Best Christmas TV Shows To Stream This Festive Season

12 months ago

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Best Christmas TV Shows To Stream This Festive Season

Christmas movies not quite hitting the spot? Time to draw out the magic and tune into some Christmas TV shows instead. Here are our festive favourites, plus where to stream them.

Christmas TV Shows To Watch This Festive Season

I Hate Christmas

This Netflix original Christmas TV show is based on the Norwegian series, Home For Christmas, but in Italian instead. We follow Gianna, a happily single nurse from Chioggia who – like the protagonists in Netflix’s original festive film, Holidate – is desperately trying to avoid the typical Christmas questioning about her love life. Instead, she devises a plan to find a boyfriend to take home for Christmas, and thus ensues a series of tumultuous romantic adventures. If you loved the first season, you’re in luck: a second season has landed just in time for some festive streaming.

WATCH: All episodes of I Hate Christmas are available to stream on Netflix.

Home For Christmas

If you fancy streaming the Norwegian original, it’s also available on Netflix. This time we follow Johanne who is, like Gianna, on the hunt for a boyfriend to bring home for Christmas. But, when her parents surprisingly split up, Johanne is left navigating the holiday season in a new light.

WATCH: All episodes of Home For Christmas are available to stream on Netflix.

The Santa Clauses

If you loved The Santa Clause movies growing up, you’ll love this: there’s a sequel series to the trilogy of films. Scott Calvin is back but, after being Santa Claus for nearly 30 years, he’s looking for a rest. When he finds out there is a way he can retire from his post, he seriously considers it: the demands of the job are hard to keep up with, and he wants to be there for his family. But who will replace him?

WATCH: All episodes of The Santa Clauses are available to stream on Disney+.

Dash & Lily

Based on the YA novel by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan, Dash & Lily’s Book of Dares, this heartwarming Christmas TV series portrays the whirlwind romance that builds as cynical Dash and optimistic Lily trade dares, dreams and desires in a notebook they pass back and forth at locations around New York City. (If you’ve ever fancied experiencing an NYC Christmas, this series will increase the wanderlust for sure.)

WATCH: All episodes of Dash & Lily are available to stream on Netflix.

Merry Happy Whatever

Starring Bridget Mendler, Ashley Tisdale and Dennis Quaid, this festive themed sit-com takes place during the hectic lead up to and wind down from Christmas day. Don Quinn (Quaid) is a strong-willed patriarch, while struggling musician Matt (Brent Morin) is joining the family for Christmas for the first time. He is the boyfriend of youngest daughter Emmy (Mendler), and his arrival challenges Don’s belief that ‘there’s the Quinn way… and the wrong way’. It’s funny, it’s lighthearted, and it’s an easy watch for the festive season.

WATCH: All episodes of Merry Happy Whatever are available to stream on Netflix.

A Storm For Christmas

This Scandi limited series was released in time for last Christmas, but is still worth tuning into this festive season. Another Netflix original, A Storm for Christmas sees a group of people land at Oslo airport: some welcome their loved ones, some travel home to their families, and others fly away elsewhere. But, one way or another, their plans go awry and all end up stranded in the airport with only 24 hours until Christmas Day. With six episodes around 30 minutes long, it’s a heartwarming tale to race through this Christmas.

WATCH: All episodes of A Storm For Christmas are available to stream on Netflix.

Christmas Flow

This French Christmas TV show is a rom-com of only three episodes – but it’s enough to warm your heart amid the frosty cold. It tells the story of an unlikely romance between famous rapper Marcus and tenacious journalist Lila who navigate their differences backdropped by the complexities of the holiday season.

WATCH: All episodes of Christmas Flow are available to stream on Netflix.

Gilmore Girls

Gilmore Girls is widely considered the best show to watch (or rewatch) in autumn due to its small town, leafy feel and focus on hot drinks – but we’re going to argue for Christmas, too. There is a Christmas special episode for each of the seven seasons, plus a festive(ish) special in the four-part revival released in 2016 – but the wintery, cosy vibes lend themselves to the festive season in the surrounding episodes too, as do the wholesome family values. If you’d like to skip straight to the festive content, the Christmas episodes are as follows:

Season 1, Episode 10: Forgiveness and Stuff
Season 2, Episode 10: The Bracebridge Dinner
Season 3, Episode 10: That’ll Do Pig
Season 4, Episode 11: In the Clamor and the Clangor
Season 5, Episode 11: Women of Questionable Morals
Season 6, Episode 12: Just Like Gwen and Gavin
Season 7, Episodes 10 & 11: Merry Fisticuffs & Santa’s Secret Stuff
A Year in the Life, Episode 1: Winter

WATCH: All episodes of Gilmore Girls are available to stream on Netflix.

Doctor Who

Another bonus for the festive season is Doctor Who, which has a Christmas special (or storyline spanning multiple episodes) every year. This year, we’re excited to see Ncuti Gatwa’s debut as the Doctor on Christmas Day in ‘The Church on Ruby Road’, but there are plenty of Christmas specials to watch (or rewatch) if you can’t wait for the supernatural festivities. They are:

2005: The Christmas Invasion (Tenth Doctor [David Tennant])
2006: The Runaway Bride (Tenth Doctor)
2007: Voyage of the Damned (Tenth Doctor)
2008: The Next Doctor (Tenth Doctor)
2009: The End of Time Part 1 & Part 2 (Tenth Doctor)
2010: A Christmas Carol (Eleventh Doctor [Matt Smith])
2011: The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe (Eleventh Doctor)
2012: The Snowmen (Eleventh Doctor)
2013: The Time of the Doctor (Eleventh Doctor)
2014: Last Christmas (Twelfth Doctor [Peter Capaldi])
2015: The Husbands of River Song (Twelfth Doctor)
2016: The Return of Doctor Mysterio (Twelfth Doctor)
2017: Twice Upon a Time (Twelfth Doctor)

There was no Christmas special in 2018, with a New Year’s Day special instead on 1 January 2019. The same happened in 2020, 2021 and 2022. These episodes all star Jodie Whittaker as the Thirteenth Doctor.

WATCH: All episodes of Doctor Who are available to stream on BBC iPlayer.