History UsefulNotes / AVeryBritishChristmas

'''A:''' [[{{Pun}} Subordinate Clauses]][[/note]] ]]

Typical joke: '''Q:''' What do English teachers call Santa's little helpers?[[note]]\\

** Many, ''many'' thematically-unrelated movies have nonetheless become staples of the season -- ''Film/{{ET|The Extraterrestrial}}'', ''Film/{{Casablanca}}'', ''Film/BriefEncounter'', the original ''Franchise/ThePinkPanther'' films with Creator/PeterSellers, ''Film/ChariotsOfFire'', ''Film/TheGreatEscape'', ''Film/SixThreeThreeSquadron'', a couple of Creator/AlfredHitchcock movies, few of the ''[[Film/CarryOnSeries Carry On]]'' films, at least one [[Film/JamesBond Bond]] film [[note]] of these, ''Film/OnHerMajestysSecretService'' is the only one that's explicitly set during the festive period[[/note]], an Franchise/IndianaJones film, etc. Interestingly, during its rather untrendy period in the late 1980s and early '90s, the original ''Franchise/StarWars'' trilogy definitely fell into this category, but has become a much less common sight since it became cool again.

* All details are to be found in TV listings magazines like the ''Magazine/RadioTimes'', the Christmas edition of which covers a two-week period [[note]] whether or not this includes New Year's Day varies as the time period covered always starts on the Saturday before Christmas; the 2021 and 2022 editions provide the most extreme examples in either direction — the former covered Saturday 18th December to Friday 31st December, while the latter covers 2022 Saturday 24th December to Friday 6th January[[/note]]. 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 WesternAnimation/WallaceAndGromit. 2012's starred ComicBook/TheSnowman (see below). Although the ''RT'' runs year-round, with the dawn of Electronic Programme Guides many families will ''only'' buy a copy for Christmas, if at all. In many households it is then traditional to attack the magazine with coloured markers, in order to get all the arguments about things that are on at the same time done in advance.

* ''Series/TopOfThePops'', former long-running music show that was killed off after a disastrous rebranding back in 2006, now survives as an annual special which serves mainly to announce who has secured the above-mentioned coveted Christmas Number One single, which for the first decade often came from a ''Series/TheXFactor'' winner. (Unless Christmas Day falls on a Friday, this will already be known before the 25th - this is not always guaranteed, though: Christmas Day fell on a Friday in 2020, but ''TOTP'' were unable to show it; Radio 1 (who have first dibs on the charts) had yet to broadcast it. (The broadcasting of the chart had been adjusted to take this into account on previous occasions.))

* Children's animated 1982 short ''ComicBook/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 Creator/{{Channel 4}}. The one year it did omit the showing, they fell behind Creator/ChannelFive (then almost entirely unknown and only available to roughly half of the country) in the ratings. A sequel adventure was finally produced for Christmas 2012, ''The Snowman and the Snowdog'', which demonstrated this exalted status by securing the cover of that year's ''Magazine/RadioTimes'' Christmas double-issue (see above). As if to make up for that aberration, both ''The Snowman'' and ''The Snowman and the Snowdog'' are usually both shown on Christmas Eve ''and'' Christmas Day, usually back-to-back and sometimes shown more than once a day (usually Christmas Eve). They also usually show the non-Christmassy ''The Tiger Who Came To Tea'' and ''We're Going On A Bear Hunt'' on either Christmas Eve or Day.

* ''Advertising'' - Boxing Day (or anytime from Christmas Eve night onwards, usually after the shops close) inevitably sees an instantaneous mass changeover in TV advertising -- for weeks beforehand every advert has been all about feasting, drinking and merrymaking, chocolates, perfumes, spirits... then on an instant there is an abrupt and complete switch to nothing but ads for cut-price furniture ('Double Discounted Sofas' ahoy), reduced weekend getaways and celebrity diet plans. Following these adverts is the return of Park (see the Advertising section), starting their plans to ensnare yet more people insecure about their finances for next Christmas. Happy New Year.

2017 saw another entirely unremarkable non-TV related, non-charity, non-festive Christmas [=No1=] in the form of Music/EdSheeran's "Perfect". It's been suggested that streaming is increasingly diluting the effect of ''The X-Factor'', 'protest vote' buys and charity singles, because you're not necessarily buying these because you actually want to ''listen'' to them. The 2018 Christmas [=No1=] saw a return to the novelty/charity chart-topper when [=LadBaby's=] parody of Music/{{Starship}}'s "We Built This City" extolling the virtues of sausage rolls(!!) saw off the likes of Music/ArianaGrande and Music/AvaMax (the latter's "Sweet but Psycho" had to settle for #2) to claim the top spot. He would have a monopoly on the position, claiming the top spot for Christmas in 2019, 2020 and 2021, with sausage roll-themed parodies of "I Love Rock n Roll"[[note]]"I Love Sausage Rolls"[[/note]] and "Don't Stop Believin'"[[note]]"Don't Stop Me Eatin'"[[/note]], making him one of only three acts (alongside Music/TheBeatles[[note]]who had a fourth Yuletide Number One after a one-year gap[[/note]] and Music/SpiceGirls) to have had three Christmas Number Ones in a row. (Cliff Richard has also appeared on three consecutive Christmas number ones, between 1988 and 1990; however, the second of those is excluded due to his name not being explicitly used - he was one of the acts that appeared on 1989's re-recording of "Do They Know It's Christmas".) In 2021, they would claim a record fourth Christmas chart-topper in a row, having roped in Ed Sheehan and Music/EltonJohn (incidentally knocking their own collaboration off the top) for "Sausage Rolls for Everyone". This was the first Christmas-themed Christmas [=No1=] since 1990 (excluding 2004's re-recording of "Do They Know It's Christmas"), but was the fourth Christmas-themed [=No1=] in a year - again following a 30 year gap between them[[note]]ignoring the 2004 and 2014 re-recordings of "Do They Know It's Christmas"[[/note]] - following Mariah Carey's "All I Want For Christmas Is You", Music/{{Wham}}'s "Last Christmas" and the previously mentioned Ed Sheeran/Elton John collaboration "Merry Christmas" (which the [=LadBaby=] song parodied).

** Many, ''many'' thematically-unrelated movies have nonetheless become staples of the season -- ''Film/{{ET|The Extraterrestrial}}'', ''Film/{{Casablanca}}'', ''Film/BriefEncounter'', the original ''Franchise/ThePinkPanther'' films with Creator/PeterSellers, ''Film/TheGreatEscape'' (which is almost a certainty for Boxing Day), ''Film/SixThreeThreeSquadron'', a few of the ''[[Film/CarryOnSeries Carry On]]'' films, at least one [[Film/JamesBond Bond]] film [[note]] of these, ''Film/OnHerMajestysSecretService'' is the only one that's explicitly set during the festive period[[/note]], an Franchise/IndianaJones film, etc. Interestingly, during its rather untrendy period in the late 1980s and early '90s, the original ''Franchise/StarWars'' trilogy definitely fell into this category, but has become a much less common sight since it became cool again.

** What with it being set on Christmas Eve, ''Film/DieHard'' usually makes an appearance somewhere. Expect some debate about whether it really counts as a Christmas movie; some people (mostly men) say it is, others (mostly women) would beg to differ [[note]] curiously, although it is also set around Christmas, ''[[Film/LethalWeapon1987 Lethal Weapon]]'' has never really been thought of as a Christmas movie to the extent that ''Die Hard'' is regarded thusly[[/note]]. Among its fans, there are those who don't consider it to be Christmas until Hans Gruber has left the building [[note]] as with ''The Muppet Christmas Carol'', some cinemas now have screenings of ''Die Hard'' in the run-up to Christmas[[/note]].

* Already bastions of misery and despair, the soap operas of terrestrial television (''Series/EastEnders'' and ''Series/CoronationStreet'' to name two) celebrate Christmas by sharply increasing the [[TwistedChristmas 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. [[SoaplandChristmas This is now a trope of its own]].

* Other programmes, particularly sitcoms, will do something special for their ChristmasEpisode (which is referred to as a Christmas Special in Britain) — this can mean simply ramping up the excitement, [[VacationEpisode sending the cast on holiday]] so they're doing the same routine against a different backdrop, spoofing [[AwayInAManger the Nativity]] or [[YetAnotherChristmasCarol a certain work by Charles Dickens]], or just clearly establishing that it's Christmas by way of having some decorations on the set and adding sleigh bells to the theme tune. This applies even if the series no longer runs in its original format. For example, ''Series/TheRoyleFamily'' stopped making new series in 2000, but it made four Christmas specials between 2006 and 2010. ''Series/OnlyFoolsAndHorses'' likewise did numerous Christmas specials in TheNineties after the regular series had ended. Also, every [[PanelGame panel show]] you've ever heard of (and maybe a few you haven't) will do a festive episode. You can also expect plenty of repeats of specials from Christmas Past. Mainstays include ''[[Series/{{Blackadder}} Blackadder's Christmas Carol]]'', that episode of ''Series/TheVicarOfDibley'' in which [[BigEater Geraldine]] ends up having to eat four Christmas dinners in one day, and the Christmas editions of ''Series/MrBean'' [[note]] the one in which he ends up with a turkey on his head, first broadcast in 1992, six years before ''Friends'' did that gag[[/note]], ''Series/FatherTed'' and ''Series/DadsArmy''. And, of course, more seasonal episodes of ''Creator/MorecambeAndWise'' and ''Series/TheTwoRonnies'' than you can shake a sprig of holly at.

** As far as Christmas movies are concerned, expect to see the likes of ''Film/ItsAWonderfulLife'', ''Film/MiracleOnThirtyFourthStreet'' (both versions), ''Film/HomeAlone'', ''Film/{{Elf}}'', ''Film/LoveActually'' and many more among the listings. Oh, and there will be ''at least'' three or four [[YetAnotherChristmasCarol versions]] of ''Literature/AChristmasCarol'' on the terrestrial channels alone. The exact ones vary, but ''Film/{{Scrooge|1951}}'' (the Creator/AlastairSim one) is usually among them and ''Film/TheMuppetChristmasCarol'' (voted [[GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff the nation's 2nd favourite Christmas film]] after ''It's a Wonderful Life'' in a 2011 ''Magazine/RadioTimes'' poll) are practically guaranteed [[note]] although Creator/ChannelFour doesn't show the latter on Christmas Eve any more, as Sky bought the rights to it in 2019 — but don't worry, as some cinemas have started showing it during the festive period![[/note]].

** As far as Christmas movies are concerned, expect to see the likes of ''Film/ItsAWonderfulLife'', ''Film/MiracleOnThirtyFourthStreet'' (both versions), ''Film/HomeAlone'', ''Film/{{Elf}}'', ''Film/LoveActually'' and many more among the listings. Oh, and there will be ''at least'' three or four [[YetAnotherChristmasCarol versions]] of ''Literature/AChristmasCarol'' on the terrestrial channels alone. The exact ones vary, but ''Film/{{Scrooge|1951}}'' (the Creator/AlastairSim one) is usually among them and ''Film/TheMuppetChristmasCarol'' (voted [[GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff the nation's 2nd favourite Christmas film]] after ''It's a Wonderful Life'' in a 2011 ''Magazine/RadioTimes'' poll) are practically guaranteed [[note]] although Creator/ChannelFour doesn't show the latter on Christmas Eve any more, as Sky bought the rights to it in 2019 — but don't worry, as some cinemas have started showing it during the festive period![[note/]].

'''Dreaming of (and betting on) a White Christmas'''. Most of Britain has too temperate a climate for it to snow regularly at Christmas (unless you live in the Scottish Highlands). But that doesn't stop people from hoping that there will be snow during the festive period, despite the disruption to public transport that it inevitably brings. High street bookmakers will post odds on Christmas being white, and punters will put money on it. This has led to the official Met Office definition of a white Christmas (ie. the one the bookies will pay out on) as snow ''falling'' at any point on Christmas Day itself. So a brief flurry at 2am that's gone by the time everyone wakes up counts, but snow that's already on the ground from a fall several days previously does not.

'''"Father Christmas"''', these days, is just another (somewhat old fashioned) name for SantaClaus. Originally, though, he was a separate figure of the 'Old Man Winter' tradition -- i.e. the Spirit of Winter/Christmas who wore a green cloak and a crown of holly, and who should be welcomed into homes and plied with food and drink [[note]] the best depiction of this is the Ghost of Christmas Present in ''Literature/AChristmasCarol''[[/note]]. Though this has died out in favour of the modern St Nick, there are two key differences between American Santa traditions and British ones:

* The ''Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols'' is a service based around [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin nine readings]] from Literature/TheBible, from the Fall of Man to the birth of UsefulNotes/{{Jesus}}; the lessons are usually read by various members of the congregation, with the last one being read by TheVicar. Given that it also includes quite a few carols, this service is a definite feature of churches that have choirs, and is particularly associated with King's College, [[UsefulNotes/{{Oxbridge}} Cambridge]] which has a very good one; there, the service is held on Christmas Eve and broadcast live on [[Creator/TheBBC Radio Four]]. On TV, there's ''Carols from King's'' which is pre-recorded.

* Last thing on Christmas Eve there's ''Midnight Mass'' to see in the Yuletide over midnight, like a sort of Anglican/Catholic hogmanay. In The Church of UsefulNotes/{{Scotland}} it's quite a big deal, it's called Watch-night and because of the way the Kirk is there it's not mass. Midnight services are attended by large numbers of people both young and old; there will inevitably be a fair few revellers who've come straight from an evening in the pub, while some families bring their still wide-eyed children, with the intent of tiring them out enough for them to be too exhausted to wake up screaming for presents at 5 o'clock the next morning.

'''Cheese''': After that, there may well be some cheese and biscuits. Ideally, a cheeseboard should consist of a minimum of three types of cheese -- a soft cheese [[note]] Brie, for example [[/note]], an English territorial [[note]] most likely Cheddar, although it could be Lancashire, Red Leicester or Wensleydale[[/note]], and a blue cheese which will invariably be Stilton. At this point, you can expect the port to come out (if it hasn't already done so) to accompany the Stilton.

* All details are to be found in TV listings magazines like the ''Magazine/RadioTimes'', the Christmas edition of which covers a two-week period [[note]] whether or not this includes New Year's Day varies as coverage always starts on the Saturday before Christmas; the 2021 edition, for example, covers Saturday 18th December to Friday 31st December, while for the 2022 edition it's Saturday 24th December to Friday 6th January[[/note]]. 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 WesternAnimation/WallaceAndGromit. 2012's starred ComicBook/TheSnowman (see below). Although the ''RT'' runs year-round, with the dawn of Electronic Programme Guides many families will ''only'' buy a copy for Christmas, if at all. In many households it is then traditional to attack the magazine with coloured markers, in order to get all the arguments about things that are on at the same time done in advance.

* * As far as Christmas movies are concerned, expect to see the likes of ''Film/ItsAWonderfulLife'', ''Film/MiracleOnThirtyFourthStreet'' (both versions), ''Film/{{Elf}}'', ''Film/BadSanta'', ''Film/LoveActually'' and many more among the listings. Oh, and there will be ''at least'' three or four [[YetAnotherChristmasCarol versions]] of ''Literature/AChristmasCarol'' on the terrestrial channels alone. The exact ones vary, but ''Film/{{Scrooge|1951}}'' (the Creator/AlastairSim one) is usually among them and [[Film/TheMuppetChristmasCarol the Muppet adaptation]] -- voted [[GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff the nation's 2nd favourite Christmas film]] after ''It's a Wonderful Life'' in a 2011 ''Magazine/RadioTimes'' poll -- are practically guaranteed.

** What with it being set on Christmas Eve, ''Film/DieHard'' usually makes an appearance somewhere. Expect some debate about whether it really counts as a Christmas movie; some people (mostly men) say it is, others (mostly women) would beg to differ [[note]] curiously, although it is also set around Christmas, ''[[Film/LethalWeapon1987 Lethal Weapon]]'' has never really been thought of as a Christmas movie to the extent that ''Die Hard'' is regarded thusly[[/note]]. Among its fans, there are those who don't consider it to be Christmas until Hans Gruber has left the building.

The general aim at Christmas 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 confectionery, cheese-and-pineapple on sticks, and all those 'nibbles' and peculiar savoury 'bites' supermarkets only seem to stock around Christmas: big bags of mixed nuts, large tubs of Twiglets[[note]](strings of dough coated in a salty yeast-extract similar to Marmite, then baked to resemble twigs)[[/note]] and Mini Cheddars[[note]](small rounded cheesy crackers)[[/note]], cheese footballs, cheese straws, cheese twists, cheese puffs, cheese selection boxes, little sausages on cocktail sticks (with little cubes of cheese), a host of fun-sized versions of things such as burgers and pizzas, plus sweet stuff like chocolate mints, choc truffles, "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 only 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 people's 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 12th December" or similar.

'''A great big roast bird:''' Turkey is the most common mainstay, but some celebrate with a more traditional goose or a game bird instead, generally not eaten under any other normal circumstances. Goose was the bird of choice in Victorian-era Christmas (described in Creator/CharlesDickens' ''Literature/AChristmasCarol''), but is now uncommon and much more expensive; although, unlike turkey, you don't need time-consuming preparation and careful timing to make sure that it actually tastes of something, nor does it require drowning in gravy to give it some moisture.[[note]]Several culinary authorities on both sides of the Atlantic have expounded at length on the best way to get a perfectly-roasted bird, but this is the essential consensus: (1) ''brine'' the raw turkey for at least a day in a brine containing a seemingly-alarming amount of salt for the amount of water, and possibly some other ingredients; (2) do ''not'' stuff the turkey, at least not until it's already done; (3) cook the bird at low temperature, turning and basting every so often, for quite a long time; (4) because the low-and-slow method makes for wonderfully tender and juicy meat but generally doesn't produce a particularly crispy (or even cooked-seeming) skin, brush the skin of the nearly-finished bird with oil and roast at [[OvenLogic incredibly high temperature for an incredibly short period]] to give it that nice colour and crisp texture. Or, you can replace (3) and (4) (and make violating rule (2) impossible) by "spatchcocking" the bird, removing the backbone and either removing or breaking the sternum so you can flatten it out and roast it at high temperature for a relatively quick cooking time, but this seriously cuts into the traditions about carving the roast bird, as you won't get the classic "roast bird" shape and will probably have to chop up the meat before it gets to the table rather than at the table as is traditional. There are a lot of variations on the theme (in particular, the necessity of (3)—and thus by implication (4)—has been questioned by cooks who advocate more traditional cooking times and temperatures but greater vigilance about monitoring and maintaining internal temperature), but that's the essence of it. As an aside, goose, duck, and other waterfowl do not require any of this, nor does wild turkey; also, the idea of ''deep frying'' the turkey (which avoids the juiciness problem) has yet to cross from America to Britain, and given that Britons' gardens tend to be rather smaller than Americans' lawns and the risk of [[IncendiaryExponent truly gigantic columnar fires]] from turkey fryers, perhaps this is for the best.[[/note]]

'''Other meats:''' Depending on the number of people in attendance, a roast joint of meat or some other centrepiece dish may also be presented: beef joints or various pig products (gammon/ham, pork loin, etc.) are common, and arguably an older tradition than the turkey. (This is alluded to in Creator/TerryPratchett's ''Literature/{{Hogfather}}''). If you're not of the meat-eating kind then woe betide you, you'll have to make do with a hastily purchased and overdone nut roast. A meat pie is another staple, as is the beef Wellington, a slab of roast beef wrapped in pastry, with a mushroom and cream stuffing. In coastal communities, a fish is common. In Mousehole, Cornwall, the 23rd of December is celebrated as Tom Bawcock's Eve, after a heroic fisherman who put out during a storm and managed to catch enough fish to lift a famine, and the traditional "Stargazy pie" (so called because it features fish heads poking upwards out the crust, a creepy spectacle for some) is sometimes also served on Christmas Day.

'''Sides:''' Of course, all large offerings of meat require something to go with them to offset the sheer amount of protein involved. Here's a few accompaniments:
* '''Sauce:''' As in North America, cranberry sauce is a traditional accompaniment to turkey if your family is aware of it; when they're not you'll get bread sauce, a lumpen whitish savoury concoction from medieval times which does indeed contain bread.[[note]]It's a survival of a vast array of bread-thickened sauces that were popular in the Middle Ages but which have since been replaced by sauces thickened with roux.[[/note]] The binding element to all dinners though is gravy, usually required when dining on drier meats like turkey or beef. Most of the time outside of Christmas, instant gravy is usually used, but more people opt to make it the traditional way when it comes to the Christmas dinner, from the meat juices, some flour and the meaty residues and fat stuck to the roasting tin.
* '''Roast potatoes:''' Every dish needs a starchy side; Britain opted for roast potatoes -- which, depending on who's making them, will either be (a) crunchy on the outside, fluffy 'n' soft on the inside, browned-to-perfection little delights, or (b) rock-solid beasts which are somehow burned and raw at the same time.[[note]]A classic sign that the spuds were cooked at too high a temperature. [[OvenLogic Higher temperatures do not necessarily reduce cooking time]]; you need the ''right'' temperature to ensure the heat penetrates the whole potato before the outside starts getting ''too'' crispy. If you're having this problem, put the potatoes in at a lower temperature for longer and see what happens. You might also be using the wrong kind of potato; you cannot use potatoes with a "waxy" texture (that is, potatoes with a low starch content) for roasting. Floury potatoes, like the Maris Piper and King Edward (in Britain) or the Russet (in North America), are best.[[/note]] There is no inbetween. Tradition holds that the best are cooked in duck or goose fat to make them super crispy.
* '''Roast parsnips:''' A root vegetable served alongside the other roast stuff. If done right, they come out looking similar to chips (fries, if you're American). If done wrong, they will often come out badly burnt and singed. Most people don't mind that much anyway.
* '''Mashed potato:''' Don't ask. It's just sort of ''there''; bonus stodge, if you will. On Christmas, potatoes aren't the only vegetable that gets mashed: swede, carrot and sweet potato mash are alternative fare at the table, each tasting very different to each other.
* '''Brussels sprouts:''' A (literally) bitterly divisive foodstuff. These are small green vegetables, essentially miniscule cabbages, somewhere between ball bearings and golf balls in size, hardness and edibility. People either love or really, really, really hate them. This is largely because they contain a foul-tasting chemical that many people ''genetically lack the ability to taste'': generally those who do not like sprouts are the ones who can taste it.[[note]]"Largely", because even people who ''can't'' taste the chemical and ''do'' like sprouts in general terms will dislike them if you treat them wrong, which generally means overcooking them--and it is very easy to overcook sprouts, especially if you're boiling them, where they can be reduced to little more than greenish slimy mush if particularly unlucky. Sautéing the sprouts usually works better for those who actually enjoy them; there was a vogue for sprouts sautéed with bacon fat around 2010ish. In recent years, a variant has been released that claims not to contain this chemical.[[/note]] While other veg does get served at Christmas, these are a particular requirement unique to the festive season, as lampshaded in the Christmas episode of ''Bottom'', believe it or not [[note]] if you really must, check out the quotes at the topic of said episode's [[Recap/BottomHoly recap page]][[/note]]. Why they are named after the capital of Belgium, meanwhile, remains a mystery. %% Resist the temptation to defend or decry this vegetable here. Previous Tropers have had this problem. %%
* '''Yorkshire pudding:''' The Yorkshire pud (also known as popovers in the United States, or Dutch babies) is a humble thing, bowl shaped and made out of batter, which rises while being baked in the oven. It is the traditional accompaniment to roast beef, usually used to hold a small amount of meat or gravy, but some throw them in with Christmas dinner too -- because what's a seventh helping of carbs between friends eh?

'''Christmas pudding:''' Also known as "plum pudding" or "figgy pudding" (although the latter name is only widely known because of its inclusion in the song "We Wish You a Merry Christmas")[[note]]In Britain, many things are called "pudding" which bear no resemblance to what Americans and Canadians would describe as such -- or, for that matter, to each other. Historically, it meant any number of dishes produced by taking a paste or liquid mixture, stuffing it into a sausage casing (i.e. the inner lining of a sheep's small intestine), and then baking, boiling, or steaming the result until the mixture sets into a softish solid. Eventually, the terminology extended to dishes that began with a similar mixture but were stuffed into a cloth lining rather than animal guts. From there, the meaning of the word diverged; since many of these things were sweet mixtures, any sweet dish that sets after boiling, baking, or steaming became known as a "pudding" -- but so too did many savoury dishes that happen to be baked, steamed, or boiled and also take the shape of their casing or container, e.g. Yorkshire pudding as mentioned just above, or the blood sausage known as 'black pudding'[[/note]]. It's a very dark, rich, curranty, spiced, booze-soaked suet pudding (a dense, bulbous sort of steamed cakey thing) made with a lot of dried fruit, nuts and alcohol, generally cooked by steaming the mixture in a cloth wrapping or pudding basin for hours on end. May contain silver [[UsefulNotes/OldBritishMoney sixpences]] (no longer legal tender) and other trinkets to give luck and major dental damage to whoever bites into the damned things -- although if this is the case, they tend to be slipped in when the pudding is being served (so the kids get them) rather than cooked along with it. Tradition is to spoon yet more warmed alcohol, usually brandy, over it once more for good luck immediately before serving, darken the room and then set the whole thing alight for a spectacular entrance. Providing fabrics, hair and especially eyebrows are covered, you don't trip bringing it in and everyone maintains an 8ft blast radius, this will safely provoke "oohs" and "aahs" and add those pleasingly tangy top-notes of ethanol and charcoal. If this has an ancient meaning, most have forgotten it.\\

'''Christmas cake:'''[[note]]([[ChristmasCake no, not this kind]], although it is the dish which inspired the alternate use of the term)[[/note]] A dark fruitcake covered thickly in marzipan and then white icing (frosting), often whipped into a stiff snowscape. For this 'royal icing' tends to be used, which includes egg whites so it sets more crunchily and solidly than regular icing (anywhere on a scale from 'fetch the hacksaw' to 'industrial laser required'), and into which small decorative Santas, reindeer, robins, holly leaves, 'Happy Christmas' signs, snowmen etc. may be cemented. These will be of varying antiquity and wildly out of scale, hence scenes of Santa being menaced by a ten-foot robin and the like. Christmas cake is widely considered inedible yet equally widely considered delicious, much like its puddingy sibling: most slices have to be forcibly and messily dismembered for the benefit of that one person who wants marzipan but hates icing, the one who wants icing but hates marzipan, the one who wants both but hates the cake, etc. As with 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 a low oven for anywhere up to about 48 hours. Simply called fruitcake in the US, much the same tradition except nobody cooks it and [[EveryoneHatesFruitcakes everybody hates it]].

* And after that, there may well be some cheese and biscuits. At this point, you can expect the port to come out (if it hasn't already done so) to accompany the stilton.

* Another traditional Christmas drink, at least in the south-east is the "snowball", which consists of a creamy liqueur from UsefulNotes/TheNetherlands named Advocaat (roughly the [[UsefulNotes/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 ''Series/GoodEats'' episode 913 -- though this is often forgotten. Blame Prohibition.) [[/note]]) mixed with lemonade to dilute it, followed by further dilution with freshly crushed ice, plus a dusting of icing sugar to achieve that 'snowy effect'. This cocktail is fondly enjoyed by both adults and children, seeing how at Christmas the drinking age seems to drop to about 5 so long as you're in the house and out of sight.[[note]](In point of fact, [[UsefulNotes/BritishLaws the legal drinking age in the United Kingdom]] ''[[UsefulNotes/BritishLaws is]]'' [[UsefulNotes/BritishLaws 5]], if the child is at home and under parental supervision or equivalent. [[Creator/MichaelCaine Not many]] [[BeamMeUpScotty people know that]]. Or care for that matter.)[[/note]] Snowballs are commonly served to just about everyone in the house on Christmas Eve; the advocaat provides a nice warming sensation, and one or two glasses should be enough to floor even the most difficult of children or insomniacs and have them sleeping peacefully until it's time to see what Father Christmas has left on Christmas Day. 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 most if not all of the following: 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 said lights should be white, single-colour or multicoloured [[note]] the giant Trafalgar Square tree in central London, effectively the 'nation's Christmas tree', used to have multicoloured lights, but now it has white ones because that's the tradition in Norway, the annual donors of the tree; this happens as a mark of gratitude for Britain's support of Norway during the Second World War[[/note]]; what to drink when opening presents; when children get to open their first presents; whether they are 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) or more than one of the above; whether everyone other than the designated cook goes to the pub while the dinner is being prepared, or mucks in to help peel potatoes; the point in the day at which the crackers are to be pulled; whether the King's Christmas Message (see below) gets watched or not; whether post-dinner family parlour games (charades, etc), board games (Monopoly, Ludo, etc), card games and/or carol singing sessions are jolly fun or hell incarnate. For people in new relationships, all of this will get fraught, as it will likely be the first time one of the couple is spending Christmas away from his or her own family, in addition to which it can be reasonably expected that no two sets of families will have traditions that match. Even slightly. (To get the general idea, read Creator/TerryPratchett's ''Literature/{{Hogfather}}'').[[/folder]]

* The ''Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols'' is a service based around [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin nine readings]] from Literature/TheBible, from the Fall of Man to the birth of UsefulNotes/{{Jesus}}; in churches, these are usually read by various members of the congregation, with the last one being read by TheVicar. This service is particularly associated with King's College, [[UsefulNotes/{{Oxbridge}} Cambridge]] where it is held on Christmas Eve and broadcast live on [[Creator/TheBBC Radio Four]]. On TV, there's ''Carols from King's'' which is pre-recorded.

* 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 ''Magazine/RadioTimes'' bumper edition, naturally).
* As far as Christmas movies are concerned, expect to see the likes of ''Film/ItsAWonderfulLife'', ''Film/MiracleOnThirtyFourthStreet'' (both versions), ''Film/{{Elf}}'', ''Film/BadSanta'', ''Film/LoveActually'' and many more among the listings. Oh, and there will be ''at least'' three or four [[YetAnotherChristmasCarol versions]] of ''Literature/AChristmasCarol'' on the terrestrial channels alone. The exact ones vary, but ''Film/{{Scrooge|1951}}'' (the Creator/AlastairSim one) is usually among them and [[Film/TheMuppetChristmasCarol the Muppet adaptation]] -- voted [[GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff the nation's 2nd favourite Christmas film]] after ''It's a Wonderful Life'' in a 2011 ''Magazine/RadioTimes'' poll -- are practically guaranteed.
* Many, ''many'' thematically-unrelated movies have nonetheless become staples of the season -- ''Film/{{ET|The Extraterrestrial}}'', ''Film/{{Casablanca}}'', ''Film/BriefEncounter'', the original ''Franchise/ThePinkPanther'' films with Creator/PeterSellers, ''Film/TheGreatEscape'' (which is almost a certainty for Boxing Day), ''Film/SixThreeThreeSquadron'', a few of the ''[[Film/CarryOnSeries Carry On]]'' films, at least one [[Film/JamesBond Bond]] film [[note]] of these, ''Film/OnHerMajestysSecretService'' is the only one that's explicitly set during the festive period[[/note]], an Franchise/IndianaJones film, etc. Interestingly, during its rather untrendy period in the late 1980s and early '90s, the original ''Franchise/StarWars'' trilogy definitely fell into this category, having become a much less common sight before it became cool again.
** One or more ''Film/HarryPotter'' films come as standard between Christmas Day and New Year's Day.
** One or more of the ''WesternAnimation/WallaceAndGromit'' films. In 2008, the UK premiere of ''WesternAnimation/AMatterOfLoafAndDeath'' was the highest-rated programme on Christmas Day.
** ''WesternAnimation/ChickenRun'' usually shows up somewhere in there. It's ''Film/TheGreatEscape'' for kids, made by the people behind ''WesternAnimation/WallaceAndGromit''; what did you expect?
** Creator/MichaelCaine appears to be a rather incongruous festive favourite (making him all the more perfect in ''Film/TheMuppetChristmasCarol'') -- usually a toss up between ''Film/{{Zulu}}'' and ''[[Film/TheItalianJob1969 The Italian Job]]''. It's more or less 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.
** ''Franchise/PiratesOfTheCaribbean'' has begun to make appearances.
* The Hollywood adaptation of ''Literature/TheLionTheWitchAndTheWardrobe'' will crop up at some point.

** What with it being set on Christmas Eve, ''Film/DieHard'' usually makes an appearance somewhere. Expect some debate about whether it really counts as a Christmas movie; some people (mostly men) say it is, others (mostly women) would beg to differ [[note]] curiously, although it is also set around Christmas, ''[[Film/LethalWeapon1987 Lethal Weapon]]'' has never really been thought of as a Christmas movie to the extent that ''Die Hard'' is[[/note]]. Among its fans, there are those who don't consider it to be Christmas until Hans Gruber has left the building.

* The '''Royal Christmas Message''', informally known as the King's Speech or the Queen's Speech (depending on the monarch), originated on the radio in 1932, with [[UsefulNotes/TheHouseOfWindsor George V]] doing the honours (you can see a dramatization of him doing it in ''Film/TheKingsSpeech''). These days, it's broadcast on the terrestrial TV channels BBC One and [=ITV=] (as well as Sky News) at 3pm and is basically the current monarch making a short to-camera speech to the country and UsefulNotes/TheCommonwealth (over clips of them 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."). While it was originally presented live, it has since become a pre-recorded message; UsefulNotes/ElizabethII, who of course did it for many years (and was the first monarch to do it on TV) was at one point nicknamed "One-Take Windsor" by various camera crews for the minimal amount of fuss it took for her to shoot the speech. Once, the text was leaked to [[UsefulNotes/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 mince pie crumbs from her chin, quickly swaps a paper crown with her tiara and delivers a live off-the-cuff monologue to her subjects. Later on the Queen, being something of a technophile, would spread the message on the royal Website/YouTube and via podcast as well as on TV. In 2012's broadcast, she appeared for the first time in 3D!\\

** In Scotland, The Queen's Speech is a bit more divisive/apathy-inspiring on average than it is Down South. The moment of cultural unity described above was much more likely to be found during the late comedian Rikki Fulton's ''Last Call'' monologue, which was shown on Hogmanay until 1999. It has had its [[SpiritualSuccessor Spiritual Successors]] with ''Series/ChewinTheFat'' and ''Series/OnlyAnExcuse'', but people generally agree that neither of them have quite managed to recapture the magic.
** The Speech is shown 'live' (the same time it is shown in the UK at least) in the USA on [[http://www.c-spanvideo.org/program/Messagef CSPAN apparently]]
** In 1993, as part of its "Christmas in New York" season, Creator/ChannelFour broadcast "The Alternative Queen's Message", made by veteran and pioneering FlamboyantGay Quentin Crisp (a British expat in New York from 1981 until his death in 1999), to run parallel to the Queen's speech on the other channels. Retitled "The Alternative Christmas Message", it has since become an annual tradition, featuring a wide range of (usually controversial) celebrities and public figures touching on a number of issues. Previous presenters have included the parents of hate-crime murder victim Stephen Lawrence; a 9/11 survivor; the Rev. Jesse Jackson; and Sharon Osbourne (wife of Music/{{Ozzy|Osbourne}}). 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. 2013's alternative message came from American National Security Agency 'whistleblower' Edward Snowden, and regardless of one's feelings towards him, his surname is quite fitting for how (northern hemisphere) Christmas gets depicted on greeting cards. In 2004, {{WesternAnimation/The Simpsons}} delivered the speech (in the form of a specially made 5-minute short); this was in itself something of a TakeThat to the BBC, as Channel 4 had won the terrestrial rights to the show (which had previously been broadcast in Britain on [=BBC2=])a few months earlier.

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

* ''Series/DoctorWho'' did an hour-long Christmas special every year from 2005-2017 -- [[NewerThanTheyThink many people were surprised]] when it was pointed out that this tradition only started with Creator/DavidTennant's tenure as the title character. These specials at least took place at Christmas, with the 2010 special for instance being a sci-fi, time-travelling retelling of ''Literature/AChristmasCarol'' complete with Michael Gambon, Welsh mezzo-soprano Music/KatherineJenkins and a flying sky-shark. It became customary for an outgoing Doctor's final story to be that year's Christmas special: David Tennant, Matt Smith and Peter Capaldi all regenerated into their next incarnation in 2010[[note]]this was a two-part story, which started on Christmas Day 2009 and concluded on New Year's Day 2010[[/note]], 2013 and 2017.[[note]]Christopher Eccleston regenerated at the end of the first revived series, with David Tennant's first full episode being that year's special.[[/note]] From 2019-2021, a new episode starring Creator/JodieWhittaker's Doctor would premiere on New Year's Day, effectively carrying on the tradition.

* 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 ''Magazine/RadioTimes'' bumper edition, naturally). Expect to see the likes of ''Film/ItsAWonderfulLife'', ''Film/MiracleOnThirtyFourthStreet'' (both versions), ''Film/{{Elf}}'', ''Film/BadSanta'', ''Film/LoveActually'' and many more among the listings.
** There will be ''at least'' three or four [[YetAnotherChristmasCarol versions]] of ''Literature/AChristmasCarol'' on the terrestrial channels alone. The exact ones vary, but ''Film/{{Scrooge|1951}}'' (the Creator/AlastairSim one) is usually among them and [[Film/TheMuppetChristmasCarol the Muppet adaptation]] -- voted [[GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff the nation's 2nd favourite Christmas film]] after ''It's a Wonderful Life'' in a 2011 ''Magazine/RadioTimes'' poll -- is practically guaranteed.
* Many, ''many'' thematically-unrelated movies have nonetheless become staples of the season -- ''Film/{{ET|The Extraterrestrial}}'', ''Film/{{Casablanca}}'', ''Film/BriefEncounter'', the original ''Franchise/ThePinkPanther'' films with Creator/PeterSellers, ''Film/TheGreatEscape'' (which is almost a certainty for Boxing Day), ''Film/SixThreeThreeSquadron'', a few of the ''[[Film/CarryOnSeries Carry On]]'' films, at least one [[Film/JamesBond Bond]] film [[note]] of these, ''Film/OnHerMajestysSecretService'' is the only one that's explicitly set during the festive period[[/note]], an Franchise/IndianaJones film, etc. Interestingly, during its rather untrendy period in the late 1980s and early '90s, the original ''Franchise/StarWars'' trilogy definitely fell into this category, having become a much less common sight before it became cool again. One or more ''Film/HarryPotter'' films come as standard between Christmas Day and New Year's Day.

* The Hollywood adaptation of ''Literature/TheLionTheWitchAndTheWardrobe'' will crop up at some point.

* The Royal Christmas Message, informally known as the King's Speech or the Queen's Speech (depending on the monarch) and originated by [[UsefulNotes/TheHouseOfWindsor George V]] in 1932 (you can see a dramatization of him doing it in ''Film/TheKingsSpeech''), it's broadcast on the terrestrial TV channels BBC One and [=ITV=], as well as Sky News, at 3pm and is basically the current monarch making a short to-camera speech to the country and UsefulNotes/TheCommonwealth (over clips of them 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."). While it was originally presented live, it has since become a pre-recorded message; UsefulNotes/ElizabethII, who of course did it for many years (and was the first monarch to do it on TV) was at one point nicknamed "One-Take Windsor" by various camera crews for the minimal amount of fuss it took for her to shoot the speech. Once, the text was leaked to [[UsefulNotes/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 mince pie crumbs from her chin, quickly swaps a paper crown with her tiara and delivers a live off-the-cuff monologue to her subjects. Later on the Queen, being something of a technophile, would spread the message on the royal Website/YouTube and via podcast as well as on TV. In 2012's broadcast, she appeared for the first time in 3D!\\

*** ** There will be ''at least'' three or four [[YetAnotherChristmasCarol versions]] of ''Literature/AChristmasCarol'' on the terrestrial channels alone. The exact ones vary, but ''Film/{{Scrooge|1951}}'' (the Creator/AlastairSim one) is usually among them and [[Film/TheMuppetChristmasCarol the Muppet adaptation]] -- voted [[GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff the nation's 2nd favourite Christmas film]] after ''It's a Wonderful Life'' in a 2011 ''Magazine/RadioTimes'' poll -- is practically guaranteed.
** Many, ''many'' thematically-unrelated movies have nonetheless become staples of the season -- ''Film/{{ET|The Extraterrestrial}}'', ''Film/{{Casablanca}}'', ''Film/BriefEncounter'', the original ''Franchise/ThePinkPanther'' films with Creator/PeterSellers, ''Film/TheGreatEscape'' (which is almost a certainty for Boxing Day), ''Film/633Squadron'', a few of the ''[[Film/CarryOnSeries Carry On]]'' films, at least one [[Film/JamesBond Bond]] film [[note]] of these, ''Film/OnHerMajestysSecretService'' is the only one that's explicitly set during the festive period[[/note]], an Franchise/IndianaJones film, etc. Interestingly, during its rather untrendy period in the late 1980s and early '90s, the original ''Franchise/StarWars'' trilogy definitely fell into this category, having become a much less common sight before it became cool again. One or more ''Film/HarryPotter'' films come as standard between Christmas Day and New Year's Day.

[[/note]]) is understandably fond of this tradition, though nowadays the American idea of the North Pole as Santa's home is increasingly taking over. The fact that Turkey, where the original Saint Nicholas lived, is a mostly Muslim country is probably what has prevented it from attempting to get in on the tourist dollars, not to mention being a bit too hot.

'''Family traditions'''. Expect feelings to run high over most if not all of the following: 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 said lights should be white, single-colour or multicoloured [[note]] the giant Trafalgar Square tree in central London, effectively the 'nation's Christmas tree', used to have multicoloured lights, but now it has white ones because that's the tradition in Norway, the annual donors of the tree; this happens as a mark of gratitude for Britain's support of Norway during the Second World War[[/note]]; what to drink when opening presents; when children get to open their first presents; whether they are 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) or more than one of the above; whether everyone other than the designated cook goes to the pub while the dinner is being prepared, or mucks in to help peel potatoes; the point in the day at which the crackers are to be pulled; whether the Queen's Christmas Message (see below) gets watched or not; whether post-dinner family parlour games (charades, etc), board games (Monopoly, Ludo, etc), card games and/or carol singing sessions are jolly fun or hell incarnate. For people in new relationships, all of this will get fraught, as it will likely be the first time one of the couple is spending Christmas away from his or her own family, in addition to which it can be reasonably expected that no two sets of families will have traditions that match. Even slightly. (To get the general idea, read Creator/TerryPratchett's ''Literature/{{Hogfather}}'').[[/folder]]

* All details are to be found in TV listings magazines like the ''Magazine/RadioTimes'', the Christmas edition of which covers a two-week period [[note]] whether or not this includes New Year varies as coverage always starts on a Saturday; the 2021 edition, for example, covers Saturday 18th December to Friday 31st December, while for the 2022 edition it's Saturday 24th December to Friday 6th January[[/note]]. 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 WesternAnimation/WallaceAndGromit. 2012's starred ComicBook/TheSnowman (see below). Although the ''RT'' runs year-round, with the dawn of Electronic Programme Guides many families will ''only'' buy a copy for Christmas, if at all. In many households it is then traditional to attack the magazine with coloured markers, in order to get all the arguments about things that are on at the same time done in advance.

* 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 ''Magazine/RadioTimes'' bumper edition, naturally). In addition, while the usual Christmas-themed films (from ''Film/ItsAWonderfulLife'' and ''Film/MiracleOnThirtyFourthStreet'' (both versions) to ''Film/{{Elf}}'' and ''Film/BadSanta'') will inevitably be on, many thematically-unrelated ones have nonetheless become staples of the season -- ''Film/{{ET|The Extraterrestrial}}'', ''Film/{{Casablanca}}'', ''Film/BriefEncounter'', the original ''Franchise/ThePinkPanther'' films with Creator/PeterSellers, ''Film/TheGreatEscape'' (which is almost a certainty for Boxing Day), a few of the ''[[Film/CarryOnSeries Carry On]]'' films, a [[Film/JamesBond Bond]] film, an Franchise/IndianaJones film, etc. Interestingly, during its rather untrendy period in the late 1980s and early '90s, the original ''Franchise/StarWars'' trilogy definitely fell into this category, having become a much less common sight before it became cool again.

** One or more ''Film/HarryPotter'' films come as standard over between Christmas Eve and New Years Day.

** ''At least'' three or four [[YetAnotherChristmasCarol versions]] of ''Literature/AChristmasCarol'' will be shown on the terrestrial channels alone. The exact ones vary, but ''Film/{{Scrooge|1951}}'' (the Creator/AlastairSim one) is usually among them and [[Film/TheMuppetChristmasCarol the Muppet adaptation]] -- voted [[GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff the nation's 2nd favourite Christmas film]] after ''Film/ItsAWonderfulLife'' in a 2011 ''Magazine/RadioTimes'' poll -- is practically guaranteed.

** ''Film/DieHard'', being set at Christmas, usually makes an appearance somewhere on one or more of the lesser Freeview channels. Some people don't consider it to be Christmas until Hans Gruber has left the building.

* The Royal Christmas Message, informally known as the King's Speech or the Queen's Speech and originated by [[UsefulNotes/TheHouseOfWindsor George V]] in 1932 (you can see a dramatization of him doing it in ''Film/TheKingsSpeech''), it's broadcast on the terrestrial TV channels BBC One and [=ITV=], as well as Sky News, at 3pm and is basically the current monarch ([[UsefulNotes/HMTheQueen Queen Elizabeth]] for many, many years) making a short to-camera speech to the country and UsefulNotes/TheCommonwealth (over clips of them 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."). While it was originally presented live, it has since become a pre-recorded message and the Queen at some point in time had been dubbed "One-Take Windsor" by various camera crews for the minimal amount of fuss it took for her to shoot the speech. Once, the text was leaked to [[UsefulNotes/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 mince pie crumbs from her chin, quickly swaps a paper crown with her tiara and delivers a live off-the-cuff monologue to her subjects. Later on the Queen, being something of a technophile, would spread the message on the royal Website/YouTube and via podcast as well as on TV. In 2012's broadcast, she appeared for the first time in 3D!\\

** In 1993, as part of its "Christmas in New York" season, Creator/ChannelFour broadcast "The Alternative Queen's Message", made by veteran and pioneering FlamboyantGay Quentin Crisp (a British expat in New York from 1981 until his death in 1999), to run parallel to the Queen's speech on the other channels. Retitled "The Alternative Christmas Message", it has since become an annual tradition, featuring a wide range of (usually controversial) celebrities and public figures touching on a number of issues. Previous presenters have included the parents of hate-crime murder victim Stephen Lawrence; a 9/11 survivor; the Rev. Jesse Jackson; and Sharon Osbourne (wife of Music/{{Ozzy|Osbourne}}). 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. 2013's alternative message came from American National Security Agency 'whistleblower' Edward Snowden, and regardless of one's feelings towards him, his surname is quite fitting for how (northern hemisphere) Christmas gets depicted on greeting cards. In 2004, {{WesternAnimation/The Simpsons}} delivered the speech (in the form of a specially made 5-minute short); a few months earlier Channel 4 had won the terrestrial rights to the show from BBC Two.

'''Special church services'''. 'Christingle' is 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, [[UsefulNotes/TheHouseOfWindsor the monarchs]] of the era [[UsefulNotes/QueenVictoria originally]] being [[UsefulNotes/TheHouseOfHanover German]] and all), it was brought into the UK by the Children's Society charity 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, 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]]. Expect plenty of ''"Peace be with you"''s and a somewhat pleasant smell of burning cinnamon to be found.

On Christmas Eve evening comes the Crib Service, another children-centric service, which sees the 'Blessing of the Crib' and where the church's Nativity crib scene is completed as a Baby Jesus figure is placed in the manger. May well be standing room only, as it's quite short, the carols are familiar and easy "Away In A Manger"-type, it doesn't involve either staying up late or getting up on Christmas morning, and the timing means little kids can be packed off to bed after getting home from it.

Last thing on Christmas Eve there's 'Midnight Mass' to see in the Yuletide over midnight, like a sort of Anglican/Catholic hogmanay. In The Church of UsefulNotes/{{Scotland}} it's quite a big deal, it's called Watch-night and because of the way the Kirk is there it's not mass. Midnight services are attended by large numbers of people both young and old; there will inevitably be a fair few revellers who've come straight from an evening in the pub, while some families bring their still wide-eyed children, with the intent of tiring them out enough for them to be too exhausted to wake up screaming for presents at 5 o'clock the next morning.

On Christmas Day itself British churches will be (relatively) crammed with congregations several times their normal size, as all the "Christmas-and-Easter" goers remember that they're religious for an hour or so. In the Church of England, this gives rise to the happy abbreviation "C-and-E C-of-E" for such twice-a-year attendees [[note]] outside those two major religious festivals, such people will only be found in a church for "hatching, matching and dispatching" - or, in other words, baptisms, weddings and funerals[[/note]].

* '''Brussels sprouts:''' A (literally) bitterly divisive foodstuff. These are small green vegetables, essentially miniscule cabbages, somewhere between ball bearings and golf balls in size, hardness and edibility. People either love or really, really, really hate them. This is largely because they contain a foul-tasting chemical that many people ''genetically lack the ability to taste'': generally those who do not like sprouts are the ones who can taste it.[[note]]"Largely," because even people who ''can't'' taste the chemical and ''do'' like sprouts in general terms will dislike them if you treat them wrong, which generally means overcooking them--and it is very easy to overcook sprouts, especially if you're boiling them, where they can be reduced to little more than greenish slimy mush if particularly unlucky. Sautéing the sprouts usually works better for those who actually enjoy them; there was a vogue for sprouts sautéed with bacon fat around 2010ish. In recent years, a variant has been released that claims not to contain this chemical.[[/note]] Whilst other veg does get served at Christmas, these are a particular requirement unique to the festive season, as lampshaded in the Christmas episode of ''Bottom'', believe it or not [[note]] if you really must, check out the quotes at the topic of said episode's [[Recap/BottomHoly recap page]][[/note]]. Why they are named after the capital of Belgium, meanwhile, remains a mystery. %% Resist the temptation to defend or decry this vegetable here. Previous Tropers have had this problem. %%

'''Boxing Day''' is the day after Christmas, and is mostly used to get over Christmas; it has nothing to do with [[UsefulNotes/{{Boxing}} pugilism]]. ''Technically'', the 26th of December is St. Stephen's Day, named for the First Martyr (which is why his feast day is the day after Christmas) of Christianity, and hence the mention of "the Feast of Stephen" in the carol ''Good King Wenceslas''. It is worth noting that Boxing Day in contrast is officially not always the 26th, as it was (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 you can safely ignore this technicality, as in practice the name is almost universally applied to 26th December.

If you haven't partied hard enough, after recovering in the few days after Boxing Day it's time for New Year's Eve. This consists of either a party round someone's house at which various friend, relatives and neighbours are invited, or a very crowded night down the pub. Either way, the trick is to pace yourself so as not to pass out before midnight, when the music is turned down and the TV turned up so everyone can welcome in the New Year by listening to the chimes of Big Ben [[note]] that being the nickname of the Great Bell of the Great Clock of Westminster, located at the north end of the Palace of Westminster (a.k.a. the Houses of Parliament) -- although the nickname is often extended to refer to the clock itself, if not the whole tower; the official name of the latter used to be the Clock Tower, but it was renamed the Elizabeth Tower in 2012 to mark the Diamond Jubilee of Elizabeth II[[/note]] and then hugging and kissing anyone in the immediate vicinity. Basically, the chimes of Big Ben (sometimes referred to as "the bongs") are the London equivalent of New York's Times Square ball drop. And yes, quite a few people do chose to head down to Central London to hear the chimes in person and then watch the fireworks on the Thames before the long journey home (the Tube runs through the night, and actually offers free travel between 11:45pm on New Year's Eve and 4:30am on New Year's Day).

'''Boxing Day''' is the day after Christmas, and is mostly used to get over Christmas; it has nothing to do with [[UsefulNotes/{{Boxing}} pugilism]]. ''Technically'', the 26th of December is "St. Stephen's Day", named for the First Martyr (which is why his feast day is the day after Christmas) of Christianity, and hence the mention of "the Feast of Stephen" in the carol ''Good King Wenceslas''. "Boxing Day" in contrast is officially not always the 26th, as it was (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 you can safely ignore this technicality, as in practice the name is almost universally applied to December 26th.

* ''Sport'' - Sporting calendars put on hiatus for Christmas Day get back up and running, giving many a good excuse to get out of the house. There's invariably a full programme of [[UsefulNotes/AssociationFootball football]] and [[UsefulNotes/RugbyUnion rugby]] matches nationwide, as well as several UsefulNotes/HorseRacing meetings (take your pick between the King George VI Chase at Kempton Park and the Welsh Grand National at Chepstow). If there's an [[UsefulNotes/{{Cricket}} Ashes series]] going on in Australia, there will be a Boxing Day Test match, and it will be held in Melbourne [[note]] although given the time difference, you'd need to stay up late on Christmas Day to catch the start[[/note]]. For some reason, the sport of boxing has never held events to exploit the naming coincidence.
* ''Great British Eccentricity'' - There is an annual act of lunacy in [[OppNorth Sunderland]] known as the Boxing Day Dip, which involves around a thousand nutters running into the North Sea, some people doing so in fancy dress[[note]]Essentially like a British version of the New Year's Day Polar Bear Dip in North America[[/note]]. Some people do this elsewhere. The one in [[UsefulNotes/{{Wales}} Tenby]] usually attracts around 600 swimmers. Over in London, the swimming club at the Serpentine (a long [[MeaningfulName snake-shaped]] pond in Hyde Park), has an annual race, although they do it on Christmas Eve and entry is restricted to club members who've been swimming there all year round (and so are accustomed to open-air swimming in the middle of winter). In Edinburgh, meanwhile, it's known as the ''Loony Dook'' and is done on New Year's Day at Queensferry (the beach near the Forth Rail Bridge) as a charity event. Across the Irish Sea in Dublin, it's done at the "Forty Foot" -- traditionally ''naked''.

If you haven't partied hard enough, after recovering in the few days after Boxing Day it's time for New Year's Eve. This consists of either a party round someone's house at which various friend, relatives and neighbours are invited, or a very crowded night down the pub. Either way, the trick is to pace yourself so as not to pass out before midnight, when the music is turned down and the TV turned up so everyone can welcome in the New Year by listening to the chimes of Big Ben [[note]] that being the is the nickname of the Great Bell of the Great Clock of Westminster, located at the north end of the Palace of Westminster -- although the nickname is often extended to refer to the clock itself, if not the whole tower; the official name of the latter used to be the Clock Tower, but it was renamed the Elizabeth Tower in 2012 to mark the Diamond Jubilee of Elizabeth II[[/note]] and then hugging and kissing anyone in the immediate vicinity. There are also those who chose to head down to Central London to hear the chimes in person and then watch the fireworks on the Thames before the long journey home.

Up in UsefulNotes/{{Scotland}}, there are some differing traditions. Christmas is traditionally seen as being less important (it used to be quite common for people to ''work on Christmas Day''), with the emphasis instead being placed on New Year's Eve, which is known as Hogmanay. Hogmanay is, more or less, a gigantic booze-up. Cèilidh music and the singing of "Auld Lang Syne" are also very common. Street parties are held -- most famously in Edinburgh -- and BBC Scotland has an evening of programmes dedicated to it. Both New Year's Day and 2nd January are Bank Holidays in Scotland, basically to deal with the almighty hangovers that result from this.
* A Hogmanay tradition that's dying out is that of 'First Footing', by which you're not allowed to leave your house after midnight has struck until someone -- the 'first footer' -- has visited your house. This visitor sometimes comes with a gift (traditionally, a lump of coal) and is given a dram of whisky.

* Alternatively, one can just opt for a trifle instead which may or may not contain some alcoholic beverage, preferably sherry – the kind that the grandparents like – and fruit encased in jelly, topped with sponge, thick custard, double cream and possibly chocolate sprinkles because you can never have too many calories at Christmas.[[/folder]]

* All details are to be found in the likes of the ''Magazine/RadioTimes'' TV listings magazine's Christmas bumper edition which covers a two-week period [[note]] whether or not this includes New Year varies as coverage always starts on a Saturday; the 2021 edition, for example, covers Saturday 18th December to Friday 31st December[[/note]]. 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 WesternAnimation/WallaceAndGromit. 2012's starred ComicBook/TheSnowman (see below). Although the ''RT'' runs year-round, with the dawn of Electronic Programme Guides many families will ''only'' buy a copy for Christmas, if at all. In many households it is then traditional to attack the magazine with coloured markers, in order to get all the arguments about things that are on at the same time done in advance.

* ''Leftovers:'' Everything you didn't manage to eat on Christmas Day will be served today. The carcass of the Christmas turkey and the scattered remains of the rest of the previous day's orgy of feasting will on Boxing Day be rendered into consumables weird and wonderful. Common formats are enormous [[DagwoodSandwich shove-it-all-in sandwiches]], stews, broths, omelettes (yes, really), bubble-and-squeak (leftover potatoes and vegetables chopped into small bits, mixed together and shallow-fried), and, as Britain becomes more multicultural, curries. Also common among the well-heeled is eating out in a restaurant on Boxing Day, as the cooks in the family will likely be less than enthusiastic about making anything after the epic stress that was the previous day's cuisine.
* ''Sport:'' Sporting calendars put on hiatus for Christmas Day get back up and running, giving many a good excuse to get out of the house. There's invariably a full programme of [[UsefulNotes/AssociationFootball football]] and [[UsefulNotes/RugbyUnion rugby]] matches nationwide, as well as several UsefulNotes/HorseRacing meetings (take your pick between the King George VI Chase at Kempton Park and the Welsh Grand National at Chepstow). If there's an [[UsefulNotes/{{Cricket}} Ashes series]] going on in Australia, there will be a Boxing Day Test match, and it will be held in Melbourne [[note]] although given the time difference, you'd need to stay up late on Christmas Day to catch the start[[/note]]. For some reason, the sport of boxing has never held events to exploit the naming coincidence.
* ''Great British Eccentricity:'' There is an 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[[note]]Essentially like a British version of the New Year's Day Polar Bear Dip in North America[[/note]]. Some people (read: lunatics) do this in the south as well. Apparently it's fun. In Edinburgh, it's known as the ''Loony Dook'' and done on New Year's Day at Queensferry (the beach near the Forth Rail Bridge) as a charity event. Across the Irish Sea in Dublin, it's done at the "Forty Foot" -- traditionally ''naked''. A particular club of lunatics in London hold an open-air swimming race in the Serpentine (a long [[MeaningfulName snake-shaped]] pond in Hyde Park) on Christmas Eve. They continue swimming there all year round, apparently, even when they have to break the ice to get in.
* ''Country pursuits:'' A traditional day for horse racing, game shooting and fox [not]-hunting. 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.
* ''Family:'' Maybe you just had Christmas dinner with your very nearest and dearest so that you could have the traditional three helpings of turkey each rather than risk only filling your plate once to make the meagre rations go around. So if you're not shopping, Boxing Day is often the day EVERYBODY comes together, including in-laws and second cousins. They don't just do this with more leftovers, but with various nibbles bought specially for this day as well.
* ''More shopping frenzy!:'' Increasing numbers take advantage of the heavily lowered shopping prices everywhere known as the Boxing Day Sales. This name is the more accurate description of what have traditionally (but no longer accurately) been referred to as the January Sales -- they've gradually crept earlier over recent years, so that December 26th's evening news will nowadays be fronted by features on the hordes of wild-eyed bargain-seizers who were queueing at 7:30am. Some sales finish within a few days and you can expect the adverts for these to crop up round about mid-evening on Christmas Day, or even Christmas Eve. They're getting so early now that the US tradition of Black Friday has been adopted! The same thing is happening to Canadian Boxing Day!
* ''Advertising:'' Boxing Day (or anytime from Christmas Eve night onwards, usually after the shops close) inevitably sees an instantaneous mass changeover in TV advertising -- for weeks beforehand every advert has been all about feasting, drinking and merrymaking, chocolates, perfumes, spirits... then on an instant there is an abrupt and complete switch to nothing but ads for cut-price furniture ('Double Discounted Sofas' ahoy), reduced weekend getaways and celebrity diet plans. Following these adverts is the return of Park (see the Advertising section), starting their plans to ensnare yet more people insecure about their finances for next Christmas. Happy New Year.

* ''King Cake'': Because it wouldn't be a Christmas event without food and drink, there's a special confection made just for the day. Very similar to Christmas cake, the King Cake is lavishly decorated and often has little trinkets hidden inside each slice, normally a set of pre-decimal coins rolled out just for such an occasion. It is worth noting that this custom is not exclusive to Britain; a wide variety of King Cake variations exist across Europe and into the Americas, each with a slightly different style.
* ''Wassailing'': A tradition carried over from the Scandinavian Yule, groups of people travel around with a 'Wassail Bowl' filled with a drink of some sort, normally wine or another alcoholic beverage. The group of people knock on doors and invite people to take from the Wassail Bowl, in return for giving the Wassailers some small gifts. Wassailers may also visit apple orchards, where they bless the trees with mulled cider, so that the next harvest will be plentiful.
* ''Superstitions'': A commonly-held superstition is that while the Christmas decorations must not come down ''before'' Twelfth Night, lest bad luck befall the house for an entire year, they ''must'' come down on Twelfth Night, or the same will happen. If any decorations are left up or even present after Twelfth Night, they must remain on view until the next Twelfth Night begins. Of course, not many people follow this tradition any more, but it's not unusual to see a rogue bauble or strands of tinsel lying around for the rest of the year, having somehow escaped being put back into the loft. Eagle-eyed people may spot houses that still have exterior decorations and Christmas lights up as late as ''June'', the residents simply having forgotten (or being too lazy) to take them down (or being understandably reluctant to do the job in bitter cold weather).

In recent years, a popular game involving Christmas songs on the radio (and in shops, etc) is "Whamageddon", in which you see how long you can last from 1st December ''without'' hearing "Last Christmas", Music/{{WHAM}}'s 1984 effort which was held off the Christmas Number One spot by Band Aid's "Do They Know It's Christmas?". Basically, if you're playing along and you hear "Last Christmas" between 1st December and Christmas Eve, you are out of the game and have to post "#Whamageddon" on social media to indicate that you're out (cover versions and remixes don't count, apparently). Some radio [=DJs=] give their listeners a warning before they play the song, especially in the first two weeks of December.

In recent years, a popular game involving Christmas songs on the radio (and in shops, etc) is "Whamageddon", in which you see how long you can last from 1st December ''without'' hearing "Last Christmas", Music/WHAM's 1984 effort which was held off the Christmas Number One spot by Band Aid's "Do They Know It's Christmas?". Basically, if you're playing along and you hear "Last Christmas" between 1st December and Christmas Eve, you are out of the game and have to post "#Whamageddon" on social media to indicate that you're out (cover versions and remixes don't count, apparently). Some radio [=DJs=] give their listeners a warning before they play the song, especially in the first two weeks of December.

Curiously a few songs are routinely wheeled out that, although not lyrically 'festive', apparently still count due to their originally charting highly around in December and giving off a warm fuzzy feeling -- e.g. Music/FrankieGoesToHollywood's "The Power of Love"[[note]](the band's label produced a Nativity-themed music video to capitalise on its December release in 1984, which contributed to this; a mimsy-pop cover version by Gabrielle Aplin from a Advertising/JohnLewis TV advert (see above) also topped the charts in December 2012, although not at Christmas)[[/note]], or East 17's "Stay Another Day"[[note]](the fuzzy Christmas feeling around this song goes when you realise it's about member Tony Mortimer's brother, who committed suicide)[[/note]], which beat Mariah to the Christmas Number One Single slot in 1994 [[note]]Mariah Carey would eventually top the charts in 2020[[/note]]. The race for this hallowed chart position (and the often ultra-cheesy pretenders thereto) is very much a UK-specific phenomenon, as fairly accurately depicted in the film ''Film/LoveActually''. Despite the wealth of popular Christmas classics to have from the United Kingdom, the country would go over 30 years between Christmas-''themed'' Christmas number ones after Music/CliffRichard's "Saviour's Day" in 1990 (more details follow later in this folder). After that, songs as varied as the ''Series/NoelsHouseParty''-derived novelty "Mr. Blobby" (1993), Music/MichaelJackson's dour GreenAesop "Earth Song" (1995), three consecutive Music/SpiceGirls songs (1996-8), Music/{{Westlife}} covering Music/{{ABBA}}'s "I Have A Dream" (1999), children's TV character ''WesternAnimation/BobTheBuilder'''s "Can We Fix It?" (2000) and Gary Jules' SofterAndSlowerCover of "Mad World" from the soundtrack of ''Film/DonnieDarko'' (2003) have taken the crown.

2017 saw another entirely unremarkable non-TV related, non-charity, non-festive Christmas [=No1=] in the form of Music/EdSheeran's "Perfect". It's been suggested that streaming is increasingly diluting the effect of ''The X-Factor'', 'protest vote' buys and charity singles, because you're not necessarily buying these because you actually want to ''listen'' to them. The 2018 Christmas [=No1=] saw a return to the charity chart-topper when [=LadBaby's=] parody of Music/{{Starship}}'s "We Built This City" extolling the virtues of sausage rolls(!!) saw off the likes of Music/ArianaGrande and Music/AvaMax (the latter's "Sweet but Psycho" had to settle for #2) to claim the top spot. He would have a monopoly on the position, claiming the top spot for Christmas in 2019, 2020 and 2021, with sausage roll-themed parodies of "I Love Rock n Roll"[[note]]"I Love Sausage Rolls"[[/note]] and "Don't Stop Believin'"[[note]]"Don't Stop Me Eatin'"[[/note]], making him one of only three acts (alongside Music/TheBeatles[[note]]who had a fourth Yuletide Number One after a one-year gap[[/note]] and Music/SpiceGirls) to have had three Christmas Number Ones in a row. (Cliff Richard has also appeared on three consecutive Christmas number ones, between 1988 and 1990; however, the second of those is excluded due to his name not being explicitly used - he was one of the acts that appeared on 1989's re-recording of "Do They Know It's Christmas".) In 2021, they would claim a record fourth Christmas chart-topper in a row, having roped in Ed Sheehan and Music/EltonJohn (incidentally knocking their own collaboration off the top) for "Sausage Rolls for Everyone". This was the first Christmas-themed Christmas [=No1=] since 1990 (excluding 2004's re-recording of "Do They Know It's Christmas"), but was the fourth Christmas-themed [=No1=] in a year - again following a 30 year gap between them[[note]]ignoring the 2004 and 2014 re-recordings of "Do They Know It's Christmas"[[/note]] - following Mariah Carey's "All I Want For Christmas Is You", Music/{{Wham}}'s "Last Christmas" and the previously mentioned Ed Sheeran/Elton John collaboration "Merry Christmas" (which the [=LadBaby=] song parodied).

* ''Leftovers:'' Everything you didn't manage to eat on Christmas Day will be served today. The carcass of the Christmas turkey and the scattered remains of the rest of the previous day's orgy of feasting will on Boxing Day be rendered into consumables weird and wonderful. Common formats are enormous [[DagwoodSandwich shove-it-all-in sandwiches]], stews, broths, omelettes (yes, really), bubble-and-squeak (leftover potatoes and vegetables chopped into small bits, mixed together and shallow-fried), and, as Britain becomes more multicultural, stir-fries or curries. Also common among the well-heeled is eating out in a restaurant on Boxing Day, as the cooks in the family will likely be less than enthusiastic about making anything after the epic stress that was the previous day's cuisine.
* ''Sport:'' Sporting calendars put on hiatus for Christmas Day get back up and running: there is generally a full programme of football and rugby matches nationwide, as well as several UsefulNotes/HorseRacing meetings (take your pick between the King George VI Chase at Kempton Park and the Welsh Grand National at Chepstow). If there's an [[UsefulNotes/{{Cricket}} Ashes series]] in Australia, there will be a Boxing Day Test match, and it will be held in Melbourne. For some reason, the sport of boxing has never held events to exploit the naming coincidence.

* ''Sport:'' Sporting calendars put on hiatus for Christmas Day get back up and running: there is generally a full programme of football and rugby games nationwide, as well as horse-racing. For some reason, the sport of boxing has never held events to exploit the naming coincidence.

* The Father Christmas tradition holds that he comes from Lapland (the northern region of Finland), rather than the North Pole as American and Canadian children are taught. Perhaps a little less magical, but slightly less likely to melt, and easier for families who can afford to get to it via plane. And there are actually reindeer there. And ''snow'' -- the British climate generally is rather too temperate to see a real-life 'White Christmas' more than once in a given decade, despite the popular imagery and an annual rush to place bets on the subject. The tourist board of Finland (contested by the Swedish, as the two countries border each other with provinces that are [[NamesTheSame both called Lapland]] and are both inhabited heavily by the Sámi people[[note]]Whom it is impolite to call "Lapps" anymore, but unfortunately there’s no great English-language term for their homeland other than "Lapland"

* Other programmes, particularly sitcoms, will do something special for their ChristmasEpisode (which is referred to as a Christmas Special in Britain) — this can mean simply ramping up the excitement, [[VacationEpisode sending the cast on holiday]] so they're doing the same routine against a different backdrop, spoofing [[AwayInAManger the Nativity]] or [[YetAnotherChristmasCarol a certain work by Charles Dickens]], or just clearly establishing that it's Christmas by way of having some decorations on the set and adding sleigh bells to the theme tune. This applies even if the series no longer runs in its original format. For example, ''Series/TheRoyleFamily'' stopped making new series in 2000, but it made four Christmas specials between 2006 and 2010. ''Series/OnlyFoolsAndHorses'' likewise did numerous Christmas specials in TheNineties after the regular series had ended. Also, every [[PanelGame panel show]] you've ever heard of (and maybe a few you haven't) will do a festive episode. You can also expect plenty of repeats of specials from Christmas Past. Mainstays include ''[[Series/{{Blackadder}} Blackadder's Christmas Carol]]'', that episode of ''Series/TheVicarOfDibley'' in which [[BigEater Geraldine]] ends up having to eat four Christmas dinners in one day, and the Christmas editions of ''Series/MrBean'' [[note]] the one in which he ends up with a turkey on his head, first broadcast in 1992, six years before ''Friends'' did that gag[[/note]], ''Series/FatherTed''and ''Series/DadsArmy''. And, of course, more seasonal episodes of ''Creator/MorecambeAndWise'' and ''Series/TheTwoRonnies'' than you can shake a sprig of holly at.