TV Highlights: 22/12/2011

Sports Personality Of The Year 2011 8pm, BBC1 Once, this show was the flagship TV event of the sporting year, a straightforward retrospective clips-fest. In recent years, however, it has been meddled with, overhauled and modernised to the extent that it has become barely watchable. This year, further modifications; it's been moved to a Thursday night and comes from Salford. The controversy over the lack of female sports stars in the shortlist will, quite rightly, overshadow the occasion, especially in a year in which the men haven't overly distinguished themselves. Mo Farah, Darren Clarke and Mark Cavendish are likely to be frontrunners. David Stubbs Without You 9pm, ITV1 Paul Ritter steals the final episode of this mystery thriller as the exasperated detective who has to listen to Anna Friel's primary school teacher spouting amateur detective theories about her husband's "murder". She inevitably discovers the truth in her own haphazard way, neatly tying up loose ends as easily as she tucks her hair behind her ear. But it's Friel's tour de force performance that carries you through to the end. Julia Raeside London's Burning 9pm, Channel 4 In spite of the title, this isn't a festive revisit of the long-running series about the capital's fire services. Instead, it's an hour-long drama attempting to make some kind of artistic sense out of this summer's riots, weaving together stories from half-a-dozen affected parties over a single night in Clapham. It'll be interesting to see how it handles the two main characters, who are senior police officers, but David Morrissey is on hand to give it his traditionally stern best shot as one of them. John Robinson Made In Chelsea: Christmas Special 9pm, E4 Are you ready for 90 minutes of posh irritation? Admittedly, the lives and loves of the Chelsea set have been a little hard to follow as they all appear to have the same hair. Even if you work out who's who, it's trickier still to find a character you can muster any empathy for among the Martini-throwing, hard "pardying" glossy posse. Well, if the true meaning of Christmas is jetting off to luxury locations, being massively selfish and spending as much of daddy's money as is humanly possible, consider this a nativity. Hannah Verdier Carole King And Friends At Christmas 10pm, BBC4 Learning that Carole King – in the 1960s, writer of a billion pop hits; in the 1970s, writer of the supermellow Tapestry album – had a new album due in 2011 was exciting news. Some excitement dissipated when one learned it was a Christmas album of cover versions; still more when you heard it. Still, revolutionary was never what this was going to be all about. A cosy "evening with", this harks back to festive shows of yesteryear, as Carole delivers pleasant takes on seasonal fare, with guests including Richard Hawley. John Robinson Simon Amstell: Do Nothing Live 10.30pm, BBC3 During his tenure as host of Never Mind The Buzzcocks, Amstell really got under the skin of some prickly pop stars. They could easily shrug off the more basic, blunt bullying of previous host Mark Lamarr, but Amstell was more charming, insightful and vicious – a killer combination. It's refreshing that he casts the same relentlessly cutting view to his own life. This stand-up routine from last year sees him tear his awkward existence apart with a winning lack of smugness and ego. It's not a gag-athon, just a very funny, philosophical look at how ridiculous life is. Phelim O'Neill