Known in Britain as a Christmas Special (but that means [[ChristmasSpecial something different]] on this website), the Christmas Episode is a one-off seasonal episode of an ongoing series, typically a comedy or comedy drama. Sometimes the Christmas Episode will be shown in two or three parts over consecutive nights, typically in the build-up to Christmas Day. Only the most popular shows get shown on Christmas Day itself. Note that the Christmas Episode is ''not'' part of an ongoing season, unlike most U.S. shows' episodes that take place on Christmas.

Since it is divorced from its parent show and will probably be seen by a wider audience than usual, the Christmas Episode does not usually rely heavily on continuity, generally just using the core characters (and possibly some of the popular secondary characters). However, it is also often used to set up major changes in continuity, through events such as a Christmas wedding or - and this is a popular one for obvious reasons - [[AwayInAManger a Christmas birth.]] These may then be carried into the next year's season. Alternatively, the Christmas Episode may be the last-ever episode of the series, as happened with the UK version of ''TheOffice'' and ''OnlyFoolsAndHorses'' (although the latter had more Christmas Episodes commissioned afterwards).

In Britain, a more recent variation is a specially recorded Christmas day message which is then run in competition to the Queen's televised Christmas message (recent years have seen announcements from AliG and Marge Simpson). However, since this is breaking the FourthWall, it is not typically part of an actual story.

During the 1980s and 1990s, British Christmas specials usually took place in some decidedly un-Christmassy part of the world such as Florida (''OnlyFoolsAndHorses'') or Majorca (''BirdsOfAFeather''). This has proven unpopular in recent years.

In Soap Operas such as ''EastEnders'' and ''CoronationStreet'' it is traditional for the Christmas Episode to be [[SoaplandChristmas the most depressing of the entire year]]. Which is saying something as Brit Soaps, especially ''EastEnders'', tend to be depressing anyway. It is not uncommon for a long running character to die in Christmas Episodes of this kind, and another occurrence is a disastrous WeddingDay where everything goes wrong and the wedding doesn't occur, or a disastrous Birth where the baby, mother or both die in the process.

See also ChristmasSpecial. Also see YouMeanXMas, where a world where Christmas doesn't exist gets a similar holiday for the purposes of having a ChristmasEpisode.
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!!Examples

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[[folder: Anime ]]


Note that in Japan, Christmas has roughly the same cultural significance as Valentine's Day does in the West -- so Anime Christmas Episodes can have an additional romance theme to them.
* ''DigimonAdventure02'' used the Christmas episode for a RelationshipUpgrade.
* ''KaitouSaintTail''. Interestingly, in the manga, the corresponding chapter had nothing to do with Christmas at all.
* ''TokyoMewMew'' had a two-parter with a Mew Aqua time bomb on top of the giant city Christmas tree. It also inserted foreshadowing for an event in the GrandFinale that also happened in the manga, but there, went unexplained.
* ''MermaidMelodyPichiPichiPitch'', twice. There were actually three episodes that took place on Christmas, but one was plot-important and didn't focus on the holiday itself... [[spoiler: although it did have a Christmas birth.]]
* The second season of ''MagicalGirlLyricalNanoha'' has an episode called "Christmas Eve". It starts out like a Christmas episode up until Nanoha and Fate visit the hospital where Hayate's staying so she won't be alone on Christmas. Little do they know that Hayate's the MoralityPet of their enemies and the [[{{Mana}} mana]] battery for their ArtifactOfDoom...and, well, let's just say ItGotWorse.
** The first Megami Sound Stage takes place on Christmas Eve in A's, although strangely enough, it suggests that after Nanoha and Fate visited Hayate, they went to training without any further problems. In the sound stage, Nanoha and Fate discuss topics like believing in Santa and what they do to celebrate Christmas, in addition to their thoughts on the current situation.
* ''AzumangaDaioh'' had one of these. Complete with Chiyo-Dad as Santa; courtesy of Sakaki's imagination.
** The manga had two.
* There is also one in ''NininGaShinobuden'', in which Kaede shows the {{Ninja}}s the ''true'' meaning of Christmas. HilarityEnsues. (Honestly, that episode is one of the funniest of that series, hands down).
* ''{{Kamichu}}!'' has a Christmas episode. Pretty interesting, considering the show follows the daily life of a Shinto Goddess.
* ''CrayonShinChan'' had an episode with 3 Christmas themed parts, the first being about a troupe of performers coming to Shin's kindergarten class to put on a play, the second about Shin helping his mother (and her firends) give away some gifts and the third about Shin's parents fretting over how they're going to get their son a Christmas present.
* ''KeroroGunsou'' had an episode where Keroro plots to take over the world at Christmas while everyone's guard is down, but everyone drops out one by one. Eventually he goes to help Kogoro by dressing up as Santa and giving away Christmas presents (so as to get onto Santa's good list and to get a present for Christmas).
* AxisPowersHetalia had a special with [[MoeAnthropomorphism Finland]] dressing up as Santa and answering fan mail with his puppy Blood-Smeared Flower Egg. [[spoiler: France then hijacks the special and runs around molesting other countries and forcing them to strip]].
* ''{{Pokemon}}'' had several (this troper remembers getting a VHS with several packaged on it), and one ended up being banned for containing Jynx, perceived by many to be an offensive caricature (but not before it got released to video).
* {{Toradora}} gets a lovely ChristmasEpisode where [[spoiler:all the main school age characters end up alone and probably in tears because they've all been ignored, rejected or rejected someone they did like.]] [[WhamEpisode Merrrrry Christmas! Ho ho ho!]]
** Except for Yuusaku. Nobody who's willing to be in ''that'' costume could possibly be feeling down.
* ''SchoolRumble''. Harima uses Tenma's present for Karasuma as transportation.
* ''LoveHina'''s was a tearjerker.
* The ''DeathNote'' manga had a couple of [[{{Yonkoma}} four-panel cartoons]] with Light and Ryuk. "Since when do {{shinigami}} celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ?"
* [[AiYoriAoshi Ai Yori Aoshi: Enishi]]'s ChristmasEpisode doubled as a ShoutOut to AhMyGoddess.
* [[{{ptitlegynukzwikxmd}} Ranma 1/2]] has one, even though both the Saotomes and Tendos mention that they are Buddhist, though not very devout ones. This effectively makes it more a [[YouMeanXmas X-mas]] event.
** There have also been mentionings of Shinto in the series as well (for example, in one {{Filler}} story, Ukyo is revealed to have a part-time job as a {{Miko}}), but this makes sense given that, as a whole, the Japanese aren't very religious and, in fact, tend to mix and match the two religions to their personal taste. Also, in Japan, because Christianity is almost non-existent, Christmas is pretty much a secular/commercial holiday that was adopted because the Japanese like it.
* In an early YuYuHakusho manga chapter, Yusuke meets the spirit of a girl who fell ill and died while waiting for her boyfriend, Kenji to show up to meet her on Christmas Eve of the previous year, not knowing that she'd been stood up. When Kenji shows up to meet another girl on this Christmas Eve, she realizes that he never cared for her, and Yusuke takes her out for some fun, enabling her to happily pass on. Yusuke then takes revenge on Kenji by pretending to be one of his other girlfriends; when he tries guessing which one, his current girlfriend gets angry after realizing how unfaithful he is.

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[[folder: Comic Books ]]

* ''{{Transformers}} UK'' featured an issue where Optimus Prime got dressed in a Santa suit and Starscream wished a kid Merry Christmas. Yeah.

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[[folder: Literature ]]

*''WarAndPeace'' has a ChristmasEpisode in the [[CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming Christmas festivities of the Rostov family]], during which Nikolai Rostov [[TookALevelInBadass takes a level in Badass during a hunting trip]].
* The WhateleyUniverse did a whole series of Christmas stories, all for Christmas 2006 (when the stories take place). A couple of them even came out at Christmas time, one year or another.
* [[HPLovecraft H.P. Lovecraft]] managed to work his own unique version of a ChristmasEpisode into the CthulhuMythos with a short story called "The Festival", set in a picturesque New England town during the Yule season. This being Lovecraft, expect {{Eldritch Abomination}}s and HighOctaneNightmareFuel aplenty.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Live Action TV ]]

* ''DoctorWho'' makes a point of having its Christmas Episodes be a strong part of the show's continuity, usually following directly on from the previous season's finale. They're also ''very'' Christmassy (although the Killer Santa Robots seem to have been retired). So far they've been: "The Chrismas Invasion", "The Runaway Bride", "Voyage of the Damned", "The Next Doctor", and [[spoiler:"The End of Time" (which looks like it's going to double as a [[TheNthDoctor regeneration]] episode)]].
** Episode 7 of "The Dalek's Master Plan," which was broadcast Christmas Day, had the First Doctor BreakTheFourthWall and wish everyone at home a happy Christmas.
* As mentioned above, the UK version of ''TheOffice'' ended with a special two-part Christmas episode. The show's follow-up ''Extras'' also finished with a feature-length Christmas episode.
* ''TheRoyleFamily'' had a Christmas Episode after its second season which saw Denise giving birth prematurely. The series finished with its next Christmas Episode, though it did come back for a one-off (non-seasonal) special episode six years later and a seasonal one in 2008.
* ''JonathanCreek'' had three Christmas episodes; the first was a typical ''how''dunnit, but the next two both introduced Creek's new companions.
* For three years (1995-1997), ''OneFootInTheGrave'' became a series of nothing ''but'' Christmas Episodes. A concluding series was broadcast in 2000.
* Over the past several years, {{WWE}} has produced a Christmas episode of one of their main shows (either ''Raw'' or ''Smackdown''), in the form of a Christmas-themed wrestling show for the troops in the Middle East.
* Like ''OneFootInTheGrave'', there was a period when ''OnlyFoolsAndHorses'' consisted entirely of Christmas Episodes, in this case between 1991 and 1996 (with a three-parter intended to be the finale). The series later had three more Christmas Episodes from 2001 to 2003.
* Only ''TheXFiles'' would set a Christmas episode in a haunted house and only [[AgentMulder Mulder]] would think staking out said haunted house is a good way to spend Christmas Eve. (This editor couldn't agree more with [[AgentScully Scully's]] take on shopping just before Christmas: "If I'd heard 'Silent Night' one more time, I was going to start taking hostages.")
** Well if that counts, so does the {{Supernatural}} Christmas episode ''A Very Supernatural Christmas''. Evil Santa, sacrifices to gods (and what says Christmas more than watching someone's fingernail be torn off?) and a surprisingly effective ending. Sniff. And a tree decorated with air fresheners and fishing flies.
* Curiously, ''[[{{MASH}} M*A*S*H]]'' had more Christmas Episodes than there were Christmases during the Korean War.
* ''{{Casualty}}'' and its spin-off ''HolbyCity'' (set on the wards of the same hospital) sometimes celebrate Christmas with a {{Crossover}} in which a major disaster requires the entire hospital staff.
* ''{{LazyTown}}'' featured a Christmas episode in its first season. Robbie Rotten even dressed up as Santa as part of his plot to get rid of Sportacus that week.
* ''PowerRangers'' had a Christmas episode in its third and fourth season, as well as a "Video special" named Alpha's Magical Christmas. However, all three are put collectively in the [[DisContinuity Discontinuity]] pile.
* ''ThomasTheTankEngine'' has had a Christmas episode in nearly each of its seasons.
* ''MasterBlasters'' ran a Christmas episode in March of 2008.
* ''MorkAndMindy'' had a Christmas episode in the first season, appropriately titled"Mork's First Christmas" . Notably, there was no report to Orson at the end, and the ending credits ran over footage of Mork sneaking downstairs on Christmas Eve to wait for Santa.
* ''[[{{ptitleolsdue4jfzga}} 30 Rock]]'' has had two Christmas Episodes. The second one was creatively titled "Christmas Special".
* {{Psych}} (and this year, {{Monk}}) have done Christmas specials, British-style one-offs in between seasons.
* {{House}} Christmas Episodes are well-known for being downers but ''Merry Little Christmas'' takes the fricking cake. Wilson has just betrayed House to Tritter and gets hated by everyone for it, he and Cuddy try and force House to take the deal (rehab instead of jail) by making him detox and as for House himself? Well, he detoxes nastily, cuts his arm to avoid the pain in his leg, steals a dead patient's drugs, leaves an answer message for his parents in what can be argued as a suicide note, overdoses on his pills by drinking a ton of alcohol, gets left by Wilson in a pool of his own vomit and when he's [[BreakTheHaughty broken enough to come crawling back to Tritter]], Tritter removes the deal anyway. Good times.
* ''TheBobNewhartShow'' had one in every season of its run. (Conversely, ''{{Newhart}}'' only had one.)
* ''St. Elsewhere'' actually [[AnyoneCanDie killed off Santa Claus]] in its Christmas episode.
* ''[[DiffrentStrokes Diff'rent Strokes]]'' had two, the first of which was also a ClipShow (in the show's very first season!).
* ''BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' used this as the first appearance of season 5's BigBad.
* ''{{Friends}}'' had lots. So did ''WillAndGrace''.
* ''TheCloser'' had a Season 3 Christmas-themed episode, aired in December well after the end of the regular season as a two-hour special.
* ''Scrubs'' had two: My Own Personal Jesus (season 1), and My Best Day (season 4).
* Mystery Science Theater 3000 had two: Santa Claus Conquers the Martians, and Santa Claus.
** The latter had inventions in the invention exchange including the Easy Bake Foundry, Mr. Mashed Potato Head, and Patrick Swayze's Roadhouse Board Game.
* ''Superhuman Samurai Cyber-Squad'' had one. [[spoiler:Kilakon manages to brain fry the team using Christmas lights, Malcom and Jennifer help save the day, Kilakon is defeated, and everyone prompty has their memories of the experience erased by the end.]]
* ''DesigningWomen'' had one which centered around Mary Jo's son being determined to catch Santa Claus in the act, so Suzanne hired a mall Santa to enter Mary Jo's house (''and gave him the key''). Big surprise -- he robbed Mary Jo blind.

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[[folder: Radio ]]

*[[IdiosyncraticEpisodeNaming Fit the Seventh]] of [[Radio/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy ''The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy'']] was commissioned by the BBC as one of these, but ended up having absolutely nothing to do with Christmas as DouglasAdams simply couldn't think of an idea. (Seeing as it was still advertised as a Christmas special, this may well be a subversion.) It was, instead, used as a way of tying the first two phases together--and, as a result, which one it's actually attached to is rather vague. The LP and CD of the Secondary Phase opens with Fit the Seventh, clearing up the confusion.

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[[folder: Video Games ]]

* ''{{Lemmings}}'' had a Christmas-themed MissionPackSequel named ''Xmas Lemmings''.
* Freezeezy Peak in ''{{Banjo-Kazooie}}''.
* ''DonkeyKongCountry 3'' had a unique code that made all the bonus levels Christmas-themed. After finding the Cheat menu, type in MERRY and suddenly the bonus levels will have Christmas music replacing the normal music, Christmas ornaments instead of stars, and presents instead of green bananas.
* The Snowflake Mountain world in ''Diddy Kong Racing''.
* Somebody rang up for some ''{{Unreal}} Tournament 2004'' [[http://www.catchersctf.com/ChristmasMutators Christmas mutators]]?
* ''TheNightmareBeforeChristmas'' level of ''KingdomHearts II''.
* A more literal example would be the ''SamAndMax: Season Two'' premiere ''Ice Station Santa''.
* The final episode of Season 2 of ''[[AmericanMcGeesGrimm American McGee's Grimm]]'' featured Grimm doing his thing to ''AChristmasCarol''.
* {{Folklore}} had a downloadable Christmas Addon with a seasonal side quest and costumes.
* ''JazzJackrabbit'' has a special Christmas "demo", as well as a full Christmas-themed episode.
* [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UzyNB1Jyjqw This]] {{Touhou}} FanVid gives [[TykeBomb Flandre]] a chance to celebrate Christmas.
* Mission twelve of ''EliteBeatAgents'' is set at Christmas, and upon completion, has the text "Merry Christmas" in festive red and green. [[spoiler: it's also [[MoodWhiplash highly depressing.]]]]
* Many games also offer [[DownloadableContent seasonal downloads]], or have [[EasterEgg bonus content]] if you play near to [[ChristmasMode Christmas time.]]

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[[folder: Web Original ]]

* The first season of ''{{lonelygirl15}}'' had one, "Christmas Surprise".
* ''HomestarRunner'' has plenty, although for some odd reason [[YouMeanXMas Free Country, USA celebrates Decemberween instead of Christmas]], where [[HonestJohnsDealership Bubs]] serves Santa duties as either Doctor Christmas or the enigmatic [[PaperThinDisguise Decemberween Thnikkaman]]. In the most recent one, ''A Death-Defying Decemberween'', Homestar announces he's going to sled down the Steep Deep, not so much a hill as a straight drop, and Strong Bad catches him trying to bury a mattress at the base of the hill. Being Strong Bad, he removes the mattress, [[spoiler: only for Homestar to make a perfect landing anyway: turns out the mattress was full of hammers, broken glass and candy canes sucked into points, and Homestar was ''trying'' to maim himself to keep from having to visit [[GranolaGirl Marzipan's parents]]]]. Another notable one is the ''[[ShowWithinAShow Sweet Cuppin' Cakes]]'' Decemberween special, [[WordSaladTitle "Cactus Coffee and the No Tell Motel"]], which declares that the true meaning of Decemberween involves Eh! Steve's mouth exploding the universe and little blond guys doing tiny, tiny dances.

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[[folder: Webcomics ]]

* Irregular Webcomic regularly has Cthulu related christmas comics (frequantly parodies of Christmas carols).
* XKCD had a very funny Christmas special which only showed prime numbered panels, making it sort of a Noodle Incident.

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[[folder: Western Animation ]]

* ''TheVentureBros'' had a special 10-minute Christmas short after its first season.
* ''TheFlintstones'' celebrated Christmas despite living well before the inception of the holiday or any of the holidays Christmas is based on... or, for that matter, before the year Christ was supposedly born.
* ''PinkyAndTheBrain'' had a Christmas episode, aptly titled "A Pinky and the Brain Christmas," which won an Emmy for "Outstanding Animated Program."
* ''InvaderZim'' featured a full half-hour Christmas episode in the form of "The Most Horrible X-Mas Ever." (Thankfully, is still referred to as "Christmas" for most of the episode.) Once the series was canceled, it wound up acting as a sort of series finale.
* The ''JusticeLeague'' episode "Comfort and Joy" was, of course, Christmas-themed. Interestingly, it was the only one-parter episode of the series.
** Martian Manhunter spends Christmas with the Kents, Hawkgirl & Green Lantern go to a bar in another planet and The Flash fights a villain. No Batman and Wonder Woman in sight...
*** And Flash vs. the Ultra-Humanite is the best [=JLA=] Christmas piece ever.
* Despite being shown during late April, the ''TransformersAnimated'' episode "Human Error" occurred during Christmas. Sari introduces the Autobots to Christmas, the Autobots indulge in the Christmas spirit, presents are exchanged and oilnog is drunk...and then it starts getting weird.
* Oddly enough. ''{{Ben 10}}'' managed to have a Christmas episode despite the series occurring over the course of ''summer vacation''. It involves magic, a Christmas-themed amusement park, and the main character's grandfather being mistaken for Santa Claus. We couldn't make something like that up if we tried, folks.
* The episode “Operation: NAUGHTY” in ''[[CodenameKidsNextDoor Codename: Kids Next Door]]'' is . . . well, ''unconventional'' as far as ChristmasEpisodes go. It features a Christmas-themed ''[[XMen X-Men]]'' ShoutOut (including an elf named “Wintergreen” with “claws of solid peppermintium”), a prominent ShipTease, and [[SomethingCompletelyDifferent comic-book-style narration.]] [[SoYeah Yeah...]]
* Both ''BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'' and ''The New Batman Adventures'' had Christmas episodes: "Christmas With the Joker" and "Holiday Knights", respectively.
** ''BatmanTheBraveAndTheBold'' had one as well, "Invasion of the Secret Santas!", which included a sadder interpretation of the deaths of Batman's parents.
* ''KimPossible'' had a Christmas episode, complete with a ShowWithinAShow Christmas special: ''The Six Tasks of Snowman Hank'', of which Ron and Drakken both turned out to be fans, with lots of [[strike: Cocaine]] snow-fueled wackiness. And singing. And dancing. And [[TonightSomeoneKisses mistletoe]].
* ''DannyPhantom'' had "The Fright Before Christmas" with 85% more rhyming.
** And accurate timing!
* ''JackieChanAdventures'' which featured the baddies vs. the heroes who's protecting Santa Claus with the help of his maximum security elves.
* ''TheSimpsons'' has had ''several''. Considering that the cast never gets any older, this gets a bit weird.
** OK OK, let's just say every series is out of continuity with the one before it! You've got to make it work somehow.
** Their very first episode was a Christmas episode!
** Even one of the ''Tracey Ullman Show'' shorts has a Christmas theme.
* The ''DarkwingDuck'' episode ''It's a Wonderful Leaf''. GreenThumb SuperVillain Bushroot turns all the Christmas trees in Saint Canard against their owners.
* ''FairlyOddParents'' had a Christmas episode where Timmy wishes for it to be Christmas everyday. Unfortunately, the other holidays aren't too happy about this...
** Plus they got a new one for season six, "Merry Wishmas".
* XMenEvolution has one where Scott and Rogue (who [[TheNotSecret has a crush on him]]) are the [[ParentalAbandonment only students left at the mansion]] during the holidays. The plot involves them chasing rumors of an "angel" (no, not [[{{Angel}} that one!]]) who's been performing [[WhatDoYouMeanItsNotSymbolic miraculous rescues.]] It all culminates in a big CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming as the characters celebrate in their own way.
* ''{{Rugrats}}'' had two Christmas episodes, a Passover episode, a Hannukah episode, and a Kwanzaa episode. Top that!
* And who can forget the heart warming Critter's Christmas Special of ''SouthPark'' fame? It ends on such a special note, all the characters have grown and live happily ever after [[spoiler: except for Kyle, who dies of [=AIDs=] three weeks later.]]
** ''South Park'' has done a few Christmas episodes before, most of them featuring Mr. Hankey the Christmas Poo.
** In fact, ''South Park'' itself was based on a Christmas-themed animated short made by series creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone called "Jesus vs. Frosty". Years after its creation a Fox executive saw the short and commissioned another one called "Jesus vs. Santa" which became popular on the internet and was the impetus to the creation of the series.
* ''[[TinyToonAdventures It's a Wonderful Tiny Toon Christmas Special]]'' starred Buster Bunny in the WonderfulLife trope.
* {{Mario}}'s animated shows had two: "Koopa Klaus" and "The Night Before Cave Christmas".
* ''DonkeyKongCountry'' had an episode focusing on a very similar holiday, the Kongo Bongo Festival of Lights. (Maybe they called it that because the writers were non-denominational.)
* ''{{Superjail}}'' did a Christmas episode starring a LittlestCancerPatient. It was appropriately horrifying, but - as opposed to 99% of the rest of the show - quite the TearJerker at the same time.
* TazMania had the episode "No Time For Christmas". Among the highlights were the HoYay mistletoe scene, Digeri Dingo showing his soft side near the end and that one crystal teardrop.
* ''TheProudFamily'' had a Kwanzaa episode.
* [[{{Sixteen}} 6teen]] has actually had 3 different Christmas episodes, one each season, even though they never get any older.

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