The ultimate guide to Christmas television specials over the years

Ed Power rounds up the top one-off Christmas TV episodes, and gets to the bottom of their enduring appeal

The best Christmas TV specials of all time

Christmas is special. But how special are Christmas TV specials? This small screen tradition goes all the way back to the dawn of the medium – but arguably only reached its zenith in this part of the world in the 1970s, when families would rush from Xmas dinner to tune into tinsel-hued feature-length broadcasts by some of their favourite musicians, comedians and, as we shall see below, feral puppets. And yet not every Christmas one-off is worth re-discovering. For every gift-wrapped treasure there was invariably a turkey or three. Put up your feet, then, as we bring you the ultimate guide to Christmas Specials from the annals.

Blackadder’s Christmas Carol, 1988

What the Dickens? Richard Curtis and Ben Elton resurrected Edmund Blackadder and bunged the historical rogue into a reverse retelling of A Christmas Carol. Visited by the Ghosts of Christmas – including Robbie Coltrane as the Spirit of Christmas – Ebenezer Blackadder (Rowan Atkinson) eventually wakes up and smells the turkey. Kindness and generously are for chumps, he realises. Better to be cruel and nasty. Or as Blackadder puts it: “The very clear lesson that bad guys have all the fun.” With a cameo by Miriam Margolyes and Jim Broadbent as Queen Victoria and Prince Albert and Hugh Laurie as narrator.

Simpsons Roaring on an Open Fire, 1989

Not only one of the greatest Christmas specials ever – but also the first first length episode of The Simpsons. Homer and family accidentally acquire a pet in Santa’s Little Helper. And we are introduced to such Simpsons icons as Mr Burns, Principal Skinner and Ralph Wiggum. There is also foreshadowing from Mr Burns’s lickspittle Waylon Smithers, who is heard over a tannoy but not seen. Scariest of all? The episode was broadcast 32 years ago. So, had the Simpsons aged in real time, Bart would today be 42 and Homer 71.

Only Fools and Horses, 1996

Britain’s favourite sitcom was never as unconditionally loved in Ireland as in the UK. But viewers will still have warm memories of the 1996 Christmas special. In the UK it drew 24.3 million viewers – a record for a comedy – who will have been delighted to see Del Boy and Rodney become millionaires after flogging a rare pocket watch for a small – or, actually, quite a large – fortune. Just before the final credits, Del Boy (David Jason) puts his hand around the shoulder of Rodney (Nicholas Lyndhurst) and says, “This time next year, we could be billionaires!” Jason had actually expressed doubts about making Del Boy’s dreams come true. If he became a millionaire, where else would there be for the character to go? “There was a question mark,” he would say of the episode. “If he finds the watch and sells it and makes millions, the journey is complete….” Only Fools and Horses writer John Sullivan pointed out the flaw in Jason’s logic. “They probably won’t be able to keep hold of their millions,” he said. “They’re always be a scheme, won’t there?”

Father Ted: A Very Christmassy Ted, 1996

Featuring the classic scene in which Ted and a scrum of priests become marooned in Ireland’s largest department store women’s lingerie section, Father Ted Christmas special was proof that the magic of the classic Channel 4 sitcom could translate to the season of goodwill.

The episode truly was an epic helping of Ted as it clocked in at 55 minutes – far lengthier Ted’s usual running time of just over 20 minutes. Years later, Father Ted co-writer Graham Lenihan would, in fact, declare it too-long by half. The iconic scene in which Ted and his fellow priests are trapped amid miles of lingerie was meanwhile shot at Dunnes Stores in Ennis shortly before the shop opened for the first time.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Amends, 1998

Buffy and the gang are haunted by the ghosts of Christmases past while Angel (an immortal born in Galway and whose name is short for “Angelus”) is possessed by a supernatural being, the First Evil. The episode was loosely inspired by Dickens’ A Christmas Carol (just like Blackadder and, as we shall see, Sherlock’s The Infernal Bride). Show-runner Joss Whedon felt, moreover, that the instalment’s message of spiritual renewal and of good triumphing over evil was plugged into the true meaning of Christmas.

“The fact is, the Christian mythos has a powerful fascination to me, and it bleeds into my storytelling,” he would say. “Redemption, hope, purpose, Santa, these all are important to me, whether I believe in an afterlife or some universal structure or not. I certainly don’t mind a strictly Christian interpretation being placed on this episode by those who believe that — I just hope it’s not limited to that.”

The Office Christmas Special, 2003

Ricky Gervais is often pegged as a cynic. But underneath the cruel exterior the creator of The Office is obviously a huge softie. This was made clear in the Office Christmas special in which David Brent got the girl, told toxic Chris Finch to do one and Dawn and Tim ended up together. It was gooier than a box of Quality Street left too long by the fire.

“For as long as we can remember, we intended the show to have a happy ending but we wanted it to be moving and uplifting without being corny or mawkish,” Gervais would later comment. “When we were making it we discovered that’s much harder than we thought.”

The Podge and Rodge Late Night Lock Inn, 2009

Podge and Rodge were one of those rare aberrations in Irish broadcasting where it seemed there were no rules and anarchy reigned. There was certainly lots of chaos as Ballydung Manor threw open the doors to Joe Duffy, who staged an impromptu phone-in, with comedian Johnny Vegas playing a angry member of the public. Other guests included comedian Katherine Lynch and a visibly baffled Jennie McAlpine from Coronation Street. It was the ultimate three-way crossover as Podge and Rodge, Liveline and Christmas intersected.

Doctor Who: The Snowmen, 2012

Before a recent time-shunt to New Year’s Day, the Doctor Who Christmas Special was a cockle-warming seasonal staple. There are endless Xmas episodes from which to choose. But for discerning Whovians, Matt Smith’s 2012 run-in with killer snowmen (voiced by Gandalf himself Ian McKellen) against the background of Victorian London is up there.

“You’re very aware of the time of year, and the noisy, sugared-up, slightly tipsy household,” is how the The Snowmen was described by show-runner Steven Moffatt. “Sometimes we play along with something a bit frothier.” And frothy this certainly was as Doctor embarked on an episode that felt like Raymond Brigg’s The Snowman meets Invasion of the Body Snatchers.

Black Mirror: White Christmas, 2014

Welcome to the bleak midwinter. Christmas is a time of joy – but also one in which the stresses and heartaches of normal life acquire an extra resonance. And these contrasting feelings are unpacking to devastating effect in White Christmas. Three loosely connected stories plunge down a sink-hole of misery before concluding with a character played by Jon Hamm waking up to a life of eternal damnation – soundtracked by Wizzard’s I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday.

“I quite like Christmas Specials and I guess I kind of miss the tradition on TV for ghost stories at Christmas and fairly creepy things at Christmas,” Black Mirror creator Charlie Brooker told Den of Geek ahead of the broadcast of White Christmas. “They used to often show horror movies at Christmas and so I think it’s an evocative time and it felt like if we’re going to be doing a big one-off that’s our Treehouse Of Horror episode, Christmas felt like a good fit for it, more so than Halloween. For me, it’s a more evocative time, it gives us a slightly different spin on things.”

Sherlock: The Abominable Bride, 2016

By its later seasons, Steven Mofatt and Mark Gatiss’s Sherlock had turned increasingly convoluted. Nonetheless, the Abominable Bride had its moments as present day Sherlock and Watson were beamed back in time to a Christmas-tinged Victorian London. The plot made little sense – and the final twist was a rancid rabbit pulled from a hat. But seeing Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman romp around 19th century London felt like A Christmas Carol with added sleuthing.