BBC recently announced its Christmas TV highlights with "Sherlock" and "Doctor Who" leading the pack in this festive period. Some popular series will be back with their new season and other seasonal specials will be featured in the holiday TV special.

Besides Sherlock, some of the shows that are guaranteed to rake in big audiences are "Call the Midwife" and "Still Open All Hours," which is based on the 1970s sitcom, The Guardian reported. BBC will also showcase standalone specials like "Mrs Brown's Boys," Last Tango in Halifax," Strictly Come Dancing," The Great British Bake Off," and "Doctor Who."

Last Christmas, BBC dominated the televisions with 8 of the 10 most watched shows in the holiday season coming from them. Some of the shows last year that attracted big number of audiences were "And Then There Were None," "Call the Midwife," "Mrs Brown's Boys," and "Sherlock."

Besides those shows, BBC will also feature Michael McIntyre's "Big Christmas Show," Independent reported. Meanwhile, David Williams will present a special to celebrate the career of Dame Shirley Bassey. One more show to look forward to is the documentary by Dame Judi Dench.

BBC will also show a compilation of the favorite moments from Tracy Ulman's comedy show, Alan Davies' Jonathan Creek, and the Outnumbered sitcom.

BBC director of content Charlotte Moore said they are pulling out all the stops for the holiday season to offer the nation an explosive line up that every family would love to watch.

Besides these familiar and popular line-up, BBC will also bring fresh new shows to the table, including 2 eye-catching animated features. Revolting Rhymes is an animated show that has two parts and is based on the "mischievous twist" created by Roald Dahl. The other anticipated animated show is Ethel and Earnest. It is an adaptation of Snowman creator Raymond Briggs' graphic novel.

Topics BBC, Sherlock