TV tonight: the year’s first Christmas special arrives early

The Guardian published its UK television guide for the evening of 29 October, noting that the year’s first Christmas-themed special is already on screen.

Drama and entertainment

On Channel 5 at 9.05pm, the fifth series of the cosy crime drama The Madame Blanc Mysteries begins. The mayor of Sainte-Victoire has been murdered and her body left in the village fountain, which complicates the Christmas Eve wedding plans of antique-dealing sleuth Jean (played by Sally Lindsay). She joins the investigation anyway, and although a local builder is under suspicion, she believes the motive may be different.

Channel 4 airs Taskmaster at 9.05pm. The series ends next week, when one contestant wins the golden Greg Davies trophy. At 10.05pm the channel shows a double bill of Leo Reich’s London coming-of-age sitcom It Gets Worse, which opens with a warehouse sex party attended by friends Sam, Abi and Ethan.

Also at 10.05pm, Channel 5 launches a new video podcast in which Sally Lindsay chats nostalgically with stars about their greatest television moments. Her first guest is actor Suranne Jones.

Documentary and finance

At 7pm on BBC Two, BBC health correspondent Sharon Barbour presents a one-off documentary about women in County Durham whose mastectomies were found to have been unnecessary. A former consultant surgeon describes what happened as a “horrific outlier”.

ITV1 shows The Martin Lewis Money Show Live – Budget Special at 7.15pm, hosted by home-finance expert Martin Lewis.

Sport

BBC Two broadcasts a women’s UEFA Champions League league-phase football match between Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain at Joie Stadium, starting at 7.30pm.