Radio: Seasonal specials lined up.

Stations schedule celebrities and special gigs for the festive season

by Paul Williams

The return of Chris Tarrant and the first UK airings of some of Bob Dylan's acclaimed XM Satellite Radio shows are among the star attractions of Radio Two's Christmas and new year line-up.

The BBC network will broadcast six of Dylan's US-based programmes over the holiday period, beginning on December 23, before sister station 6 Music takes over on New Year's Eve ahead of it starting a weekly Friday night run of the shows on January 12.

Tarrant, who since exiting Capital's breakfast slot after 17 years in April 2004 has been an annual fixture of Radio Two's festive schedules, will return again to the station this year with a two-hour New Year's Day programme from 8pm.

A Dolly Parton special on Christmas Day afternoon is also among the station's end-of-year plans, which will further include one-off shows hosted by Ronan Keating and Will Young and additional airings of concerts under its Live And Exclusive banner by acts such as Coldplay, The Rolling Stones, Bruce Springsteen and Take That.

Radio One's Christmas activities will fully get underway on December 22 with an all-day party at the Maida Vale studios featuring live performances from The Feeling, Paolo Nutini and Sugababes and hosted by DJs including Chris Moyles and Scott Mills. It will also be Mills, in conjunction with Fatboy Slim VJ Tim Fleming, who will take the station into 2007 with a six-hour extravaganza beginning at 7pm on New Year's Eve. The broadcast will include red-button interaction, allowing listeners to access specially-created visuals to accompany the show.