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First off, a quick update on BritBox’s Christmas schedule. There were a few shows in the December lineup with premiere dates listed as TBA, and they’ve pinned down date.
The 2025 BritBox Christmas schedule is as follows:
• ‘Royal Carols: Together at Christmas’ – December 24
• ‘Beyond Paradise’ S3 Christmas Special – December 25
• ‘The King’s Christmas Address Special’ – December 25
• ‘Motherland’ 2020 Christmas Special – December 27
• ‘Motherland’ 2022 Christmas Special – December 27
• ‘Mrs Brown’s Boys’ 2024 Christmas Special – December 27
• ‘Death in Paradise’ 2025 Christmas Special – December 29
• ‘Gardeners’ World’ 2025 Winter Special – December 31
There are some shows on Britbox for which 2025 specials have been announced, but they are NOT in this lineup - so we can only assume that means they’re probably not coming in December. Sometimes, they show up at the last minute or in January, but you never really know. We’ll keep an eye out for any additional updates they provide.
And of course, it’s worth remembering that many of the shows already on BritBox have Christmas specials from past years. Our last email talked about Christmas/holiday specials in mystery and crime shows, and later in this email, we’ll talk about non-crime dramas (including period dramas).
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THIS WEEK IN BRITISH TV
On BritBox, new episodes of Season 5 of Shakespeare & Hathaway continue on Tuesdays. In addition to the Christmas specials mentioned at the top of this email, they’ll be adding the train-based thriller Nightsleeper on December 26th.
On Acorn TV, new episodes of the Graham Norton Show arrive on Fridays, and the final episode of Season 25 of Midsomer Murders continue on Mondays through the 29th. The Madame Blanc Mysteries Christmas specials arrived on December 15th and 22nd, the month will end with a non-fiction series on the 29th: A Royal Residence, a series about three former royal residences (Althorp House, Hatfield House, and Glamis Castle).
On Netflix, December 24th brings Goodbye June, a family drama set just before Christmas as four adult siblings face an unexpected turn in their mother’s health. It doesn’t sound too cheery, but with a cast that includes Toni Collete, Johnny Flynn, Andrea Riseborough, Timothy Spall, and Stephen Merchant, it could be good. On the 30th, they’ll be adding Ricky Gervais’ new standup special, Mortality.
***As a side note, Gervais recently made an absolutely massive £2.43 million donation (spread across 22 different animal charities) using the money he made from his Mortality tour and Netflix special.***
On Apple TV+, the wildlife series Born to be Wild premiered on the 19th, with narration by Hugh Bonneville.
On AMC+, Season 2 of Sanctuary: A Witch’s Tale premieres on December 25th.
On PBS (but NOT Amazon’s PBS Masterpiece channel), look for the Call the Midwife Christmas Special on Christmas Day.
BRITISH TV CHRISTMAS SPECIALS: DRAMAS
In this one, we take a look at Christmas specials for existing drama and period drama series (excluding mystery/crime since we covered that in the last one). Here are some you can currently stream in the US.
All Creatures Great & Small (Classic) - S2,E14, S4E1, S4E2 (The Lord God Made Them All), S7E13
All Creatures Great & Small (Modern) - S1E7, S2E7, S3E7, S4E7, S5E7
The Avengers - S4E13 “Too Many Christmas Trees”
Ballykissangel - S3E1
Black Mirror - S2E4
Call the Midwife - S2E1, S3E1, S4E1, S5E1, S6E1, S7E1, S8E1, S9E9-10, S9E11, S11E1, S12E1, S13E1, S14E1, S14E2
Cranford - Return to Cranford (S2)
Doc Martin - S2E9, S10E9
Doctor Finlay - S4E8 (Hogmanay episode)
Doctor Who (Modern) - S1E14 “The Christmas Invasion”, S2E14 “The Runaway Bride”, S3E14 “The Voyage of the Damned”, S4E14 “The Next Doctor”, S4E17 & 18 “The End of Time”, S5E14 “A Christmas Carol”, S6E14 “The Doctor, the Widow, & the Wardrobe”, S7E6 “The Snowmen”, S7E16 “The Time of the Doctor”, S8E13 “Last Christmas”, S9E13 “The Husbands of River Song”, S9E14 “The Return of Doctor Mysterio”, S10E13 “Twice Upon a Time”, S11E11 “Resolution”, S12E1 “Spyfall: Part 1”, S12E11 “Revolution of the Daleks”, S13E7 “Eve of the Daleks”, Ncuti Gatwa-era episodes re-start the seasons: S1E1 “The Church on Ruby Road”, S2E1 “Joy to the World”, none planned in 2025
Downton Abbey - S2E9, S3E9, S5E9, S6E9
Heartbeat - S4E16, S6E17
Lark Rise to Candleford - S2E1
Last Tango in Halifax - S2E12, S3E7, S3E8
Misfits - S2E7
Monarch of the Glen - “Hogmanay Special” - S5E11
Rumpole of the Bailey - S2E2
Shameless - S2E1
Tales of the Unexpected - S3E9
The Darling Buds of May - S1E7, S2E7
The Royal - S3E6
Upstairs, Downstairs (1970s) - S3E9
Where the Heart Is - S7E9
Wild at Heart - S8 (New Year’s episode)
We’ll wrap this series up with comedies and a few select non-fiction shows in the next email.
Beautiful Aurelia, I've come here with a view of asking you to marriage me. I know I seems an insane person—because I hardly knows you—but sometimes things are so transparency, they don't need evidential proof. And I will inhabit here, or you can inhabit with me in England.
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