track to which she can sing along – something she can play at her wedding in a few months’ time.
Mark Kermode’s Christmas Cinema Secrets, BBC4, 9pm
FROM It’s a Wonderful Life to Die Hard, many people will be sitting down to watch a festive movie this week, but what makes a true Christmas classic? Mark Kermode finds out as he looks at films ranging from heart-warming family favourites to darker winter’s tales and reveals the techniques and storytelling secrets that make them so successful. He also argues that while Yuletide may lend itself to a surprisingly wide variety of genres, a true Christmas movie needs more than just a bit of snow.
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