schedule

Emmerdale fans have a lot to look forward to on the ITV soap this Christmas – and this is when they can tune in as all the drama unfolds over the festive period

Emmerdale fans are looking forward to tuning in on Christmas Day – and it’s looking like quite a dramatic time during the festive time on the farm. Viewers of the long-running ITV soap, which first aired in 1972, would expect nothing less from the programme but it’s already been quite the year for the residents of the Yorkshire-based village.

This Christmas, there’s concern for Robron as a threat looms for newly reunited Aaron Dingle and Robert Sugden. When news of a possible return is shared not everyone is immediately happy about it, sparking a new feud. Ross Barton is blindsided when he finds out Aaron and Robert are planning to bring Robert’s son Seb back into their lives. Ross was Seb’s stepfather and helped raise him, until Seb’s mother Rebecca White sadly passed away.

What’s more, someone will be showing lurking in the shadows with intent and their reign of terror is only just getting started. When the trees outside his flat are set alight, Aaron once again blames Ross, only for Robert to uncover who the real culprit is. Will he be able to stop them? As Christmas Day arrives Aaron is puzzled when Robert heads off on a mystery errand. Soon there’s serious concern when he doesn’t return – so what has happened to Robert?

READ MORE: Emmerdale Christmas spoilers: Return sealed, escape plan and Robert ‘missing’READ MORE: Emmerdale fans ‘rumble’ who is set to expose Celia after shock confrontation

What time is Emmerdale on Christmas Day? What happens?

But when exactly will fans be able to catch all the Yuletide drama? Traditionally, the soap airs weeknights at 7:30pm in a half-hour slot, often just before Coronation Street. Eager fans can also watch the latest instalment from 7am on the day of broadcast by logging onto ITVX.

However, on Thursday 25th December, the festive special of Emmerdale will air at the significantly earlier time of 6:15pm. Prior to that, the programme will hit screens at 6:55pm on Christmas Eve and once the big day is all over, the soap air again at 6:30pm on Boxing Day.

Emmerdale will then resume its ordinary slot in the days after Christmas, and conclude the festive period with an hour-long special on New Year’s Day.

There’s lots more for fans of Emmerdale to look forward to this Christmas, as evil mother-and-son duo Celia Daniels and Ray Walters are fearing the game is up and they may need to flee, amid their shocking drug schemes being exposed. But with Ray growing closer to Laurel Thomas, could he dare to dream of starting things afresh away from his evil mum?

Kim Tate’s recent near-death experience leaves her pushing people away, and soon Joe Tate is furious by a confession from Lydia Dingle. Joe returns to Home Farm to patch things up with Kim but she sends him packing.

But when she falls and hurts herself, she calls for help only for Lydia to arrive and help her. Kim immediately dismisses her, and she’s soon facing Christmas alone.

Wrapping up Christmas, there’s a public marriage proposal happens, Paddy is missing his father Bear as he remains on Celia’s farm, and Vanessa and Charity are strong-armed into spending Christmas Day together. When Vanessa gets drunk, Charity fears the beans will be spilled as a threat looms.

The entire festive schedule for the ITV soap is as follows: :

Monday December 22 – 7.30pm (30 minutes)Tuesday December 23 -7pm (30 minutes)Wednesday December 24 (Christmas Eve) – 6:55pm (30 minutes)Thursday December 25 (Christmas Day)- 6:15pm (One hour)Friday December 26 (Boxing Day) – 6:30pm (30 minutes) Monday December 29 – 7:30pm Tuesday December 30 – 7:30pmWednesday December 31 – 7:30pmThursday January 1 (New Year’s Day) 7pm (One hour)Friday January 2 – 7:30pm

Emmerdale airs weeknights at 7:30pm on ITV1 and ITVX, with an hour-long episode on Thursdays. * Follow Mirror Celebs and TV on TikTok , Snapchat , Instagram , Twitter , Facebook , YouTube and Threads .

ARLINGTON, Texas — The NFL regular season is turning down the stretch and the playoff picture is coming into focus, and that means not just the teams but the league’s scheduling crew is hard at work.

The Chargers, who play at Dallas on Sunday, can secure a postseason berth with a victory and some help from a team or two. Coupled with a win over the Cowboys, the Chargers need Las Vegas to win at Houston (unlikely) or San Francisco to win at Indianapolis (more likely) so they can rest easy knowing they’re at least in the playoffs for the second consecutive season under Jim Harbaugh.

Although the Rams have already qualified for the playoffs, they need to regain their balance after a spirit-snapping loss at Seattle on Thursday that likely cost them a chance at the NFC’s No. 1 seed.

Here’s a look at the upcoming schedule for the end of this season and beginning of next, along with decisions that need to be made:

— Why did the league schedule Houston at the Chargers for Saturday of Week 17?

The game was always a candidate for that 1:30 p.m. slot on NFL Network, and Seattle at Carolina was also under consideration.

The league liked Texans-Chargers on Saturday because both of those clubs likely will be playing in January — maybe against each other again — and if that game were moved to Sunday afternoon, it would be going head-to-head against Fox’s national game, Philadelphia at Buffalo, a potential Super Bowl preview.

So the NFL wanted to do the Texans and Chargers a solid and give them the national stage to themselves.

— Rams at Atlanta in Week 17 isn’t a fantastic Monday night game for Week 17, especially with the Falcons currently at 5-9. But with all the games spread throughout the week of Christmas, there weren’t a lot of great replacement options.

The league didn’t move Texans-Chargers into that slot for good reason. Because whoever plays in that “Monday Night Football” slot — it’s staying Rams-Falcons — won’t be a candidate for a Saturday game in the final weekend.

So by moving Texans-Chargers to Saturday, both those teams are in play for the two Saturday spots in Week 18. The Chargers finish at Denver, and the Texans play host to Indianapolis. Either or both of those games could wind up on ESPN for those finishing Saturday games.

— The NFL originally slated Cincinnati at Miami for this week’s Sunday night game but last week decided to move New England at Baltimore into that time slot. That’s notable because it’s the first flex of the season, which is an unusually low number. Typically, there have been three or four flexes to this point.

Why only one? There are multiple reasons. First, the league’s scheduling crew had a pretty clear crystal ball in May, a good idea for which teams would still be in the mix. Credit to those folks.

But the bar for flexing games is also a little higher than it used to be. The NFL is cautious about inconveniencing 75,000 fans for a relatively small bump in viewership. What’s more, with all the new windows and partners — Netflix, Amazon Prime, Peacock, Paramount+ — there are fewer games to go around. Even if the league wanted to flex, there are fewer options. The traditional Sunday inventory is a lot thinner than it used to be.

— It’s worth noting that the league’s philosophy on moving games around is it flexes out of a game that’s falling apart, it doesn’t flex into a better game because the network or streaming service doesn’t happen to like the game it has.

Cincinnati-Miami was a no-brainer flex candidate back in October when both teams were reeling. But then Joe Burrow came back for the Bengals, and the Dolphins started winning, and it got interesting for a while. But then Cincinnati got shut out last week by Baltimore, and Miami just benched its quarterback. Flex was back on.

So what to flex into? The thought was, yes, the NFL can move Patriots-Ravens into that Sunday window for NBC, and at least it can leave behind Kansas City-Tennessee for CBS. Everybody figured the Chiefs would be fighting for their postseason lives. That wasn’t the case. Kansas City was eliminated last week and lost Patrick Mahomes to a season-ending knee injury. Chiefs-Titans isn’t nearly as interesting as anticipated.

It could have been an ugly Sunday for CBS, but the network wound up with Pittsburgh-Detroit for its national game. That very easily could have been the far-less-tantalizing Buffalo at Cleveland.

— We’re heading into a postseason with no Kansas City, no Dallas, maybe no Baltimore or Pittsburgh — one of them is going to miss out — and with the rise of Chicago, possibly no Green Bay or Detroit.

A lot of those traditional anchor teams could be watching from their couches.

That means the NFL will have to make some new decisions about who to prioritize in postseason scheduling, perhaps looking with fresh eyes at clubs such as Seattle, Tampa Bay, Carolina, Jacksonville and others. Who are the ones with the most national appeal?

And that rolls into next season. How does the league dole out those big national windows. With Kansas City missing the playoffs, and Mahomes recovering from a major knee injury, do the Chiefs recede into the background after a decade of division titles and deep playoff runs?

Have the Bears broken through? They’re 10-4. At 12-2, Denver looks to be back and set up to keep it going. Heading into Thursday night’s game, the Rams were as hot as any team in the league, and the Chargers could finally get Justin Herbert that inaugural playoff victory.

The Steelers have won two in a row, and could wind up making a postseason run. If so, what does Aaron Rodgers do next season, and how will the club move forward?

The NFL leaned heavily into Washington after one outstanding season, giving them eight nationally televised games this season. That bet didn’t pay off; the Commanders are 4-10.

It’s the game behind the games, and those decisions are taking shape.

• The Africa Cup of Nations, commonly known as AFCON, will be held in Morocco this year and kicks off in the capital, Rabat, on Sunday.
• Host nation Morocco take on Comoros in the opening match of the four week tournament.
• The final will be held on January 18 at the 69,500-capacity Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium in Rabat.
• Nine venues across six cities have been selected for the continental showpiece event.
• The 24 participating teams have been drawn into six groups, with 68 matches in total.
• The group stage will run until December 31, with the knockout stage starting on January 3.

Here are the details on the teams, groups, format, match fixtures, kickoff times and venues for AFCON 2025:

Teams and groups

⚽ Group A: Morocco, Mali, Zambia, Comoros
⚽ Group B: Egypt, South Africa, Angola, Zimbabwe
⚽ Group C: Nigeria, Tunisia, Uganda, Tanzania
⚽ Group D: Senegal, DR Congo, Benin, Botswana
⚽ Group E: Algeria, Burkina Faso, Equatorial Guinea, Sudan
⚽ Group F: Ivory Coast, Cameroon, Gabon, Mozambique

Format

The top two teams of each group, along with the best four third-placed teams, will advance to the knockout stage, beginning with the round of 16. That is followed by the quarterfinals, semifinals and the final. There is also a third-place playoff between the two losing semifinalists.

In the knockout stages, if a match is level at the end of normal playing time, teams will play 30 minutes of extra time and, if required, a penalty shootout.

Match schedule

⚽ Group Stage

December 21

Group A: Morocco vs Comoros (Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium, 8pm/19:00 GMT)

December 22

Group A: Mali vs Zambia (Stade Mohammed V, 3:30pm/14:30 GMT)

Group B: Egypt vs Zimbabwe (Adrar Stadium, 6pm/17:00 GMT)

Group B: South Africa vs Angola (Marrakesh Stadium, 8:30pm/19:30 GMT)

December 23

Group C: Nigeria vs Tanzania (Fez Stadium, 1pm/12:00 GMT)

Group C: Tunisia vs Uganda (Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium, 3:30pm/14:30 GMT)

Group D: Senegal vs Botswana (Ibn Batouta Stadium, 6pm/17:00 GMT)

Group D: DR Congo vs Benin (Al Barid Stadium, 8:30pm/19:30 GMT)

December 24

Group E: Algeria vs Sudan (Moulay Hassan Stadium, 1pm/12:00 GMT)

Group E: Burkina Faso vs Equatorial Guinea (Stade Mohammed V, 3:30pm/14:30 GMT)

Group F: Ivory Coast vs Mozambique (Marrakesh Stadium, 6pm/17:00 GMT)

Group F: Cameroon vs Gabon(Adrar Stadium, 8:30pm/19:30 GMT)

Rest day on Christmas

December 26

Group A: Morocco vs Mali (Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium, 1pm/12:00 GMT)

Group A: Zambia vs Comoros (Stade Mohammed V, 3:30pm/14:30 GMT)

Group B: Egypt vs South Africa (Adrar Stadium, 6pm/17:00 GMT)

Group B: Angola vs Zimbabwe (Marrakesh Stadium, 8:30pm/19:30 GMT)

December 27

Group C: Nigeria vs Tunisia (Fez Stadium, 1pm/12:00 GMT)

Group C: Uganda vs Tanzania (Al Barid Stadium, 3:30pm/14:30 GMT)

Group D: Senegal vs DR Congo (Ibn Batouta Stadium, 6pm/17:00 GMT)

Group D: Benin vs Botswana (Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium, 8:30pm/19:30 GMT)

December 28

Group E: Algeria vs Burkina Faso (Moulay Hassan Stadium, 1pm/12:00 GMT)

Group E: Equatorial Guinea vs Sudan (Stade Mohammed V, 3:30pm/14:30 GMT)

Group F: Ivory Coast vs Cameroon (Marrakesh Stadium, 6pm/17:00 GMT)

Group F: Gabon vs Mozambique (Adrar Stadium, 8:30pm/19:30 GMT)

December 29

Group A: Comoros vs Mali (Stade Mohammed V, 6:30pm/17:30 GMT)

Group A: Zambia vs Morocco (Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium, 6:30pm/17:30 GMT)

Group B: Angola vs Egypt (Adrar Stadium, 8:30pm/19:30 GMT)

Group B: Zimbabwe vs South Africa (Marrakesh Stadium, 8:30pm/19:30 GMT)

December 30

Group C: Tanzania vs Tunisia (Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium, 6pm/17:00 GMT)

Group C: Uganda vs Nigeria (Fez Stadium, 6pm/17:00 GMT)

Group D: Benin vs Senegal (Ibn Batouta Stadium, 8:30pm/19:30 GMT)

Group D: Botswana vs DR Congo (Al Barid Stadium, 8:30pm/19:30 GMT)

December 31

Group E: Equatorial Guinea vs Algeria (Moulay Hassan Stadium, 6pm/17:00 GMT)

Group E: Sudan vs Burkina Faso (Stade Mohammed V, 6pm/17:00 GMT)

Group F: Gabon vs Ivory Coast (Marrakesh Stadium, 8:30pm/19:30 GMT)

Group F: Mozambique vs Cameroon (Adrar Stadium, 8:30pm/19:30 GMT)

Rest days on January 1 and 2 

⚽ Round of 16

January 3

Winner Group D vs 3rd Group B/E/F (Ibn Batouta Stadium, 6pm/17:00 GMT)

Runner-up Group A vs Runner-up Group C (Stade Mohammed V, 8:30pm local/19:30 GMT)

January 4

Winner Group A vs 3rd Group C/D/E (Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium, 6pm/17:00 GMT)

Runner-up Group B vs Runner-up Group F (Al Barid Stadium, 8:30pm local/19:30 GMT)

January 5

Winner Group B vs 3rd Group A/C/D (Adrar Stadium, 6pm/17:00 GMT)

Winner Group C vs 3rd Group A/B/F (Fez Stadium, 8:30pm local/19:30 GMT)

January 6

Winner Group E vs Runner-up Group D (Moulay Hassan Stadium, 6pm/17:00 GMT)

Winner Group F vs Runner-up Group E (Marrakesh Stadium, 8:30pm local/19:30 GMT)

Rest days on January 7 and 8

⚽ Quarterfinals

January 9

Quarterfinal 1 (Ibn Batouta Stadium, 6pm/17:00 GMT)

Quarterfinal 2 (Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium, 8:30pm/19:30 GMT)

January 10

Quarterfinal 3 (Marrakesh Stadium, 6pm/17:00 GMT)

Quarterfinal 4 (Adrar Stadium, 8:30pm/19:30 GMT)

Rest days on January 11, 12 and 13 

⚽ Semifinals

January 14

Winner QF1 vs Winner QF4 (Ibn Batouta Stadium, 6pm/17:00 GMT)

Winner QF3 vs Winner QF2 (Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium, 8:30pm/19:30 GMT)

Rest days on January 15 and 16

⚽ Third-place playoff

January 17

Loser SF1 vs Loser SF2 (Stade Mohammed V, 8pm local/19:00 GMT)

⚽ Final

January 18

Winner SF1 vs Winner SF2 (Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium, 8pm local/19:00 GMT)

For most American infants, the hepatitis B shot comes just before their first bath, in the blur of pokes, prods and pictures that attend a 21st century hospital delivery.

But as of this week, thousands of newborns across the U.S. will no longer receive the initial inoculation for hepatitis B — the first in a litany of childhood vaccinations and the top defense against one of the world’s deadliest cancers.

On Dec. 5, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s powerful vaccine advisory panel voted to nix the decades-old birth-dose recommendation.

The change was pushed by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and his “Make America Healthy Again” movement, which has long sought to rewrite the CDC’s childhood vaccine schedule and unwind state immunization requirements for kindergarten.

California officials have vowed to keep the state’s current guidelines in place, but the federal changes could threaten vaccine coverage by some insurers and public benefits programs, along with broader reverberations.

“It’s a gateway,” said Jessica Malaty Rivera, an infectious disease epidemiologist in Los Angeles. “It’s not just hepatitis B — it’s chipping away at the entire schedule.”

Democratic-led states and blue-chip insurance companies have scrambled to shore up access. California joined Hawaii, Oregon and Washington in forming the West Coast Health Alliance to maintain uniform public policy on vaccines in the face of official “mis- and dis-information.”

“Universal hepatitis B vaccinations at birth save lives, and walking away from this science is reckless,” California Gov. Gavin Newsom said in a statement. “The Trump administration’s ideological politics continue to drive increasingly high costs — for parents, for newborns, and for our entire public-health system.”

The issue is also already tied up in court.

On Tuesday, the Supreme Court sent a lawsuit over New York’s vaccine rules back to the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for review, signaling skepticism about the stringent shots-for-school requirements pioneered in California. On Friday, public health officials in Florida appeared poised to ax their schools’ hepatitis B immunization requirement, along with shots for chickenpox, a dozen strains of bacterial pneumonia and the longtime leading cause of deadly meningitis.

Boosters of the hep B change said it replaces impersonal prescriptions with “shared clinical decision-making” about whether and how to vaccinate, while preserving the more stringent recommendation for children of infected mothers and those whose status is unknown.

Critics say families were always free to decline the vaccine, as about 20% did nationwide in 2020, according to data published by the CDC. It’s the only shot on the schedule that children on Medicaid receive at the same rate as those with private insurance.

Rather than improve informed consent, critics say the CDC committee’s decision and the splashy public fight leading up to it have depressed vaccination rates, even among children of infected mothers.

“Hepatitis B is the most vulnerable vaccine in the schedule,” said Dr. Chari Cohen, president of the Hepatitis B Foundation. “The message we’re hearing from pediatricians and gynecologists is parents are making it clear that they don’t want their baby to get the birth dose, they don’t want their baby to get the vaccine.”

Much of that vulnerability has to do with timing: The first dose is given within hours of birth, while symptoms of the disease might not show up for decades.

“The whole Day One thing really messes with people,” Rivera said. “They think, ‘This is my perfect fresh baby and I don’t want to put anything inside of them.’ ”

U.S. surgeon general nominee Casey Means called the universal birth dose recommendation “absolute insanity,” saying in a post on X last year that it should “make every American pause and question the healthcare system’s mandates.”

“The disease is transmitted through needles and sex exclusively,” she said. “There is no benefit to the baby or the wider population for a child to get this vaccine who is not at risk for sexual or IV transmission. There is only risk.”

In fact, at least half of transmission occurs from mother to child, typically at birth. A smaller percentage of babies get the disease by sharing food, nail clippers or other common household items with their fathers, grandparents or day-care teachers. Because infections are often asymptomatic, most don’t know they have the virus, and at least 15% of pregnant women in the U.S. aren’t tested for the disease, experts said.

Infants who contract hepatitis B are overwhelmingly likely to develop chronic hepatitis, leading to liver cancer or cirrhosis in midlife. The vaccine, by contrast, is far less likely than those for flu or chickenpox to cause even minor reactions, such as fever.

“We’ve given 50 billion doses of the hepatitis B vaccine and we’ve not seen signals that make us concerned,” said Dr. Su Wang, medical director of Viral Hepatitis Programs and the Center for Asian Health at the Cooperman Barnabas Medical Center in New Jersey, who lives with the disease.

Still, “sex and drugs” remains a popular talking point, not only with Kennedy allies in Washington and Atlanta, but among many prominent Los Angeles pediatricians.

“It sets up on Day One this mentality of, ‘I don’t necessarily agree with this, so what else do I not agree with?’” said Dr. Joel Warsh, a Studio City pediatrician and MAHA luminary, whose recent book “Between a Shot and a Hard Place” is aimed at vaccine-hesitant families.

Hepatitis B also disproportionately affects immigrant communities, further stigmatizing an illness that first entered the mainstream consciousness as an early proxy for HIV infection in the 1980s, before it was fully understood.

At the committee meeting last week, member Dr. Evelyn Griffin called illegal immigration the “elephant in the room” in the birth dose debate.

The move comes as post-pandemic wellness culture has supercharged vaccine hesitancy, expanding objections from a long-debunked link between the measles-mumps-rubella vaccine and autism to a more generalized, equally false belief that “healthy” children who eat whole foods and play outside are unlikely to get sick from vaccine-preventable diseases and, if they do, can be treated with “natural” remedies such as beef tallow and cod liver oil.

“It’s about your quality of life, it’s about what you put in your body, it’s about your wellness journey — we have debunked this before,” Rivera said. “This is eugenics.”

Across Southern California, pediatricians, preschool teachers and public health experts say they’ve seen a surge in families seeking to prune certain shots from the schedule and many delay others based on “individualized risk.” The trend has spawned a cottage industry of e-books, Zoom workshops by “vaccine friendly” doctors offering alternative schedules, bespoke inoculations and post-vaccine detox regimens.

CDC data show state exemptions for kindergarten vaccines have surged since the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, with about 5% of schoolchildren in Georgia, Florida and Ohio, more than 6% in Pennsylvania and nearly 7% in Michigan waved out of the requirement last year.

In Alaska and Arizona, those numbers topped 9%. In Idaho, 1 in 6 kindergartners are exempt.

California is one of four states — alongside New York, Connecticut and Maine — with no religious or personal-belief exemptions for school vaccines.

It is also among at least 20 states that have committed to keep the hepatitis B birth dose for babies on public insurance, which covers about half of American children. It is not clear whether the revised recommendation will affect government coverage of the vaccine in other states.

Experts warn that the success of the birth-dose reversal over near-universal objection from the medical establishment puts the entire pediatric vaccination schedule up for grabs, and threatens the school-based rules that enforce it.

Ongoing measles outbreaks in Texas and elsewhere that have killed three and sickened close to 2,000 show the risks of rolling back requirements, experts said.

Hepatitis is not nearly as contagious as measles, which can linger in the air for about two hours. But it’s still fairly easy to pick up, and devastating to those who contract it, experts said.

“These decisions happening today are going to have terrible residual effects later,” said Rivera, the L.A. epidemiologist. “I can’t imagine being a new mom having to navigate this.”

CIF STATE BOWL CHAMPIONSHIPS

FRIDAY’S RESULTS

At Saddleback College

DIVISION 1-AA

Folsom 42, San Diego Cathedral Catholic 28

DIVISION 2-AA

Stockton St. Mary’s 27, Bakersfield Christian 24

At Fullerton High

DIVISION 3-AA

San Francisco St. Ignatius College Prep 42, Ventura 35

DIVISION 6-AA

Valley Center 36, San Jose Lincoln 35

At Buena Park High

DIVISION 4-AA

Barstow 17, Sutter 7

DIVISION 5-AA

Oakland Bishop O’Dowd 37, El Cajon Christian 0

SATURDAY’S SCHEDULE

At Saddleback College

OPEN DIVISION

Santa Margarita (10-3) vs. Concord De la Salle (12-0), 8 p.m.

DIVISION 1-A

Oxnard Pacifica (15-0) vs. Fresno Central East (13-1), 3:30 p.m.

DIVISION 2-A

Rio Hondo Prep (15-0) vs. Sonora (14-0), 11:30 a.m.

At Fullerton High

DIVISION 3-A

Delano Kennedy (11-3) vs. Oakland McClymonds (10-2), 7 p.m.

DIVISION 6-A

San Diego Morse (10-4) vs. Winters (13-1), 3 p.m.

DIVISION 7-AA

Woodbridge (7-8) vs. Redding Christian (14-0), 11 a.m.

At Buena Park High

DIVISION 4-A

Beckman (12-3) vs. El Cerrito (12-2), 7 p.m.

DIVISION 5-A

Bishop Union (12-3) vs. Calaveras (11-2), 3 p.m.

DIVISION 7-A

South El Monte (11-4) vs. San Francisco Balboa (11-2), 11 a.m.

The celebrated adaptation with a 91% rating is making a welcome return to Prime Video.

The second season of a TV series hailed as ‘one of the best video game adaptations‘ is nearly here.

New episodes of Fallout will begin to drop later this month exclusively on Prime Video. The show is based on the highly successful gaming franchise of the same name.

Season one proved to be a big hit with critics and fans alike. As a result, expectations are high for its follow up. The title boasts a 91% rating on Rotten Tomatoes at the time of writing, with one fan claiming : “Perfect show. Great characters and great story.”

Another added: “Walter Goggins absolutely steals the show in this brilliant adaptation of an epic video game saga. Nothing short of praise, Ella Purnell is simply perfect in her role. You’ll get hooked right away.”

But what will season two be about? Who is in the returning cast and are there new recognisable faces being introduced? Does the story take any direct inspiration from the games? Here’s everything you need to know.

What is Fallout season 2 about?

The synopsis for the new season has been kept brief and simple in an aim to avoid any spoilers. However, it will pick up in the aftermath of season one’s epic finale and take audiences along for a journey through the wasteland of the Mojave to the post-apocalyptic city of New Vegas.

It will continue the hunt for Lucy’s father, Hank, while delving deeper into Vault-Tec’s dark secrets, the pre-war world, and iconic Fallout: New Vegas elements like Caesar’s Legion, Mr. Robert House, and the iconic Deathclaws, promising more factions and locations.

Who is in the Fallout season 2 cast?

Ella Purnell and Walton Goggins are set to return to reprise their roles from season one as Lucy and The Ghoul respectively. Also set to appear once again are Aaron Moten as Maximus, a knight of the Brotherhood of Steel and Kyle MacLachlan as Hank, Lucy’s father.

There are few standout newcomers to the season as well. While the details of their characters are mostly left to speculation, fans did get a good idea of how they will appear in a recent trailer.

This includes former child star known for Christmas classic Home Alone, Macaulay Culkin. Also making his Fallout debut will be Kumail Nanjiani, known for Silicon Valley and Eternals.

One new cast member whose character we do know about is Justin Theroux. Star of The Leftovers and Mulholland Drive will take on one of the most popular characters from the game Fallout New Vegas. Theroux plays Mr. House and judging from images and trailers released, he will play the character before and after the nuclear apocalypse.

Which game is Fallout season 2 based on?

While the Fallout series is based on the game series, it is not a strict adaptation of any storyline. It mostly follows an original plot with unique characters. However, the premise from season one, with Lucy tracking down her father after he leaves the vault, is very similar to the player’s main questline in Fallout 3.

Likewise, season two will include characters and key locations from one of the most popular entries, Fallout New Vegas. While that game had multiple endings, the show’s makers have confirmed they will not be choosing any one to become an official canon. Instead, they are telling their own story within a location familiar to fans.

When are Fallout season 2 episodes released?

Fans will need some patience for new episodes this season. That is because instalments will drop on a weekly basis rather than allowing viewers to binge the season all at once.

The first episode will premiere on December 17 with more dropping each week after that. Here is the full episode release schedule as confirmed by Prime Video:

• Episode One – December 17, 2025
• Episode Two – December 24, 2025
• Episode Three – December 31, 2025
• Episode Four – January 7, 2026
• Episode Five – January 14, 2026
• Episode Six – January 21, 2026
• Episode Seven – January 28, 2026
• Episode Eight – February 4, 2026

Fallout season two is streaming on Prime Video from December 17, season one is streaming now.

(All times BST)

11 June: Mexico v South Africa (20:00 BST) – ITV

12 June: South Korea v play-off D (03:00) – ITV

12 June: Canada v play-off A (20:00) – BBC

13 June: USA v Paraguay (02:00) – BBC

13 June: Qatar v Switzerland (20:00) – ITV

13 June: Brazil v Morocco (23:00) – BBC

14 June: Australia v play-off C (05:00) – ITV

14 June: Scotland v Haiti (02.00) – BBC

14 June: Germany v Curacao (18:00) – ITV

14 June: Netherlands v Japan (21:00) – ITV

15 June: Play-off B v Tunisia (03:00) – ITV

15 June: Ivory Coast v Ecuador (00:00) – BBC

15 June: Spain v Cape Verde (17:00) – ITV

15 June: Belgium v Egypt (20:00) – BBC

15 June: Saudi Arabia v Uruguay (23:00) – ITV

16 June: Iran v New Zealand (02:00) – BBC

16 June: France v Senegal (20:00) – BBC

16 June: Play-off 2 v Norway (23:00) – BBC

17 June: Argentina v Algeria (02:00) – ITV

17 June: Austria v Jordan (05:00) – BBC

17 June: Portugal v play-off 1 (18:00) – BBC

17 June: England v Croatia (21:00) – ITV

18 June: Ghana v Panama (00:00) – ITV

18 June: Uzbekistan v Colombia (03:00) – BBC

18 June: South Africa v play-off D (17:00) – BBC

18 June: Play-off A v Switzerland (20:00) – ITV

18 June: Canada v Qatar (23:00) – ITV

19 June: Mexico v South Korea (02:00) – BBC

19 June: USA v Australia (20:00) – BBC

19 June: Scotland v Morocco (23:00) – ITV

20 June: Paraguay v play-off C (05:00) – ITV

20 June: Brazil v Haiti (02:00) – ITV

20 June: Netherlands v play-off B (18:00) – BBC

20 June: Germany v Ivory Coast (21:00) – ITV

21 June: Japan v Tunisia (05:00) – BBC

21 June: Curacao v Ecuador (01:00) – BBC

21 June: Spain v Saudi Arabia (17:00) – BBC

21 June: Belgium v Iran (20:00) – ITV

21 June: Cape Verde v Uruguay (23:00) – BBC

22 June: Egypt v New Zealand (02:00) – ITV

22 June: Argentina v Austria (18:00) – BBC

22 June: France v play-off 2 (22:00) – BBC

23 June: Senegal v Norway (01:00) – ITV

23 June: Algeria v Jordan (04:00) – ITV

23 June: Portugal v Uzbekistan (18:00) – ITV

23 June: England v Ghana (21:00) – BBC

24 June: Croatia v Panama (00:00) – BBC

24 June: Colombia v play-off 1 (03:00) – ITV

24 June: Canada v Switzerland/Play-Off A v Qatar (20:00)

24 June: Scotland v Brazil & Morocco v Haiti (23:00) – BBC

25 June: Mexico v play-off D & South Africa v South Korea (02:00) – BBC

25 June: Germany v Ecuador & Curacao v Ivory Coast (21:00) – BBC

26 June: USA v play-off C & Paraguay v Australia (03:00) – ITV

26 June: Japan v play-off B & Netherlands v Tunisia (00:00) – BBC

26 June: France v Norway & Senegal v play-off 2 (20:00) – ITV

27 June: Cape Verde v Saudi Arabia & Uruguay v Spain (01:00) – ITV

27 June: Egypt v Iran & New Zealand v Belgium (04:00) – BBC

27 June: England v Panama & Croatia v Ghana (22:00) – ITV

28 June: Algeria v Austria & Argentina v Jordan (03:00) – BBC

28 June: Colombia v Portugal & play-off 1 v Uzbekistan (00:30) – BBC