Channel 4 looks to favourites for Christmas schedule

Aside from the new series of 'Shameless', Channel 4's drama offering over Christmas includes the third series of 'Desperate Housewives' and 'Ugly Betty', a quirky US smash-hit that follows the adventures of Betty Suarez, a plain but smart secretary at fictional fashion magazine Mode.

Documentaries scheduled for the festive period are 'The Secret Family of Jesus', which purports to tell of the Biblical conspiracy that 'The Da Vinci Code' author Dan Brown missed; 'What Monty Python Did Next', a one-hour programme tracing the successful careers of the former Pythons; and 'Not Forgotten: Shot at Dawn', a documentary in which Ian Hislop considers the lives of six soldiers executed in the Great War.

To mark the 70th anniversary of composer Prokofiev's most famous work, Peter & the Wolf, a new animated version of the children's classic has been commissioned and British composer Jonathan Dove returns to Channel 4 with a new composition inspired by astronaut Buzz Aldrin and the first moon landing in 1969.

Other highlights include two doses of the Noel Edmund comeback game show, 'Deal or No Deal'; a televised version of Derren Brown's live show, 'Derren Brown: Something Wicked This Way Comes'; and the return of 'The Big Fat Quiz of the Year', hosted by Jimmy Carr and featuring celebrity teams including Jonathan Ross, Russell Brand, Rob Brydon and David Walliams.

Finally, 'The Charlotte Church Show Christmas Special' will feature the eponymous hostess and a line-up of guests including Paul O'Grady, Ben Elton and the Sugababes.

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