By Rick Gables
PBS will air Lucy Worsley’s 12 Days of Tudor Christmas on Sunday, Dec. 19, at 8 p.m. ET (check your local listings). Join the popular royal historian and TV personality Lucy Worsley as she brings to life a magnificent Tudor Christmas, exploring the rituals and riches of the 12-day holiday as it was celebrated during the reign of King Henry VIII. With Lucy as our guide, in lavish period costume, we discover that many of our current traditions, from carols to Christmas cake, from gift-giving to mulled wine, have surprising Tudor origins. Enjoy a fun-filled and revelatory extravaganza that combines the sacred and the secular into an unforgettable time filled with entertainment, feasting, drinking and traditions both strange and familiar. Lucy experiences the specific activities, some recreated for the first time by experts especially for this film, exploring the meanings of each of the 12 days, beginning with feasting on Christmas.
Popular interior designer Hilary Farr will star in HGTV’s new series, Tough Love with Hilary Farr, premiering Monday, Dec. 20, at 9 p.m. ET/PT. The eight-episode series will spotlight Hilary helping families improve their lives and homes with a dash of tough love. Using her signature wit, she will banish their indecision and help them maximize their homes to better suit their needs. The premiere episode will feature a newly married couple in dire need of Hilary’s expertise as they bring their family under one roof for the first time. Challenged by a lack of storage, entertaining and home office space, Hilary will develop a design plan to solve these issues and ultimately improve the family dynamic.
The Food Network’s new season of Kids Baking Championship will premiere on Monday, Dec. 27, at 8 p.m. ET/PT. The family-favorite dessert competition series features Valerie Bertinelli and Duff Goldman welcoming a dozen of the youngest bakers ever to the Kids Baking Championship. The ten-week competition will test the kid contestants, ages 8-11, in difficult themed challenges. From kitchen sink sweets, to cream puffs, and to dessert imposters, they must showcase their impressive baking skills and techniques. Only one incredible young baker will rise to the top to earn the sweet grand prize, including a spot in Food Network Magazine and the title of Kids Baking Champion. On the premiere, the kid contestants pay homage to the brilliant transformation of the butterfly by making colorful carved butterfly cakes.
