I may very well be CinemaBlend's resident Brit and that may make me a touch biased, but... There's nothing like British Christmas TV. We know how to do a Christmas Special, and the BBC's 2024 highlights are listed below, including a man and a dog partial to crackers and cheese, and a beloved sit-com finally telling us exactly what happened on that fishing trip (if you know, you know) with its final ever episode. Spending Christmas away from the UK this year? NordVPN's 74% off Black Friday deal is still kicking around well into December to help you access BBC iPlayer from anywhere.
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Gavin And Stacey: The Finale
Gavin and Stacey has charmed the nation and beyond from 2007-2010, running across three seasons and one incredible Christmas Special. It then returned in 2019 after almost a decade and left viewers on tender-hooks with Smithy (James Cordon) finally proposing to Nessa (Ruth Jones). Set five years later, the 2024 Christmas special, titled "The Finale", sees the Wests journey from Barry Island to Essex to spend the holidays with Pamela and Mick. Gavin and Stacey are attempting to reignite the spark in their relationship, while Smithy and Nessa's son Neil is preparing to start an apprenticeship with his father. With Uncle Bryn and Jason also coming along for the ride, one of the show's longest held mysteries might finally be revealed: what actually happened on the infamous fishing trip.
Airs Christmas Day, December 25 at on BBC One at 9pm GMT / 4pm ET / 1pm PT. Watch live on BBC iPlayer.
Call The Midwife Double Bill Christmas Special
It's a staple every year to any self-respecting Christmas Special connoisseur. Christmas once again returns to Nonnatus House and, for the first time ever, there's a Call the Midwife double bill. It's 1969 and the funfair has arrived in Poplar. But it's not all delivering babies and having a go on the Helter Skelter. There's an outbreak of influenza and the Hong Kong flu, and the news that a prisoner has escaped, leaving a trail of break-ins in their wake. One of the most popular dramas over Christmas, last year's special saw the episode reach 8.9 million viewers in a 28-day period.
Airs on December 25 at 8pm GMT / 3pm ET / 12pm PT and December 26 at 7.30pm GMT on BBC One. Watch live on BBC iPlayer.
Doctor Who "Joy To The World" Christmas Special
Nicola Coughlan has had a great year, taking center stage in Bridgerton Season 3 as well as starring alongside Lydia West in Big Mood. Now she's joining the Doctor in 2024's Christmas Special. Titled "Joy to the World", Coughlan plays Joy, a woman who checks into a London hotel. It's no ordinary hotel, though. Joy opens a door and comes across "danger, dinosaurs, and the Doctor". Promising plenty of peril and the return of one of the Doctor's old enemies, it's sure to be a treat with Coughlan and Ncuti Gatwa side-by-side.
Airs on December 25 at 5.10pm GMT / 12.10pm ET / 9.10am PT on BBC One. Watch live on BBC iPlayer.
Wallace And Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl
From their first venture to the moon, to being double-crossed by thieving penguin Feathers McGraw, the dynamic duo Wallace and Gromit are seen as national treasures in the UK in their own right, never mind that they're made out of plasticine. Creations of Nick Park at Aardman Animations, Wallace and Gromit had their first feature length film all the way back in 2005 with Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit. The man and his dog returned to screen (though not that recently) in 2008 for the short film, A Matter of Loaf and Death. 16 years later, Aardman presents its second ever feature length film for the characters, Wallace and Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl, which sees Wallace's latest hair-brained idea, a smart gnome, running amock – but could a familiar penguin back for revenge be behind another of Wallace's seemingly malfunctioning inventions?
Airs on December 25 at 6.10pm GMT / 1.10pm ET / 10.10am PT on BBC One. Watch live on BBC iPlayer.
The Great British Sewing Bee Christmas Special
Swap cake tins for a needle and thread and you've got yourself The Great British Sewing Bee. Usually bringing together amateur sewers to take on the Pattern, Transformation, and Made-to-Measure Challenge, the Christmas Special instead brings together celebrities to compete. This year's Christmas Special line-up includes singer and actor Ian 'H' Watkins, Eastenders soap star Kellie Bright, reality TV star Charlotte Crosby, and comedian Fatiha El-Ghorri. Judging proceedings are Patrick Grant and Esme Young, with Sara Pascoe returning to presenting duties.
Airing on December 19, you can now watch The Great British Sewing Bee Christmas Special on catch-up.
Outnumbered Christmas Special
The British sitcom has been off our screens since 2016 after the show's last festive reunion episode. Airing for five seasons from 2007 until 2014, though, the 2024 Christmas Special of Outnumbered proves the cast really are well and truly all grown up. Following the Brockman family, Outnumbered stars Hugh Dennis as Pete, Claire Skinner asSue, mother and father to children Jake (Tyger Drew-Honey), Ben (Daniel Roche), and Karen (Ramona Marquez). The official synopsis for the Special says: "In a moment of adversity, Sue and Pete gather all their offspring, including one grandchild, to try to celebrate a traditional family Christmas. Their new house is smaller, the children are bigger, and within the chaos, an uninvited house guest overstays their welcome.The children, now adults, have their own hurdles to navigate in the real world."
Airs on December 26 at 9.40pm GMT / 4.40pm ET / 1.40pm PT on BBC One. Watch live on BBC iPlayer.
The Young Offenders Christmas Special
Based on the IFTA-winning 2016 film of the same name, The Young Offenders follows a couple of badly behaved, lawbreaking youths from Cork, Ireland. Starring Alex Murphy as Conor MacSweeney and Chris Walley as Jock O'Keeffe, the show tackles topics like sex and alcoholism through the lens of adolescence. Four seasons deep, the Irish coming-of-age sitcom once again delivers a festive special, in which Conor's mother Mairéad (Hilary Rose) and his archnemesis and step-dad Sergeant Tony Healy (Dominic MacHale) are preparing for the imminent arrival of their baby when Mairéad finds a handgun in the wash basket.
Airs on December 20 at 9.30pm GMT / 4.30pm ET / 1.30pm PT on BBC One. Watch live on BBC iPlayer.
