If you’re after a New Year’s Eve TV pick that doesn’t involve bagpipes, sentimental heartstrings or a terrifying reminder of the actual news from this chaotic year, Here We Go: Our New Year’s Fireworks Fantasaganza has you covered.
The BBC sitcom has had a busy year, with season three dropping earlier in the year and season four on the way.
It returns with a festive special that does exactly what it says on the tin: it throws its gloriously dysfunctional Jessop family into a pressure-filled, high-farce, error-strewn New Year and lets the sparks and tempers fly. Loudly. Repeatedly. Often at the same time. With fireworks.
At the centre of it all, Katherine Parkinson once again proves why she’s such a perfect low-key comedy actress. She plays Rachel Jessop with more understatement than a British Olympic gold medal winner, permanently on the brink and holding things together through sheer willpower and passive aggression.
Parkinson is always a joy when she plays internal panic just about masked by politeness, and this episode gives her plenty to work with.
For a start, there’s Jim Howick’s eternally bewildered Paul, this time lumbered with an enormous boil that just seems to grow across his face. After a feeble November 5th fireworks display that’s more damp squib than Vesuvius, he dodges hosting a New Year’s House party with a complex AirBnB house swap scheme – if they rent their house out it’ll pay for a Devonshire place with sauna attached for a family break accompanied by a large crate of unlicensed fireworks he picked up from a police auction.
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Cue a chaotic road trip that cuts a little close to home for anyone spending large parts of the festive season with three generations on the M6.
Tom Basden’s scripts can get a little too real, which, as Homer Simpson has told us, is why they’re funny. Then Freya Parks' dry, cutting daughter Amy phones to say the neighbourhood’s biggest party is taking place at their house and there’s a race against time, an attempt to throw everyone out followed by a desperate pleading to be allowed to stay.
And then the Fireworks Fantasaganza, which of course goes nowhere near Paul’s plan.
Jude Morgan-Collie’s Sam, permanently armed with his camera, remains the show’s quietly brilliant framing device and has his own subtle subplot, dealing with being dumped for an unfortunate present mix-up.
Alison Steadman continues to steal scenes as Sue, the family’s opinionated, unpredictable grandmother, whose diet club meets at KFC and all-you-can-eat buffets. Steadman clearly relishes every beat as much as every bite.
What makes this really sing is how confidently it sticks to the show’s strengths. Here We Go has never been about big punchlines or showy set-pieces. Instead, it thrives on interruption, sly glances to camera, sudden escalation and the kind of dialogue that sounds improvised even when it’s clearly not.
This episode leans hard into that trademark style, layering misunderstandings and bad decisions until everything feels teeteringly out of control. It’s the kind of farce that sneaks up on you, built less on slapstick and more on the awful realisation that things are only going to get worse because nobody knows how to deal with this situation. It’s a classic old-school sitcom with Office-style delivery.
New Year’s Eve is the perfect backdrop for this kind of storytelling. It’s always a night full of expectations, half-baked plans, emotional over-investment and inevitable disappointment – all things Here We Go gently skewers without ever becoming cynical.
It understands that most of us ringing in the New Year aren’t chasing perfection; we’re just trying to get through it with minimal damage.
Seasonal specials often struggle with scale. Push too far and you lose what makes a sitcom funny in the first place; play it too safe and it just feels like a regular episode wearing Christmas jumpers.
But as festive specials go, this one feels particularly well judged. Fans will get exactly what they want, while newcomers should find it easy to jump in. It’s bigger and busier than a regular episode, and uses the pressure-cooker atmosphere of New Year’s Eve to gently heighten everything that already works.
Expectations are high, nerves are frayed, and the family’s inability to communicate calmly becomes both the engine of the comedy and the source of its warmth.
If you’re scrolling tonight wondering what to put on while the clock ticks towards midnight, this is a strong option. And if you want to hit the iPlayer on New Year's Day and see how bad your evening could have been, this is exactly what you’re looking for.
It’s a reminder that the best way to welcome the New Year is with a laugh, preferably at someone else’s family. Which reminds you a little too much of your own…
Here We Go: Our New Year’s Fireworks Fantasaganza is on BBC One at 8pm on New Year's Eve
