UK Christmas television special
In British television, a Christmas special is a one-off episode of a regular television series which may not otherwise be running in the winter or even that year, as in Britain television series tend to run on limited schedules of 6 to 13 episodes rather than year-round. Successive series of a program may run in non-consecutive years so a Christmas special may be of a series for which no other episodes have aired that year (or possibly for several years).
A Christmas special may or may not have a Christmas theme and often is not even set during the Christmas season but usually runs on Christmas day itself and is often longer than a regular episode of the series. There are noticeable patterns in Christmas specials, particularly in dramas and sitcoms, whereby the characters either have to endure Christmas Day in a typically unfestive manner (and thus allowing the writers to include plenty of clichés associated with the season), or they are taken out of their environment and go on holiday to an exotic location - an idea which can also occur in spin-off films.
Some examples include:
Morecambe and Wise - once something of an institution at Christmas
The Office specials
Doctor Who's The Christmas Invasion
Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends: Thomas' Christmas Party (also aired in the USA)
Father Ted - A Christmassy Ted (1996)
Blackadder's Christmas Carol (1989)
It's a Wonderful Life (1946)
Only Fools And Horses – Christmas specials (various)
The Snowman (1982)
The Vicar of Dibley – Christmas specials (various)
Wallace & Gromit – A Close Shave (1995)
This guide is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia.
Video: The Magic of Christmas TV advert (2007)
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