# Question for non-Americans - Christmas movies? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 24, 2017, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-non-americans-christmas-movies/805185 "2017-12-24T01:41:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Mijin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mijin/32/9369_2.png) [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2017, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-non-americans-christmas-movies/805185/21 "2017-12-24T18:52:44Z")
> [@TBG](#): > > i thought brits spent all of Christmas waiting for the annual Dr Who episode. > > assumably by watching the mr bean Christmas ep. Sort of. Many popular shows have a special, higher-budget and/or longer length episode around Christmas. Additionally, the soap operas will usually have some dramatic event, like a murder, saved for Christmas, and there’ll be one-off episodes of shows that aren’t currently running (e.g. last couple of years there have been one-off episodes of Jonathan Creek. (However, they have been awful, and just served to confirm that the series is done)). So yeah we look forward to Doctor Who (which indeed has a special episode showing on Christmas day this year), but many other shows too. I’m personally looking forward to the season opener of Black Mirror. Christmas is a big deal in Britainland. ---
**Author:** ![Penfeather](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penfeather/32/384_2.png) [@Penfeather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Penfeather)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2017, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-non-americans-christmas-movies/805185/22 "2017-12-24T20:04:04Z")
> [@up\_the\_junction](#): > > kids stuff aside (Wallace and Gromit, etc) Love Actually is developing into a bit of a tv network perennial. Yeah, Love Actually seems to be a Christmas staple here: we don’t get the American festive slop, we get the British slop instead - although NZ Christmas is at least in summer, so a lot of it is spent outdoors and TV watching isn’t really a tradition. Personally I just watch the Doctor Who Christmas Special. ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2017, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-non-americans-christmas-movies/805185/23 "2017-12-24T22:01:01Z")
> [@Mr\_Shine](#): > > I have only ever seen that plot point once, (on an American show _Dharma&Greg_ and I’ve watched a lot of British Christmas specials. It had happened on the first **The Vicar of Dibley** Christmas Special. Also the tradition in Dibley is meat and _sixteen_ veg. By the end Geraldine was being carted around in a bulldozer. ---
**Author:** ![Arizona\_Mike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7cd45c/32.png) [@Arizona\_Mike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arizona_Mike)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2017, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-non-americans-christmas-movies/805185/24 "2017-12-24T22:14:48Z")
> [@Mr\_Shine](#): > > I have only ever seen that plot point once, (on an American show _Dharma&Greg_ and I’ve watched a lot of British Christmas specials. First saw that on an Andy Griffith Show episode (albeit not Christmas). ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2017, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-non-americans-christmas-movies/805185/25 "2017-12-24T22:21:16Z")
Sorry, this is utterly tangential, but maybe interesting: on Dec 6, which is St. Nicholas’ Day in many countries, Finland instead celebrates its Independence Day by watching this film: > **[The Unknown Soldier (1955 film)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Unknown_Soldier_(1955_film))** > > The Unknown Soldier (Finnish: Tuntematon sotilas, Swedish: Okänd soldat) is a Finnish war film directed by Edvin Laine that premiered in December 1955. It is based on The Unknown Soldier, a novel by Väinö Linna. The story is about the Continuation War between Finland and the Soviet Union as told from the viewpoint of ordinary Finnish soldiers. > The film was and remains the most successful movie ever in Finland; about 2.8 million people, or more than half the Finnish population, saw it in theaters... Apparently what “It’s a Wonderful Life” is for Christmas in the US, this film is for December 6. Anyway. Like I said, tangential. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2017, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-non-americans-christmas-movies/805185/26 "2017-12-24T22:37:10Z")
> [@alphaboi867](#): > > It had happened on the first **The Vicar of Dibley** Christmas Special. Also the tradition in Dibley is meat and _sixteen_ veg. By the end Geraldine was being carted around in a bulldozer. Now that you mention it I do remember that episode. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2017, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-non-americans-christmas-movies/805185/27 "2017-12-24T23:28:41Z")
> [@Arizona\_Mike](#): > > First saw that on an Andy Griffith Show episode (albeit not Christmas). When everybody had that exotic foreign food, spa-ghet-ti. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-non-americans-christmas-movies/805185.md?page=1)