Festive offerings arrive on BritBox in November

Festive fun starts next month.

From 18th November and throughout December, fans can stream a variety of Christmas crackers including specials from Are you Being Served?, Bread, Terry and June and Knowing Me, Knowing Yule with Alan Partridge to name just a few.

BritBox will also be celebrating 40 years since the first-ever Only Fools & Horses Christmas special aired, with all eighteen Christmas specials available to stream.

There’s plenty of fun in the department store as Are You Being Served? from December 1975 sees the staff pulling their ‘Christmas Crackers‘. With a disgusting Christmas canteen dinner, wacky novelty costumes and the fun of pulling holiday crackers, the Grace Brothers staff get into the spirit of the season.

Fans of the show starring Wendy Richard, John Inman, Mollie Sugden, Trevor Bannister and Frank Thornton, to name only a few, can laugh further with the 1979 festive offering ‘The Punch and Judy Affair‘. To appease workplace tensions at Grace Brothers after a strike, the department staff decide to put on a puppet show and dinner party for the children of their fellow colleagues.

Another from the 1970s with A Christmas Carol (1977). Miser Ebenezer Scrooge hates Christmas but then gets a visit from his companion Jacob Marley, who has been dead for seven years, who urges Scrooge to change his life. TV drama starring Michael Hordern, John Le Mesurier & Bernard Lee.

Into the 1980s and we’re heading abroad for some Duty Free funnies. A Duty Free Christmas (1986) David persuades a reluctant Amy to spend Christmas in an upmarket hotel in Spain. Coincidentally, Linda and Robert have exactly the same idea and are booked in the same hotel. The series followed two couples who yearly holidayed at the same exotic location, but David’s lust for Amy often got him in trouble and left wife Linda highly suspicious. Unlike its later counterpart Benidorm – apart from one episode – the series never ventured further than the Leeds studios of Yorkshire Television.

From 1991 Bernard and the Genie. Bernard Bottle, a mild-mannered art buyer, is fired by his greedy boss, abandoned by his girlfriend and discovers a genie in an old bottle. The genie immediately embraces the modern world and helps Bernard on the side. Starring Lenny Henry, Alan Cummings and Rowan Atkinson.

Classic Scouse humour arrives with the 1989 festive special of Bread. Joey tries to help out when Shifty’s released from prison, Billy’s left facing the anger of the family when the Christmas presents are stolen from the car, the Boswell boys manage to put a smile on Martina’s face, Jack and Nellie go out to buy the Christmas turkey, Adrian has a chat with Julie when she upsets Billy yet again, and Joey is faced with a difficult choice.

The show’s offering from the following year is also added to BritBox which sees more trouble for the family. While the rest of the Boswells are oblivious, Nellie discovers that it’s the tiny things in life that can create the biggest dilemmas.

Keeping with family matters its back to 1979 for Butterflies. For Ria, Christmas is a time of truth. Surrounded by people she loves, she is forced to do things she hates.

Spoofed by The Two Ronnies, these Chas and Dave festive offerings see them performing in a studio mock-up of a good ole ‘Cockney boozer’. This 1982 special Chas and Dave’s Christmas Knees Up sees the musical duo Chas and Dave entertain an audience with a mixture of festive tunes and homegrown hits. They’re joined by celebrity pals including Lenny Peters, Eric Clapton, Jimmy Cricket and Albert Lee.

Speaking of  Mr Barker and Mr Corbett The Two Ronnies Christmas Sketchbook sees the final ever television work of Ronnie Barker before his death joins the lineup. In this very last extra-special Christmas outing, The Two Ronnies bring you their favourite treats from their many Christmas shows. Music comes courtesy of Katie Melua.

Comedy continues with Ever Decreasing Circles from 1989. While organising the annual summer fete, Martin has some unexpected news at work. He has been offered a move to another area, but would the community be able to cope without him? 1995’s Knowing Me Knowing Yule. Alan Partridge, TV’s top chatter-man, returns with his very own Christmas Special, set in an exact replica reproduction of the interior of his own house in Norwich.

Also, Jam and Jerusalem (2006) and its Christmas special sees the ashes of Sal’s late husband released in a firework display at the village pantomime. A proper send-off. Starring Dawn French & Jennifer Saunders.

No Place Like Home Christmas Special (1984) Arthur Crabtree is feeling miserly and decides on a frugal Christmas – his family, however, goes to the other extreme with hilarious consequences. The 1987 special is also joining Britbox on the same day (Nov 18th) and there’s hospital festivities with 1981’s Only When I Laugh. It’s Christmas at the hospital and although not everyone is enjoying the festive spirits, particularly Figgis. When a new patient arrives on the ward Norman, Figgis and Archie all take a keen interest.

Someone who is likely to end up in hospital for Christmas is Frank Spencer and the 1978 December episode ‘Learning to Fly‘ joins the Some Mothers Do ‘Ave Em episodes on the streaming service as does Steptoe & Son The Party (1973) Harold and Albert are planning Christmas, the only problem is Albert is planning a cosy Christmas, just him and Harold.  Whilst Harold’s plans don’t include Albert at all – he’s off to sunnier climes, only problem is how to tell Albert.

A break from the funnies sees the 2007 adaption of Oliver Twist. Timothy Spall and Tom Hardy star in a 2007 adaptation of Charles Dickens’s much-loved tale of a young orphan boy. Christmas Lights (2004) Colin and Howie seem inseparable. Married to a pair of sisters, they work as drivers for the same company and live next door to each other. Life gets complicated after Howie wins the promotion and is confronted with a tough dilemma over staff cutbacks. TV drama starring Robson Green and Mark Benton.

The follow up Clash of the Santas UK (2008), separated from his wife, Howard volunteers as a stand-in Santa at the shopping mall–and ends up getting invited to represent England at an international Santa competition in Lithuania. He gets to take an elf with him, and Colin agrees to fill the role. TV drama starring Robson Green and Mark Benton.

Comedy continues with two festive episodes of Terry and June from 1982 and 1985. Terry Scott and June Whitfield star in this suburban comedy of marital ups and downs. In the first special Terry and June are in a festive mood as they celebrate Christmas while in the later edition Terry and June play the cow in the office pantomime but have difficulty getting out of their costume when the hall is evacuated because of a fire scare.

It’s a bit more sophisticated as we head to the Great House for To the Manor Born of 1979. This special ‘The First Noel’ sees Audrey fall out with Richard over who should provide the crib for the village church.

There’s also highlights such as Christmas Carols on ITV (2017). Aled Jones joins the congregation of St Chad’s church in Rochdale, Lancashire, for a traditional candlelight Christmas Eve carol service. With Shaun Escoffery and Natalie Williams, The funny thing about Christmas from 2015 sees Johnny Vegas illuminate the minefield of Christmas rituals and traditions. Is it a fortnight of goodwill and festive cheer or just two days and a roast? Familiar faces offering their Christmas confessions include Anthea Turner, Vanessa Feltz, Carl Fogarty, Nina Wadia and Matt Richardson.

And on the 23rd December Upstart Crow Christmas Special: Lockdown Christmas 1603 (2020) joins Britbox. The plague has hit London, and as Christmas approaches, Will and Kate are in wave fifteen of state-enforced home confinement together in Will’s London lodgings.