There’s something cosy, complacent, about Christmas telly. And, truth be told, that’s an assessment that holds about A Child’s Christmases in Wales. It was a moderately entertaining tale about a family’s festive gatherings in the 1980s raised above the standard of a script that just about succeeded in living up to its lack of ambition by strong performances.

Writer Mark Watson should be grateful to the performers who breathed life into his fundamentally obvious and unchallenging script. Ruth Jones, playing the mother of the family, is used to this kind of work, doing a similar job of inflating material beyond its scope in Gavin & Stacey, which I find irksome and anodyne. Likewise with the other actors, all of whom did an excellent job.

An analogy can be made with The Travelling Wilburys — a group of legendary players collaborating on a frankly middle of the road offering. The cumulative effect is to ask ‘why bother?’, but in the same way that it’s sort of interesting to hear Roy Orbison and Bob Dylan on the same recording, there’s technical interest to be had in the results of a very particular challenge: how to fill an hour of screen time using the limited resources available on a BBC4 budget.

The answer? A story which is limited in space, but travels liberally through time. Three Christmases are depicted, using the same location and mostly the same actors, the exception being the two lads in the extended family, who as they grow through their teens are portrayed by different actors each Yule.

Frankly, it was a rather humble offering elevated beyond its roots. But, with the best part of a bottle of sherry inside you, and if you’re more partial to Gavin & Stacey than I am, maybe it’ll work for you. See for yourself.

Rather more successful was a repeat that I’d missed first time round last year. The Wainscoting was the first of three chillers scripted by Mark Gattis under the title Crooked House. Since the days of Dickens there’s been a tradition of spooky stories at Christmas, and that’s exactly what Gattis delivers. Traditional scares in (18th century) period dress, again realised by BBC4 on a low budget.

There’s a modern day framing device featuring a householder showing a spooky door-knocker to a local museum, and then we’re back in Ye Olden Days with a tale that’s simplicity itself. A well-to-do chap buys a house and is troubled by the interior decor. Specifically the wooden wainscoting on one wall…

First it’s a matter of unearthly noises. Then blood-like stains spread over the area. Even decorated over, the stains reappear to chilling effect. And the house owner discovers that the wainscoting was made of a gallows that has hung countless people.

Both Crooked House and A Child’s Christmases in Wales were conservative in scope, but Crooked House had an ambition and level of attainment that exceeded the smug cosiness of the comedy piece. It’s that vision which will drive me to seek out the other two parts of Gattis’s series, while I have no desire to re-experience the Mark Watson piece.

Does tv for Christmas have to be so safe? Given the need for family friendly viewing, the answer is a qualified yes. And at least these two programmes demonstrate that there’s a place for new work, rather than seasonal specials for tired favourites. Christmas might be a time for families to view together, but let’s hope this year’s crop of shows includes some that rise to the challenge of being entertaining and imaginative for all ages. Which is probably another way of saying that I hope Dr Who gets it right this year…