Graham Norton is seeing in 2026 in style tonight as his New Year’s Show returns to BBC One on the eve of January 1. He has packed his famous sofa with an impressive line-up of Hollywood stars, British favourites and breakout talent.
The Irish chat show host will once again guide viewers towards midnight on New Year’s Eve with a special festive edition of The Graham Norton Show. Complete with big-name guests, live music and a final run of red chair confessions before the year comes to an end.
Graham has pulled out all the stops for the final show of 2025. Welcoming Oscar winners, Marvel heroes, rising stars and a 90s dance icon to help mark the occasion.
The Graham Norton New Year’s Show: Who is on
Leading the guest list are Oscar-winning actress Laura Dern and Hollywood star Will Arnett. They join Graham to talk about their upcoming film Is This Thing On?
The movie, co-written by Will and Bradley Cooper, stars the pair as a married couple heading for divorce. It follows Alex, a man who stumbles into stand-up comedy while his marriage to Tess falls apart, with Laura and Will playing the warring duo at the centre of the story.
The film is loosely inspired by British comedian John Bishop’s first ever stand-up gig in Manchester 25 years ago, when he took to the stage while still working as a salesman.
Laura tells Graham: “I fell in love with the script. Then Bradley (Cooper) came on board. Will and I are both old dear friends of his, so we met through him and became this married couple. It is a wonderful story.”
Will explains: “I happened to meet John Bishop, and he told me the story of how he became a standup comedian and what it did for him. I was really taken with his story and asked if I could write a movie based on his life, which is quite a daunting thing to ask somebody.
“He’s been great throughout. It was inspired by his story, and some of the incredible moments are the most true. We then built it out from there to focus on the relationship.
“Some forces wanted it to be a romantic comedy, but Bradley rewrote the script and somehow blackmailed Laura into doing it. Once he was on board, he elevated every step and made it much more dramatic.”
Tom Hiddleston talks The Night Manager
Also joining Graham tonight is British favourite Tom Hiddleston. He chats about his long-awaited return to The Night Manager. Tom reprises his role as Jonathan Pine almost a decade after the first series, with the show making its comeback tomorrow, January 1, 2026.
Tom describes the new series as intense and thrilling, revealing that ten years have passed both on screen and within the story itself. Jonathan is now living under a new identity but is still working with the security services and hunting down corruption.
The actor also reflects on returning to the Marvel universe as Loki. Despite his character being killed off in the past. Laughing about the twists of the franchise, Tom admits Loki has died more than once and enjoys keeping audiences guessing.
“Loki has died one or two times,” Tom laughs. “He likes to keep you guessing.
“On the last day of shooting for Avengers: Infinity War all the studio execs were there, there was a big round of applause, lots of thankyous, tears, and hugs, and they were like, ‘Goodbye and thank you for ten years, come and see us any time’.
“Then three months later I get the call inviting me back!”
The Graham Norton Show: Carey Mulligan and Tim Key
Triple Oscar nominee Carey Mulligan and comedian Tim Key are also on the sofa to discuss their new British feel-good film The Ballad of Wallis Island.
The movie centres on an eccentric lottery winner who invites his favourite band to perform on a private island. Tim reveals the project began life as a short film in the noughties before being revisited years later and expanded into a feature with co-writer and co-star Tom Basden.
Carey tells Graham how she became involved after her husband, Marcus Mumford, reached out to Tim as a fan, with an email titled Filming Opportunity eventually sealing the deal.
Adolescence’s Owen Cooper
One of the most talked-about guests of the night is 16-year-old actor Owen Cooper, who is among the youngest guests ever to appear on the show. Owen discusses his role in Netflix hit Adolescence, one of 2025’s biggest TV successes.
The teenage star won the 2025 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor at just 15 years old. He became the youngest-ever recipient of the award.
Owen tells Graham the experience was a blur, describing the ceremony as the best day of his life, before opening up about returning to school and still having his GCSEs ahead of him.
Graham asks Owen about the show’s enormous success and he replies: “Straight away I thought it was going to be more than a TV show – I read the script and then heard the word ‘Netflix’.
“I was nervous about what the reaction to it would be, but a week after it went out everything blew up. It has been a good year.”
On going back to ‘reality’: “I’ve only got about six months left and then I am gone.” He then adds with a smile: “And then hopefully I am going to be an actor.”
The Graham Norton New Year’s Show: What time is it on?
Bringing the music to the New Year’s Show is British singer-songwriter Alison Limerick, who is celebrating the 35th anniversary of her iconic dance hit Where Love Lives. Alison performs the track live in the studio before joining Graham and the guests for a chat.
As always, Graham will also end the year by pulling the lever on brave audience members willing to share their stories in the big red chair – with any duds sent flying backwards into 2026.
You can watch The Graham Norton New Year’s Show tonight from 10.30pm on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.
The show runs for one hour, finishing at 11.30pm. Just in time to get viewers ready for midnight.
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