Divisive James Bond film confirmed to air across Christmas ITV schedules

For many film fans, it wouldn't be Christmas without squeezing in a James Bond flick or two – and as is tradition, ITV has obliged by adding one of 007's adventures to its festive viewing schedule.

What might come as a surprise, however, is the broadcaster's choice of film. Rather than opting for one of the more universally beloved entries in the long-running spy franchise, the film that will be showing on the channel this Christmas week is Pierce Brosnan's divisive fourth and final outing as Bond, Die Another Day.

The 2002 film – which also starred John Cleese as Q and Halle Berry and Rosamund Pike as Bond girls Jinx and Miranda Frost – will be getting two airings on ITV1, first at 6:35pm on Saturday 20th December and then again at 10:15pm on Boxing Day.

While it has its defenders, the film is generally regarded as one of the weaker instalments in the series – placing 23rd out of all 25 films in our own definitive RadioTimes.com ranking. In that list, our entry for the film praised its first hour, but added that: "All this is forgotten and the film’s credibility is lost in a ludicrous second half that takes in ice palaces, lasers, invisible cars and a dubious plot involving a villain changing his race."

Meanwhile, our 3-star review of the film argued that the "plotline and gadgets are more preposterous than ever", but reserved praise for Brosnan's performance, which we said combined "the secret agent's charm and throwaway wit with true toughness and a streak of venom".

If you're one of the Bond fans who remains unconvinced by the film all these years later – or if you simply aren't into Bond at all – then the channel has plenty of other film offerings over the festive period, from Christmas classics like It's a Wonderful Life to modern action films such as John Wick: Chapter 4.

Read more:

• James Bond's Rosamund Pike says she was told to 'unzip, drop her dress and stand there' in audition
• 22 actors who were almost James Bond – and why they missed out on playing 007

On Christmas Day itself, two movies make it into the schedule: last year's critically maligned Dwayne Johnson vehicle Red One at 11:10pm and Steven Spielberg's iconic action adventure favourite Raiders of the Lost Ark in an earlier slot at 3:10pm.

The latter is then followed in subsequent days by three other Indiana Jones films, with Temple of Doom showing on Boxing Day at 4:15pm, The Last Crusade on 27th December at 4:10pm, and the somewhat less loved Kingdom of the Crystal Skull on 28th December at 2:50pm.

And what better way could there be to spend the time between Christmas and New Year than with Harrison Ford's intrepid archeologist?

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