History UsefulNotes / AVeryBritishChristmas

** Families beginning to stockpile vast quantities of alcohol, usually in the garage or utility room, as early in the year as ''September'' is not unheard of -- commonly champagne, Buck's Fizz, brandy, Bailey's, and certain odd types of liqueur that no one likes and end up festering malevolently on a shelf somewhere. Forever (or at least until your family produces the oddball uncle/aunt who actually likes it--or a sufficiently desperate youth/alcoholic, but we don't like to talk about that).

'''Christmas themed goods appear in the shops'''. This can happen as early as August, but is often delayed until after [[AllHallowsEve Hallowe'en]] (or at least interrupted by it). Also expect shopping centres to have their basic decorations up, and jokes about Yule logs going off three months before they're used. Even at Hallowe'en, the products often coexist.

* Turkey: this is probably the most common mainstay, but some celebrate with goose or a game bird instead. The latter are generally not eaten under any other normal circumstances. Goose was the bird of choice in Victorian-era Christmas (described in Creator/CharlesDickens' ''AChristmasCarol''), but is now uncommon and much more expensive; although, unlike turkey, it actually tastes of something. Beef joints or various pig products (gammon, pork etc.) are also common, and arguably an older tradition than the turkey. (This is alluded to in Creator/TerryPratchett's ''Discworld/{{Hogfather}}'').

* ''Series/DoctorWho'', these days, does an hour-long Christmas special. [[NewerThanTheyThink Many people were surprised]] when it was pointed out that this tradition only started in 2005 with DavidTennant. These specials at least take place at Christmas, with the 2010 special being a sci-fi, time-travelling retelling of ''AChristmasCarol'' complete with Michael Gambon, a Welsh opera singer and a flying sky-shark.

** ''At least'' three or four [[YetAnotherChristmasCarol versions]] of ''AChristmasCarol'' will be shown on the terrestrial channels alone. The exact ones vary, but ''Scrooge'' (the Alistair Sim one) is usually among them and [[TheMuppetChristmasCarol the Muppet adaptation]] is practically guaranteed.

* The Father Christmas tradition holds that he comes from Lapland, rather than the North Pole as American children are taught. Perhaps a little less magical, but easier for families who can afford to get to it via plane. And there are actually reindeer there. The tourist board of Finland is understandably fond of this tradition.

Unlike the USA, contemporary musical artists rarely release seasonal albums of "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas"-esque standards. The [[FrankSinatra Sinatra]]/[[BingCrosby Crosby]]/Como-era crooners can still be heard, but the UK has its own considerable canon of mostly home-grown Christmas-themed pop songs, generally dating from a period from [[TheSeventies the 1970s]] until about 1984 when every major act seemed to produce one, which seem as ingrained in popular consciousness as the more traditional songs and carols -- indeed, several acts are now almost solely remembered for their hardy-perennial Christmas song irrespective of how successful they once were, a sort of musical {{Flanderization}}.

'''Advent Calendar''': a special calendar marking the 24 days of Advent. Each day, a door is opened and something is revealed. This is often a picture -- and in the commercial calendars, a piece of chocolate. The calendars used to stop on 24 December, but the commercial ones now go up to New Year's Day. Many a children's show will have an Advent Calendar, such as ''Bratz'', ''Winnie The Pooh'' and ''DoctorWho'' (which has also done online versions to promote the [[ChristmasSpecial Christmas Specials]], replete with trailers, short stories and pictures).

* The Queen's Speech. Originated by [[TheHouseOfWindsor George V]] in 1932, it's more formally known as the Royal Christmas Message. Broadcast on the terrestrial TV channels BBC One and ITV1 at 3pm, it's basically [[HMTheQueen the Queen]] making a short to-camera speech to the country and TheCommonwealth (over clips of her doing things, media footage etc.) on the events of the year. Political opinions will be of the neutral, non-party political variety (along the lines of 'People died. That's bad.'). Once, the text was leaked to [[BritishNewspapers tabloid newspaper]] ''The Sun''; despite the alleged shock, the world kept turning -- the monarch will always say broadly the same things anyway, and no-one really imagines she just gets up from the table, wipes Christmas pudding from her chin, quickly swaps a paper crown with her tiara and delivers a live off-the-cuff monologue to her subjects. Recently, the Queen has spread the message on Website/YouTube and via podcast as well as on TV.\\

** ''At least'' three or four versions of ''AChristmasCarol'' will be shown on the terrestrial channels alone. The exact ones vary, but ''Scrooge'' (the Alistair Sim one) is usually among them and [[TheMuppetChristmasCarol the Muppet adaptation]] is practically guaranteed.

** Families beginning to stockpile vast quantities of alcohol, usually in the garage or utility room, as early in the year as ''September'' is not unheard of -- commonly champagne, Buck's Fizz, brandy, Bailey's, and certain odd types of liqueur that no one likes and end up festering malevolently on a shelf somewhere. Forever (or at least until your family produces the oddball uncle/aunt who actually likes it).

** Families beginning to stockpile vast quantities of alcohol, usually in the garage or utility room, as early in the year as ''September'' is not unheard of -- commonly champagne, Buck's Fizz, brandy, Bailey's, and certain odd types of liqueur that no one likes and end up festering malevolently on a shelf somewhere. Forever.

** Another traditional Christmas drink, at least in the south-east is the "snowball", which consists of a creamy liqueur named Advocaat (roughly the [[ThePond Rightpondian version]] of eggnog[[note]]Standard American eggnog is ''supposed'' to include whiskey or brandy--both for the purposes of intoxication and to reduce the risks of drinking something containing raw egg (yes, eggnog is supposed to contain raw egg: see ''GoodEats'' episode 913) -- though this is often forgotten. Blame Prohibition.[[/note]]) mixed with lemonade to make it more "child friendly" (seeing as how at Christmas, the drinking age seems to drop to about 5, as long as you're in the house and out of sight[[note]]In point of fact, [[BritishLaws the legal drinking age in the United Kingdom]] ''[[BritishLaws is]]'' [[BritishLaws 5]], if the child is at home and under parental supervision (or equivalent). [[MichaelCaine Not a lot of]] [[BeamMeUpScotty people know this]]. Or care for that matter.[[/note]]). Despite this it's rather strong, so it's considered wise not to mix it with anything else and to take a break every two glasses. (During this break, we suggest a glass of Buck's Fizz, as it has fruit in it so it's not ''proper'' alcohol.)

** Another traditional Christmas drink, at least in the south-east is the "snowball", which consists of a creamy liqueur named Advocaat (roughly the [[ThePond Rightpondian version]] of eggnog[[hottip:*: though standard American eggnog is ''supposed'' to include whiskey--both for the purposes of intoxication and to reduce the risks of drinking something containing raw egg (yes, eggnog is supposed to contain raw egg: see ''GoodEats'' episode 913) -- though this is often forgotten. Blame Prohibition.]]) mixed with lemonade to make it more "child friendly" (seeing as how at Christmas, the drinking age seems to drop to about 5, as long as you're in the house and out of sight[[note]]In point of fact, [[BritishLaws the legal drinking age in the United Kingdom]] ''[[BritishLaws is]]'' [[BritishLaws 5]], if the child is at home and under parental supervision (or equivalent). [[MichaelCaine Not a lot of]] [[BeamMeUpScotty people know this]]. Or care for that matter.[[/note]]). Despite this it's rather strong, so it's considered wise not to mix it with anything else and to take a break every two glasses. (During this break, we suggest a glass of Buck's Fizz, as it has fruit in it so it's not ''proper'' alcohol.)

** Another traditional Christmas drink, at least in the south-east is the "snowball", which consists of a creamy liqueur named Advocaat (roughly the [[ThePond Rightpondian version]] of eggnog[[hottip:*: though standard American eggnog is ''supposed'' to include whiskey--both for the purposes of intoxication and to reduce the risks of drinking something containing raw egg (yes, eggnog is supposed to contain raw egg: see ''GoodEats'' episode 913) -- though this is often forgotten. Blame Prohibition.]]) mixed with lemonade to make it more "child friendly" (seeing as how at Christmas, the drinking age seems to drop to about 5, as long as you're in the house and out of sight[[note]] Strictly speaking, this is legal all year round; not many people know this. Or care for that matter.[[/note]]). Despite this it's rather strong, so it's considered wise not to mix it with anything else and to take a break every two glasses. (During this break, we suggest a glass of Buck's Fizz, as it has fruit in it so it's not ''proper'' alcohol.)

'''Christmas themed goods appear in the shops'''. This can happen as early as August, but is often delayed until after Hallowe'en (or at least interrupted by it). Also expect shopping centres to have their basic decorations up, and jokes about Yule logs going off three months before they're used. Even at Hallowe'en, the products often coexist.

'''Christmas music starts popping up everywhere'''. There is no event to mark a formal beginning to this (unlike the USA with UsefulNotes/ThanksgivingDay) and in recent years it has been getting earlier and earlier. For many, the 'official' start of the festive period is the first time[[note]]2010 sighting: October 31st[[/note]] one hears the distinctive rasp of Slade singer Noddy Holder on their 1973 classic 'Merry Xmas Everybody', perhaps the most pervasive {{earworm}} of all Christmas songs. Until this moment it's merely some pretty lights and stars festooning the shops; after you've heard Uncle Noddy bellow the clarion call ''[[AC:"It's Chriiiiiiisssstmaaaaaaaaaaaasss!!!"]]'' though, it's open season -- albeit with the traditional response, "No, ''it's not''. It's ''October''".

Unlike the USA, contemporary musical artists rarely release seasonal albums of "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas"-esque standards. The Sinatra/Cole/Crosby-era crooners can still be heard, but the UK has its own considerable canon of mostly home-grown Christmas-themed pop songs, generally dating from a period from [[TheSeventies the 1970s]] until about 1984 when every major act seemed to produce one, which seem as ingrained in popular consciousness as the more traditional songs and carols -- indeed, several acts are now almost solely remembered for their hardy-perennial Christmas song irrespective of how successful they once were, a sort of musical {{Flanderization}}.

There's a core of roughly thirty that are regularly heard; and ten or so of these you'll hear ''everywhere'', for the whole festive period. Since 2006, when all digital downloads became eligible for the UK singles chart, a slew of these decades-old favourites have returned annually to the Top 40, the pack invariably led by two of the most recent: the 1987 classic 'Fairytale of New York' by the Pogues with Kirsty [=MacColl=], and Mariah Carey's 'All I Want For Christmas Is You'. Just about every song in this category is an EarWorm, of course.

'''Advent Calendar''': a special calendar marking the 24 days of Advent. Each day, a door is opened and something is revealed. This is often a picture -- and in the commercial calendars, a piece of chocolate. The calendars used to stop on 24 December, but the commercial ones now go up to New Year's Day. Many a children's show will have an Advent Calendar, such as ''Bratz'', ''Winnie The Pooh'' and ''Doctor Who'' (which has also done online versions to promote the [[ChristmasSpecial Christmas Specials]], replete with trailers, short stories and pictures).

'''{{Pantomime}}''': a festive-season variant on musical theatre where actors, often down-on-their-luck ex-soap stars, random C-list TV personalities and people referred to generically as "entertainers" perform a stock range of children's plays ('Puss In Boots', 'Cinderella' etc.), chock-full of songs, ridiculous costumes and audience participation, plus filthy [[DoubleEntendre single entendres]] to [[ParentalBonus keep the parents happy]] and warp the children's fragile minds.

'''Christingle'''. A service held on the last Sunday before Christmas Eve in Anglican Churches. Originating in Germany (as before the two wars Germany and Britain were fairly chummy, [[TheHouseOfWindsor the monarch]] [[QueenVicky originally being]] [[TheHouseOfHanover German]] and all), it was brought into the UK by the Children's Society and is a major fund-raiser for them. Children are given an orange embedded with a candle and four cocktail sticks with sweets/nuts/raisins on and a red ribbon tied around the middle (there's also a bit of tin foil to catch the melting wax) – these are all, bar the tin foil, [[WhatDoYouMeanItsNotSymbolic symbolic]]: the orange is the world, the foodstuffs are the fruits of the earth and the four seasons, the red ribbon is the blood of Christ and the candle is Jesus, The Light of the World. The children may parade around the church with the lit Christingles, attempting not to set the hair of the child in front of them [[FlamingHair on fire]]. Ahem.\\

* The BBC adaptation of ''The Lion The Witch And The Wardrobe'' will crop up at some point.

* ''PoliceCameraAction'' - a VerySpecialEpisode '''may''' air in the lead-up week to Christmas on ITV1 or ITV4 (in any case, mainly a {{Rerun}}, then on Christmas Eve expect an episode on ITV4 which will be a re-run from either the 1998, 2000 or 2002 series and a 2007 series episode later on, and on Christmas Day they will usually show it either two or three times a day - with it being shown as early as 6:00am or 7:00am on ITV4, then repeated in the afternoon, and an hour-long one (8:00pm to 9:00pm or 9:00pm to 10:00pm) which is a VerySpecialEpisode.

* In the West of Ireland an old tradition known as Wren-Boying takes place. This originally involved the killing of wrens but thankfully has evolved into a trick-or-treat style event.Children dress up and walk from house to house receiving money from the locals. This tradition is sadly beginning to die out.

Curiously, a few songs are routinely wheeled out that are ''not'' festive-oriented lyrically, but 'count' due to originally charting highly around Christmas and giving off a warm fuzzy feeling -- e.g. Music/FrankieGoesToHollywood's 'The Power of Love'; or East 17's 'Stay Another Day', which beat Mariah to the "Christmas Number One" slot in 1994. The race for this hallowed position (and the often ultra-cheesy pretenders thereto) is very much a UK-specific phenomenon, as fairly accurately depicted in the film ''LoveActually''. The last Christmas-themed one was CliffRichard's "Saviour's Day" back in 1990.

'''Secret Santa/Kris Kringle''': common in offices, schools, and groups of friends. People write their name on a piece of paper, put it in a box, and pick a name out. They buy a present (for less than a certain value, e.g. £5, £10) for that person. Many people find this very difficult, as they inevitably find themselves with the name of the person in the group they know the least.

'''Christingle''': a service held on the last Sunday before Christmas Eve in Anglican Churches. Originating in Germany (as before the two wars Germany and Britain were fairly chummy, [[TheHouseOfHanover the monarch]] [[QueenVicky originally being]] [[TheHouseOfWindsor German]] and all), it was brought into the UK by the Children's Society and is a major fund-raiser for them. Children are given an orange embedded with a candle and four cocktail sticks with sweets/nuts/raisins on and a red ribbon tied around the middle (there's also a bit of tin foil to catch the melting wax) – these are all, bar the tin foil, [[WhatDoYouMeanItsNotSymbolic symbolic]]: the orange is the world, the foodstuffs are the fruits of the earth and the four seasons, the red ribbon is the blood of Christ and the candle is Jesus, The Light of the World. The children may parade around the church with the lit Christingles, attempting not to set the hair of the child in front of them [[FlamingHair on fire]]. Ahem.\\

* Brussels Sprouts: As in the place in Belgium. A green vegetable, essentially baby cabbages the size, hardness and edibility of golf balls, which people either [[LoveItOrHateIt love or hate]]. The people who love it defend it as similar to Marmite: divisive but tasty. The people who hate it tend to ''really'' hate it and only ever eat at Christmas -- because it's Tradition. If you're on one side, you can't imagine being on the other.%% Previous Tropers have had this problem. Resist the temptation to defend or decry this vegetable.%%

* Christmas cake ([[ChristmasCake not this kind]]) -- a dark fruitcake covered thickly in marzipan and then white royal icing (frosting), often whipped into a snowscape (royal icing includes egg whites and sets more solidly than regular icing: anywhere on a scale from 'crunchy' to 'industrial laser required'), which will also gum it onto the Christmassy board it's stood upon. Small model Santas, reindeer, robins, holly leaves, 'Happy Christmas' signs, snowmen etc. may be cemented into the icing, and the sides wrapped with a decorative crepe paper band. [[LoveItOrHateIt Widely considered inedible; equally widely considered delicious]]: slices routinely get forcibly and messily dismembered for the benefit of that one person who likes marzipan but not icing, the one who likes icing but not marzipan, the one into likes both but not the cake, etc. Like Christmas pudding, best made to a murkily specific ancestral recipe -- the only constants seem to involve the whole family stirring it, and the thing needing to be stuck in an oven for anywhere up to about 48 hours. Called fruitcake in the US, much the same tradition except nobody cooks it and everybody hates it.
** It's also traditional to make this quite some time before Christmas, stow it in an old tin in a cupboard, and 'feed' it brandy/rum/whisky/port/Old Hoggard's Brainrotter until Christmas Day to "stop it drying out". This is to let the flavours mature and ensure it is soft and moist. However as it's traditional to bake it as distantly as [[BankHolidays Guy Fawkes Night]] (the fifth of November) or even earlier and give it up to a tablespoon of brandy ''per day'' this can result in a confection which ''bleeds'' brandy when you cut through the icing and has to be kept well away from naked flames.
*** Traditionally both cake and pudding should be made in November, before stir-up-sunday (another name for advent Sunday, the last Sunday of November. The truly dedicated make their Christmas pudding, however, (and occasionally the cake), on the Advent Sunday the year before it is due to be eaten, to give it a year to 'mature'. Whether this improves the flavour is always hotly debated.
** This seems similar to the American tradition of the gingerbread house. Either hand-made or store bought pieces of gingerbread (think of a more cake-y ginger snap) are glued together with royal icing (which doesn't set up quite as hard as marzipan but still tastes ghastly) and then decorated with candy canes, gum-drops, more icing, dots, candy, etc... Like most things in the US, there are competitions to see who can make the biggest and/or best decorated.

** When marzipan isn't an option (because '''everybody''' in the entire family hates it, except for that one aunt), brandy butter may be used instead. Then nobody has an excuse not to get drunk.
* The main meal is usually the time for pulling Christmas crackers: If you've read ''Harry Potter'', you'll be familiar with these, although the Potter characters receive much more spectacular versions. Cardboard tube sort of thing, with two twisted ends. Two people pull from either end, a little firework goes bang and you take the stuff inside out. This includes a party hat, some cheap plastic bit of junk and a piece of paper with a very poor joke. These jokes are very much a trope of their own in that they are ''expected'' to be bad - often by way of an IncrediblyLamePun. To find a genuinely funny joke in a cracker would be a grave disappointment and may even ruin someone's Christmas. It is a legal requirement under the Christmas Act 1972 that each person dining at the table wear the party hat, despite the fact that they look ridiculous. If they have drunk the right amount it won't actually matter.
** The hats are meant to represent the crowns worn by the Three Kings, or the crown of thorns worn by Jesus at His crucifixion.
** It has been seriously suggested that people ''prefer'' bad cracker jokes[[note]]So these two crackers walk into a bar-'' NO NOT THAT KIND''[[/note]] to good ones because that way [[BlackSheep one person]] (you know the one, that second cousin who everyone vaguely suspects got dropped on his head as a child) doesn't suffer the mortifying indignity of being LateToThePunchline.
* Throughout all this, it is traditional (at least in most of England) to be as drunk as you possibly can, while still able to sit up and eat. Bucks Fizz (orange juice and champagne; much like a mimosa except with more juice) and Bailey's are traditional Christmas beverages, possible over breakfast.
** Another traditional Christmas drink, at least in the south-east is the "snowball", which consists of a creamy liqueur named Advocaat (roughly the [[ThePond Rightpondian version]] of eggnog [[hottip:* :Standard American eggnog is ''supposed'' to include whiskey--both for the purposes of intoxication and to reduce the risks of drinking something containing raw egg (yes, eggnog is supposed to contain raw egg: see ''GoodEats'' episode 913)--though this is often forgotten. Blame Prohibition.]]) mixed with lemonade to make it more "child friendly" (seeing as how at Christmas, the drinking age seems to drop to about 5, as long as you're in the house and out of sight [[note]]Strictly speaking, this is legal all year round; not many people know this. Or care for that matter.[[/note]]). Despite this it's rather strong, so it's considered wise not to mix it with anything else and to take a break every two glasses. (During this break, we suggest a glass of Buck's Fizz, as it has fruit in it so it's not ''proper'' alcohol.)
** Families beginning to stockpile vast quantities of alcohol - commonly champagne, Buck's Fizz, brandy, Bailey's, and certain odd types of liqueur that no one likes and end up festering malevolently on a shelf somewhere for'''ever''' - usually in the garage or utility room, as early in the year as ''September'' is not unheard of.

'''Family traditions'''. Expect feelings to run high over the proper time for eating the Christmas meal; whether the Christmas tree should be real or artificial, lit or unlit, whether the lights should be [[http://www.emaildiscussions.com/showpost.php?p=492825&postcount=5 bulbs or LEDs]], and whether they should be white, single-colour or multicoloured (the Trafalgar Square Christmas tree used to have multicoloured lights, but now it has white ones because that's the tradition in Norway, the donors of the tree); when children get to open their first presents; whether they arrive in a stocking, a pillowcase, or just in a pile under the tree, or more than one of the above (the presents, not the children... unless the Christmas cake was particularly brandy-rich that year); whether family parlour games and carol singing are jolly fun or hell incarnate; and whether everyone other than the official cook goes to the pub while the dinner is prepared, or mucks in to help peel potatoes. Do not expect any two sets of in-laws to have traditions that match even slightly. (To get the general idea, read Creator/TerryPratchett's ''Discworld/{{Hogfather}}'').

* All details are to be found in the likes of the ''Radio Times'' TV listings magazine's Christmas bumper edition. Usually with some lovely festive-themed cover art. Recent covers have included a [[Series/DoctorWho TARDIS]] snowglobe and an exclusive Christmas Day living room scene with WallaceAndGromit. Although the Radio Times runs year-round, with the dawn of Electronic Programme Guides many families will ''only'' buy a copy for Christmas, if at all.
* Christmas morning is when our thoughts turned to the bearded man who's given us such great happiness and joy down the years -- we refer, of course, to [[MeaningfulName Nöel Edmonds]] with ''NoelsChristmasPresents''.
* Already bastions of misery and despair, the soap operas of terrestrial television (''EastEnders'' and ''CoronationStreet'' to name two) celebrate Christmas by ''sharply increasing the sheer amount of suffering'' that they inflict on their characters. Entire families gather around the tele-box to see who dies, who breaks up with who and which Christmas party is blown up by a freak lawnmower accident. This has a trope all of its own: '''SoaplandChristmas'''.

** This applies even if the series no longer runs in its original format. For example, the much beloved sitcom The Royle Family has long since stopped making new series in 2000, but it's made four Christmas specials between 2006 and 2010. OnlyFoolsAndHorses did a few Christmas specials after the show had ended too.

* The BBC adaptation of The Lion The Witch And The Wardrobe will crop up at some point.

** Michael Caine appears to be a rather incongruous festive favourite (making him all the more perfect in ''TheMuppetChristmasCarol''). Usually a toss up between the aforementioned Great Escape, Zulu and The Italian Job. It's also traditional for every adult male to quote all the iconic lines, and then discuss how iconic those lines are, and then rank them in order of how iconic they are, and then argue over the order.

** In recent years Pirates of the Caribbean has begun to make appearances.

* The Queen's Speech. Originated by George V in 1932, it's more formally known as the Royal Christmas Message. Broadcast on the terrestrial TV channels BBC One and ITV1 at 3pm, it's basically the Queen making a short to-camera speech to the country and The Commonwealth (over clips of her doing things, media footage etc.) on the events of the year. Political opinions will be of the neutral, non-party political variety (along the lines of 'People died. That's bad.'). Once, the text was leaked to tabloid newspaper ''The Sun''; the world nevertheless kept turning -- the monarch will always say broadly the same things anyway, and no-one really imagines she just gets up from the table, brushes crumbs of Christmas pudding from her chin, quickly swaps a paper crown with her tiara and delivers a live off-the-cuff monologue to her subjects. Recently, the Queen has spread the message on Website/YouTube and via podcast as well as on TV.\\
Amongst all the wide variety of celebrations going on the length and breadth of the land, the hubbub and noise of the 21st century Christmas (complaints of "Change the bloody channel and put something decent on!", followed by a family argument on the monarchy), the Queen's Speech acts still as a bulwark of tradition, a unifying watershed moment in the nation's collective festivities; it marks the point after lunch in Christmas Day at which the whole country -- children and grown-ups, religious and atheist, families together, full of the joy of the season -- takes a break from the relentless frolics, drinking, present-opening, drinking, arguing, drinking, eating and drinking, and gathers snugly around its television sets ''en masse'', sated and happy, joined together in a wonderful shared moment of calm and continuity, and falls asleep.
** Since 1993, the commercial terrestrial TV station Channel Four has broadcast an "Alternative" message at the same hour, featuring a controversial celebrity. In 2004, this was Marge Simpson. More recently in 2008, just to give an idea of how "alternative" it can get, the Alternative Christmas Message was given by President Ahmadinejad of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

'''Boxing Day'''. A holiday the day after Christmas, mostly to get over Christmas. Technically, the 26th of December is always called "St. Stephen's Day" (hence the mention of "the feast of Stephen" in the carol) after the Protomartyr of Christianity -- the First Martyr, which is why his feast day is the day after Christmas -- whereas "Boxing Day" is (traditionally) postponed a day if it would fall on a Sunday. This derives from the original meaning, the day when the Church charity boxes would be opened and the proceeds used for the poor -- the extra day's wait was so that the Sunday collection would be included in the distribution. Nowadays most people just ignore this; in practice the name is generally just applied to the 26th.\\
Well-known for a cricket match taking place on this day, although some take advantage of the heavily lowered prices everywhere known as the Boxing Day Sales. Sporting calendars put on hiatus for Christmas Day get back up and running: there is generally a full programme of football league games nationwide. There is also the annual act of Northern lunacy known as the Boxing Day Dip, which involves running into the North Sea, some people doing so in fancy dress.

** One or more of the ''WallaceAndGromit'' films. In 2008, the UK premiere of ''A Matter of Loaf and Death'' was the highest-rated programme on Christmas Day.

'''Christmas music starts popping up everywhere'''. There is no event to mark a formal beginning to this (unlike the USA with UsefulNotes/ThanksgivingDay) and in recent years it has been getting earlier and earlier. For many, the 'official' start of the festive period is the first time[[hottip:*:2010 sighting: October 31st]] one hears the distinctive rasp of Slade singer Noddy Holder on their 1973 classic 'Merry Xmas Everybody', perhaps the most pervasive {{earworm}} of all Christmas songs. Until this moment it's merely some pretty lights and stars festooning the shops; after you've heard Uncle Noddy bellow the clarion call ''[[AC:"It's Chriiiiiiisssstmaaaaaaaaaaaasss!!!"]]'' though, it's open season -- albeit with the traditional response, "No, ''it's not''. It's ''October''".

* British families don't leave him milk and cookies, they leave him mince pies (a small, tart-sized pie filled with "mincemeat", which despite the name[[hottip:*:a last remnant of "meat" meaning "food" and not "animal flesh" specifically]] generally contains spiced fruit) and a glass of something like sherry or brandy. No we can't explain why he doesn't end up being arrested, having been found inebriated after crashing his sleigh somewhere in Surrey. One or more carrots may be provided for the reindeer.

* Turkey: this is probably the most common mainstay, but some celebrate with goose or a game bird instead. The latter are generally not eaten under any other normal circumstances. Goose was the bird of choice in Victorian-era Christmas (described in Creator/CharlesDickens' ''AChristmasCarol''), but is now uncommon and much more expensive; although, unlike turkey, it actually tastes of something. Beef joints or various pig products (gammon, pork etc.) are also common, and arguably an older tradition than the turkey. (This is alluded to in [[Creator/TerryPratchett Terry Pratchett's]] ''Discworld/{{Hogfather}}'').

* Christmas Pudding: Also known as "plum pudding" or "figgy pudding". It's a very rich steamed pudding[[hottip:*:Note that ''pudding'' in this case is not the North American custard-y stuff, but rather a sort of booze-soaked spice cake]], with a lot of dried fruit and nuts. Often has alcohol added before cooking and may well be covered in the stuff (usually brandy) and lit for a bit with all the lights turned off. Can be made at home, but usually bought beforehand -- Harrods' puddings are considered the best. If made at home, it will have been done so ''either'' according to a thousand-year old recipe passed down from mother to daughter, ''or'', more usually, borrowed from celebrated TV cook Delia Smith.

** It has been seriously suggested that people ''prefer'' bad cracker jokes[[hottip:*:So these two crackers walk into a bar-'' NO NOT THAT KIND'']] to good ones because that way [[BlackSheep one person]] (you know the one, that second cousin who everyone vaguely suspects got dropped on his head as a child) doesn't suffer the mortifying indignity of being LateToThePunchline.

** Another traditional Christmas drink, at least in the south-east is the "snowball", which consists of a creamy liqueur named Advocaat (roughly the [[ThePond Rightpondian version]] of eggnog [[hottip:* :Standard American eggnog is ''supposed'' to include whiskey--both for the purposes of intoxication and to reduce the risks of drinking something containing raw egg (yes, eggnog is supposed to contain raw egg: see ''GoodEats'' episode 913)--though this is often forgotten. Blame Prohibition.]]) mixed with lemonade to make it more "child friendly" (seeing as how at Christmas, the drinking age seems to drop to about 5, as long as you're in the house and out of sight [[hottip:*:Strictly speaking, this is legal all year round; not many people know this. Or care for that matter.]]). Despite this it's rather strong, so it's considered wise not to mix it with anything else and to take a break every two glasses. (During this break, we suggest a glass of Buck's Fizz, as it has fruit in it so it's not ''proper'' alcohol.)

'''Family traditions'''. Expect feelings to run high over the proper time for eating the Christmas meal; whether the Christmas tree should be real or artificial, lit or unlit, whether the lights should be [[http://www.emaildiscussions.com/showpost.php?p=492825&postcount=5 bulbs or LEDs]], and whether they should be white, single-colour or multicoloured (the Trafalgar Square Christmas tree used to have multicoloured lights, but now it has white ones because that's the tradition in Norway, the donors of the tree); when children get to open their first presents; whether they arrive in a stocking, a pillowcase, or just in a pile under the tree, or more than one of the above (the presents, not the children... unless the Christmas cake was particularly brandy-rich that year); whether family parlour games and carol singing are jolly fun or hell incarnate; and whether everyone other than the official cook goes to the pub while the dinner is prepared, or mucks in to help peel potatoes. Do not expect any two sets of in-laws to have traditions that match even slightly. (To get the general idea, read [[Creator/TerryPratchett Terry Pratchett's]] ''Discworld/{{Hogfather}}'').

* All details are to be found in the likes of the ''Radio Times'' TV listings magazine's Christmas bumper edition. Usually with some lovely festive-themed cover art. Recent covers have included a [[Series/DoctorWho TARDIS]] snowglobe and an exclusive Christmas Day living room scene with {{Wallace and Gromit}}. Although the Radio Times runs year-round, with the dawn of Electronic Programme Guides many families will ''only'' buy a copy for Christmas, if at all.

** Children's animated short ''TheSnowman'' is so consistently shown and beloved that any attempt to remove it from the Christmas schedules could be seen as some sort of career suicide for the head of {{Channel 4}}. The one year it did omit the showing, they fell behind {{Channel Five}} (then almost entirely unknown and only available to roughly half of the country) in the ratings.

* The Queen's Speech. Originated by George V in 1932, it's more formally known as the Royal Christmas Message. Broadcast on the terrestrial TV channels BBC One and ITV1 at 3pm, it's basically the Queen making a short to-camera speech to the country and The Commonwealth (over clips of her doing things, media footage etc.) on the events of the year. Political opinions will be of the neutral, non-party political variety (along the lines of 'People died. That's bad.'). Once, the text was leaked to tabloid newspaper ''The Sun''; the world nevertheless kept turning -- the monarch will always say broadly the same things anyway, and no-one really imagines she just gets up from the table, brushes crumbs of Christmas pudding from her chin, quickly swaps a paper crown with her tiara and delivers a live off-the-cuff monologue to her subjects. Recently, the Queen has spread the message on {{YouTube}} and via podcast as well as on TV.\\

The UK has a lot of traditions about Christmas that Americans might find strange. Countries with cultures more similar to Britain (Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland etc) as well as European countries may find this a little closer to home. Compare and contrast with UsefulNotes/ChristmasInAmerica, UsefulNotes/ChristmasInAustralia and ChristmasInJapan.

The UK has a lot of traditions about Christmas that Americans might find strange. Countries with cultures more similar to Britain (Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland etc) as well as European countries may find this a little closer to home. Compare and contrast with ChristmasInAmerica, UsefulNotes/ChristmasInAustralia and ChristmasInJapan.

The UK has a lot of traditions about Christmas that Americans might find strange. Countries with cultures more similar to Britain (Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland etc) as well as European countries may find this a little closer to home. Compare and contrast with ChristmasInAmerica, ChristmasInAustralia and ChristmasInJapan.

'''Secret Santa/Kris Kringle''': common in offices, schools, and groups of friends. People write their name on a piece of paper, put it in a box, and pick a name out. They buy a present (for less than a certain value, e.g. £5, £10) for that person. Many people find this very difficult, as they inevitably find themselves with the name of the person in the group they know the least.
** This is also done in the U.S. although, it is sometimes alternatively called ''Pollyanna'' and is sometimes done among family members in addition to the others listed above (this is of course to save money on trying to buy the whole family something big and expensive, now you can buy one person a nice gift and are at your own discretion on what to get everyone else.

Last thing on Christmas Eve there's Midnight Mass to see in Christmas over midnight, like a sort of Anglican/Catholic hogmanay. In The Church of [[BonnieScotland Scotland]] it's quite a big deal, it's called Watch-night and because of the way the Kirk is it's not mass.

After this light deluge of aperitifs, Christmas dinner proper may feature:
* Turkey: this is probably the most common mainstay, but some celebrate with goose or a game bird instead. The latter are generally not eaten under any other normal circumstances. Goose was the bird of choice in Victorian-era Christmas (described in CharlesDickens' ''AChristmasCarol''), but is now uncommon and much more expensive; although, unlike turkey, it actually tastes of something. Beef joints or various pig products (gammon, pork etc.) are also common, and arguably an older tradition than the turkey. (This is alluded to in [[Creator/TerryPratchett Terry Pratchett's]] ''Discworld/{{Hogfather}}'').

** The hats are meant to represent the crowns worn by the Three Kings, or the crown of thorns worn by Jesus at His crucifixion.

** The usual Christmas tradition of the "classic" ''Doctor Who'' was simply to repeat all the episodes of a popular story all together in one long programme. The original series did once have its own [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Daleks%27_Master_Plan#The_Christmas_episode Christmas special]] though, in 1965, complete with a jolly BreakingTheFourthWall ending.

* ''PoliceCameraAction'' - a VerySpecialEpisode '''may''' air in the lead-up week to Christmas on ITV1 or ITV4 (in any case, mainly a {{Rerun}}, then on Christmas Eve expect an episode on ITV4 which will be a re-run from either the 1998, 2000 or 2002 series and a 2007 series episode later on, and on Christmas Day they will usually show it either two or three times a day - with it being shown as early as 6:00am or 7:00am on ITV4, then repeated in the afternoon, and an hour-long one (8:00pm to 9:00pm or 9:00pm to 10:00pm) which is a VerySpecialEpisode.

** Since 1993, the commercial terrestrial TV station Channel Four has broadcast an "Alternative" message at the same hour, featuring a controversial celebrity. In 2004, this was Marge Simpson. More recently in 2008, just to give an idea of how "alternative" it can get, the Alternative Christmas Message was given by President Ahmadinejad of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

* Some people (read: lunatics) do this in the south as well. Apparently it's fun.

Curiously, a few songs are routinely wheeled out that are ''not'' festive-oriented lyrically, but 'count' due to originally charting highly around Christmas and giving off a warm fuzzy feeling -- e.g. Frankie Goes To Hollywood's 'The Power of Love'; or East 17's 'Stay Another Day', which beat Mariah to the "Christmas Number One" slot in 1994. The race for this hallowed position (and the often ultra-cheesy pretenders thereto) is very much a UK-specific phenomenon, as fairly accurately depicted in the film ''LoveActually''. The last Christmas-themed one was CliffRichard's "Saviour's Day" back in 1990.

* Christmas films -- terrestrial channels tend to show both more and higher-profile films (often ones receiving their terrestrial premiere) over the Christmas period (as exhaustively covered in the aforementioned ''RadioTimes'' bumper edition, naturally). In addition, while the usual Christmas-themed films (from ''ItsAWonderfulLife'' and ''Film/MiracleOnThirtyFourthStreet'' (x2) to ''{{Elf}}'' and ''Bad Santa'') will inevitably be on, many thematically-unrelated ones have nonetheless become staples of the season -- ''{{ET}}'', ''{{Casablanca}}'', ''Brief Encounter'', JamesBond films, ''Film/TheGreatEscape'' (which is almost a certainty for Boxing Day) etc. Interestingly, during its rather untrendy period in the late 80s and early 90s, the original ''StarWars'' trilogy definitely fell into this category, having become a much less common sight before it became cool again.

'''Family traditions'''. Expect feelings to run high over the proper time for eating the Christmas meal; whether the Christmas tree should be real or artificial, lit or unlit, whether the lights should be [[http://www.emaildiscussions.com/showpost.php?p=492825&postcount=5 bulbs or LEDs]], and whether they should be white, single-colour or multicoloured (the Trafalgar Square Christmas tree used to have multicoloured lights, but now it has white ones because that's the tradition in Norway, the donors of the tree); when children get to open their first presents; whether they arrive in a stocking, a pillowcase, or just in a pile under the tree (the presents, not the children... unless the Christmas cake was particularly brandy-rich that year); whether family parlour games and carol singing are jolly fun or hell incarnate; and whether everyone other than the official cook goes to the pub while the dinner is prepared, or mucks in to help peel potatoes. Do not expect any two sets of in-laws to have traditions that match even slightly. (To get the general idea, read [[Creator/TerryPratchett Terry Pratchett's]] ''Discworld/{{Hogfather}}'').

* Throughout all this, it is traditional (at least in most of England) to be as drunk as you possibly can, while still able to sit up and eat. Bucks Fizz (orange juice and champagne) and Bailey's are traditional Christmas beverages, possible over breakfast.

** ''ChickenRun'' usually shows up somewhere in there. It's ''Film/TheGreatEscape'' for kids, made by the people behind ''WallaceAndGromit''; what did you expect?

* Christmas films -- terrestrial channels tend to show both more and higher-profile films (often ones receiving their terrestrial premiere) over the Christmas period (as exhaustively covered in the aforementioned ''RadioTimes'' bumper edition, naturally). In addition, while the usual Christmas-themed films (from ''It's A Wonderful Life'' and ''Miracle On 34th Street'' (x2) to ''Elf'' and ''Bad Santa'') will inevitably be on, many thematically-unrelated ones have nonetheless become staples of the season -- ''ET'', ''{{Casablanca}}'', ''Brief Encounter'', JamesBond films, ''TheGreatEscape'' (which is almost a certainty for Boxing Day) etc. Interestingly, during its rather untrendy period in the late 80s and early 90s, the original ''StarWars'' trilogy definitely fell into this category, having become a much less common sight before it became cool again.

** ''ChickenRun'' usually shows up somewhere in there. It's ''TheGreatEscape'' for kids, made by the people behind ''WallaceAndGromit''; what did you expect?

'''Christmas music starts popping up everywhere'''. There is no event to mark a formal beginning to this (unlike the USA with {{Thanksgiving}}) and in recent years it has been getting earlier and earlier. For many, the 'official' start of the festive period is the first time[[hottip:*:2010 sighting: October 31st]] one hears the distinctive rasp of Slade singer Noddy Holder on their 1973 classic 'Merry Xmas Everybody', perhaps the most pervasive {{earworm}} of all Christmas songs. Until this moment it's merely some pretty lights and stars festooning the shops; after you've heard Uncle Noddy bellow the clarion call ''[[AC:"It's Chriiiiiiisssstmaaaaaaaaaaaasss!!!"]]'' though, it's open season -- albeit with the traditional response, "No, ''it's not''. It's ''October''".

'''The Christmas Lunch'''. There are many rather specific parts to this -- although all won't be included at once. Tends to be even bigger than the American variation, as Thanksgiving is not celebrated in Britain so the full weight, so to speak, of tradition lands on Christmas. JabbaTableManners may result. The general aim is to consume at least 40% of one's own body mass over the course of the day -- aided by the vast choice lying around of chocolate selection boxes, sausage rolls, mince pies, mulled wine, German confectionary, cheese-and-pineapple on sticks, and all those 'nibbles' supermarkets only seem to stock around Christmas: big bags of mixed nuts, large tubs of Twiglets (ask a Brit) and Mini Cheddars (ditto), cheese footballs, cheese straws, cheese twists, cheese puffs, cocktail sausages, mini pizzas, all manner of peculiar savoury bites, 'luxury biscuit assortment' tins, etc. etc. These all turn up in the shops because they're theoretically what people like to buy at Christmastime; people buy them because they're what turns up in the supermarket aisle labelled "Christmas" stuff and it's what seems expected of them; thousands of vol-au-vents remain untouched in freezers past June, but capitalism remains happy. It all appears from around the time the schools go back in autumn, which means every year the same stories turn up in the press featuring the person whose shop-bought Christmas pudding has turned out to be labelled "Best before 1st December" or similar.\\

** The rough American equivalent would be Black Friday, and the huge sales put on the day after Thanksgiving, only the Boxing Day sales haven't resulted in any retail staff being trampled to death. Yet.

* Turkey: this is probably the most common mainstay, but some celebrate with goose or a game bird instead. The latter are generally not eaten under any other normal circumstances. Goose was the bird of choice in Victorian-era Christmas (described in {{Charles Dickens}}' ''AChristmasCarol''), but is now uncommon and much more expensive; although, unlike turkey, it actually tastes of something. Beef joints or various pig products (gammon, pork etc.) are also common, and arguably an older tradition than the turkey. (This is alluded to in [[TerryPratchett Terry Pratchett's]] ''{{Discworld/Hogfather}}'').

'''Family traditions'''. Expect feelings to run high over the proper time for eating the Christmas meal; whether the Christmas tree should be real or artificial, lit or unlit, whether the lights should be [[http://www.emaildiscussions.com/showpost.php?p=492825&postcount=5 bulbs or LEDs]], and whether they should be white, single-colour or multicoloured (the Trafalgar Square Christmas tree used to have multicoloured lights, but now it has white ones because that's the tradition in Norway, the donors of the tree); when children get to open their first presents; whether they arrive in a stocking, a pillowcase, or just in a pile under the tree (the presents, not the children... unless the Christmas cake was particularly brandy-rich that year); whether family parlour games and carol singing are jolly fun or hell incarnate; and whether everyone other than the official cook goes to the pub while the dinner is prepared, or mucks in to help peel potatoes. Do not expect any two sets of in-laws to have traditions that match even slightly. (To get the general idea, read [[TerryPratchett Terry Pratchett's]] ''{{Discworld/Hogfather}}'').