Programme Information

Samuell Benta, Lara Goodison, Ed Green, Billie North, Alice Southwood and Matthew Kane star as Jay, Marla, Tommy, Olive, Fin and Stephen in the fast-paced drama for teens

Marla has blackmailed her parents back together, her family life is back on track and now she is ready to share her darkest secret with Jay, as BBC Switch's multi-platform soap reaches its penultimate episode. But will Jay understand?

Packed full of drama with fast-paced storylines suggested by soap-loving teens, The Cut features a cast of rising stars and storylines broadcast online from Monday to Friday in five-minute episodes at bbc.co.uk/switch with an omnibus edition on BBC Two on Saturdays.

Marla is played by Lara Goodison and Jay by Samuell Benta. The cast also features Tilly Wood as Amy; Matthew Kane as Stephen; Dermot Martin as Mack; Billie North as Olive; Alice Southwood as Fin; Edward Green as Tommy; and Jessica Dickens as Toni.

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Tommy and Rosa fear their secret will be revealed and Stephen tries to work out how he can take two girls to the ball in the climactic final episode of BBC Switch's multi-platform soap.

Packed with fast-paced storylines and drama suggested by teens for teens, The Cut features a cast of rising stars and storylines. It broadcasts online in five-minute episodes from Monday to Friday at bbc.co.uk/switch with an omnibus edition on BBC Two on Saturdays.

Tommy is played by Edward Green and Stephen by Matthew Kane. The cast also includes Lara Goodison as Marla; Samuell Benta as Jay; Tilly Wood as Amy; Dermot Martin as Mack; Billie North as Olive; Alice Southwood as Fin; and Jessica Dickens as Toni.

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Hamlet

Saturday 26 December

5.05-8.10pm BBC TWO

• www.bbc.co.uk/arts

David Tennant takes the lead role in Shakespeare's great tragedy

The Royal Shakespeare Company's award-winning production of Hamlet, directed by RSC Chief Associate Director Gregory Doran, stars David Tennant in the title role.

Made by Illuminations, this screen version of Shakespeare's great tragedy retains the quality and tone of the critically acclaimed stage production and was filmed on location. All key original members of the cast, including Patrick Stewart as Claudius, star in this special 180-minute production, which also has the same creative team. The film is directed by Gregory Doran and designed by Robert Jones, who also designed the stage production.

To support this new film of Hamlet, a rich online BBC website is being created in collaboration with the RSC, featuring behind-the-scenes stills and footage; specially shot interviews with the actors talking about their characters and their approach to the play; interviews with the director and other key backstage personnel; and a comprehensive range of links through to the full depth of BBC Learning's content on Shakespeare and RSC Education's content on Shakespeare in performance.

Hamlet is simulcast on the BBC HD channel – the BBC's High Definition channel, available through Freesat, Sky and Virgin Media.

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James May concludes his quest to show just what is possible with old-fashioned toys by using them on a scale never seen before in attempting his biggest, most ambitious challenge – to build a full-sized house from Lego.

Enlisting hundreds of people to help build the house with more than three million Lego bricks, James attempts to do what no-one has ever managed; build a two-storey house using this colourful toy.

Such an ambitious undertaking is not without its problems and James soon has issues with planning regulations, an interior designer who can't get her Lego furniture to stay in one piece and a structural engineer who tries desperately to stop everything from crashing down.

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Jools's Annual Hootenanny

Thursday 31 December

11.00pm-1.10am BBC TWO (Copy updated 22 December)

• www.bbc.co.uk/later

Jools Holland introduces his Annual Hootenanny

Jools Holland welcomes 2010 with his 17th annual Hootenanny. Recorded in Studio TC1 at London's BBC Television Centre, the Hootenanny features a host of stars and acts that have made their mark on the musical landscape in 2009, along with surprise turns and collaborations. Hootenanny has established itself as the ultimate way to say cheerio to the old year and bid good morning to the new one.

Joining Jools this year are Sir Tom Jones, Dizzee Rascal, Boy George, Kasabian, Paolo Nutini, Florence Welch, Rodrigo Y Gabriela, Kelly Jones, Paloma Faith, Dave Edmunds, Shingai Shoniwa of Noisettes, Rico Rodriguez and Ruby Turner.

Joining Jools's Rhythm & Blues Orchestra, with their massed horns, strings and backing vocalists, is a variety of big names old and new, with the cream of this year's biggest acts performing the big tunes from 2009, as well as an array of classics to get everyone into a swinging party mood.

As well as a fine array of musical entertainment, stars from the worlds of TV, film, stage, comedy, art and more will be dropping into the studio, sharing their thoughts on the old year and their hopes for the new. And the new decade will be brought in, as ever, by the pipes and drums of the 1st Battalion of The Scots Guards.

Jools's Annual Hootenanny 2009 is simulcast on the BBC HD channel – the BBC's High Definition channel, available through Freesat, Sky and Virgin Media.

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The opera world's dream team, soprano Anna Netrebko and tenor Rolando Villazon, star in this feature film version of Giacomo Puccini's immortal opera, La Bohème. It is directed by Academy Award nominee Robert Dornhelm and Bertrand de Billy conducts the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra.

It is Paris in the 1830s and writer Rodolfo has agreed to join his friends later for a drink to celebrate Christmas Eve. But then there is a knock at the door; a neighbour, Mimì, whose candle has gone out, asks for fire and it is love at first sight.

However, the couple's happiness is cut short when Mimi develops a fatal illness and leaves. It is only when she is dying that the lovers are briefly reunited.

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Following in the footsteps of its forerunner, Shooting Stars – The Inside Story, this one-hour special, hosted by Mark Williams, takes a quirky and unconventional look at the best of Steve Coogan's television work and character comedy.

With classic archive moments and some rarely seen early appearances, Steve Coogan – The Inside Story includes interviews with well-known collaborators, plus fans of Alan Partridge, Paul and Pauline Calf, Tony Ferrino and Saxondale.

Rob Brydon, Victoria Wood, Ben Miller and Simon Greenall are among the stars who offer their thoughts and there are specially filmed sketches featuring Coogan and Julia Davis.

As with the Shooting Stars documentary, Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer appear in character as cameramen and the chaps from the make-up department, among others, commenting on their time working with Steve.

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Three Men Go To Ireland Ep 1/2

Wednesday 30 December

9.00-10.00pm BBC TWO

What do you get if you put an Englishman, an Irishman and a Welshman on a boat bound for Dublin?

Griff Rhys Jones, Dara O'Briain and Rory McGrath return to BBC Two for the fourth series of Three Men In A Boat, and this time the trio are making their way across Ireland via canal and river, taking in the sights on their way to the Limerick Poetry Festival.

With Irishman Dara obviously nervous that Griff and Rory's behaviour (and in particular their terrible Irish jokes) will embarrass him on home turf, his two companions are in their element. They see the trip as a perfect opportunity to irritate Dara, while exploring Ireland's off-the-beaten-track midlands.

Kicking off in Dublin, the Three Men are soon heading down the Grand Canal on Ireland's last original Guinness barge. They are only slightly hampered by the fact that it's more than 80 years old, very heavy, somewhat difficult to start and even more difficult to stop. It has no brakes or reverse gear.

The barge's lack of speed, temperamental engine and an endless succession of canal locks prove too much for the Three Men and they quickly abandon it to take to the Royal canal in a car with a difference...

The Three Men are more than a little surprised to be greeted in Mullingar (Ireland's geographical centre) by a huge street parade complete with marching band, cheering children and food fayre – how will they cope with all the attention? By the end of the first episode everybody has gone to the dogs as the boys turn out to watch Dara's greyhound, Snip Nua, compete in a race.

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Griff Rhys Jones, Dara O'Briain and Rory McGrath continue their voyages across Ireland via canal and river as the fourth series of Three Men In A Boat concludes.

Taking in the sights on their way to the Limerick Poetry Festival, Dara remains nervous that Griff and Rory's behaviour (and in particular their Irish jokes) will embarrass him in his homeland. His two companions are in their element, seeing the trip as the perfect opportunity to irritate Dara.

The trio begin by sailing down the river Shannon in the best weather Ireland has had in years, stopping off along they way to visit a friend of Dara's who happens to live in Ireland's most haunted castle. They must then face sailing through the terrifying Ardnacrusha, Europe's largest lock. Arriving in Limerick, Dara and Griff try a spot of power-boat racing, while Rory decides to host his own poetry festival for limericks only – the inaugural Limerick Limerick Competition.

The journey ends with a trip to the stunning Aran Islands, where the Three Men take a Galway hooker (a traditional sailing boat) to visit the megalithic fort of Dun Aengus.

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The Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, is the venue for this performance of Tchaikovsky's opera The Tsarina's Slippers (Cherevichki), staged by The Royal Opera for the first time.

Based on a Christmas story by Gogol that mixes folktale with fairytale fantasy, the plot tells how, in order to win the hand of his beloved, Oxana, Vakula the blacksmith flies on the Devil's back to St Petersburg to request a pair of leather slippers worn by the Tsarina herself. On stage is an almost entirely Russian cast of singers directed in this new production by Francesca Zambello and conducted by Alexander Polianichko. The opera is introduced from Covent Garden by Katie Derham.

The Royal Opera House has brought together both their companies, Opera and Ballet, for this enchanting new production by director Francesca Zambello and choreographer Alastair Marriott.

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Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May are dropped deep into the Bolivian rain forest in the latest in a line of Top Gear specials.

Following on from their epic adventures across Botswana, Vietnam and the Arctic Circle, this time the trio are equipped with three shabby 4x4s bought from local small ads for a maximum of £3,500 apiece.

In what is set to be their most extraordinary journey to date, Jeremy, James and Richard attempt to drive from the heart of Bolivia's Amazon basin to the coast of Chile, encountering local drug lords, the debilitating effects of high altitude and the terrifying sheer drops of the infamous 40 mile mountain pass El Camino De La Muerte – "Death Road" – along the way.

Before all that, they must escape from the deep, dark centre of the rain forest in what is, without doubt, the toughest and most unmissable challenge Top Gear has ever faced.

TD