This is the first time in three years that I’ve returned home for Christmas. The previous two years I spent with a family in Cornwall, celebrating Christmas the UK way.
Now, you would expect the food to be a bit different, and it was. The British menu is far more likely to include cabbage and Christmas pudding (a dense fruitcake that has nothing in common with the US definition of pudding) and you will probably find Christmas crackers on every table, which are opened to reveal paper crowns or some sort of random gizmo. Last year, I got a tape measure, which makes me question what I was meant to be doing on Christmas Day. Was I expected to measure for a new outfit? Do some impulsive DIY? Still, the trees, decorations and presents all remain the same in either country.
The real difference, however? Christmas TV.
I’ve had a lot to adjust to since moving here: measured shots in bars, incomprehensible banking laws, the alternative definition of “toss.” None of those made me furrow my brow quite so much as a glance at the UK Christmas TV grid.
In the US, Christmas television is a wasteland of old films, nostalgia cartoons and the occasional sporting event. Families are, it seems, expected to talk to each other on this most joyous of holidays. If they do choose to gather around the television, it will be to watch something they’ve seen so many times before that it doesn’t actually require any of their attention. It’s a Wonderful Life is a genuinely good film, but no one has actually watched it from start to finish in about twelve years. It’s background noise at Christmas, an accompaniment to the kids putting together their new train sets or the clatter of pans in the kitchen. In my extremely sexist traditional family, the sporting event was a way to keep the men quiet while the women cooked. No one was actually meant to watch the programs.
In the UK, however, they bring out their big guns. The Doctor Who Christmas special, new BBC originals, the Queen’s speech — they expect you to be watching. Newspapers print complicated listings to help you best prepare for the holiday marathon in front of the television, and families often plan their Christmas meal around a special episode of EastEnders, in which someone will almost certainly die or commit adultery in a truly festive way. It’s still considered family time, as the wealth of kid-friendly programming suggests, with one key distinction: on a UK Christmas, the telly seems to be part of the family.
The watching of massive amounts of television on Christmas day still feels a bit odd to me, but there’s one thing the UK got just right: Boxing Day. While the 26th is a letdown day for Americans, a day of cleaning and packing up and preparation for work the next day, the British made it into an extension of Christmas itself. From what I can gather, it’s an extra day off work for the sole purpose of lounging in front of the fire, eating leftovers and watching really good television. I’m fairly sure we can all recognize the pure genius of that plan. I may never develop a taste for Christmas pudding, but from now on, I plan to celebrate Boxing Day wherever I live — starting now. Pass the remote, please.
What about you? Are you a Christmas television watcher? What shows claimed your attention this year?
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December 28th, 2007 at 4:54 am
When we lived in the States, my mandatory teevee for holiday time included:
A Wish for Wings that Work — which still hadn’t come out on DVD before we left.
White Christmas
It’s a Wonderful Life
The Grinch Who Stole Christmas (the ORIGINAL)
Whatever Turner Classic Movies had on their schedule for that day/week.
All of the old claymation specials. My favorite was A Year Without Santa Claus.
I rarely watched any new Christmas specials though. Just a lot of comforting and comfortable favorites, like an old sweater and warm slippers.
December 28th, 2007 at 6:13 pm
Ballet Shoes! Perfect St Stephen’s Day (we don’t call it Boxing Day here) telly. And Dr Who, of course. Back in the day, BBC1 always had a really big film premiere on Christmas Day afternoon - the announcement of the “big film” was a big deal back then. But they seem to have sort of given up on it now.
January 2nd, 2008 at 8:53 pm
I got a tape measure in my christmas cracker this year - I couldn’t figure out what it was at first, because it was inside a tiny case. Entertaining.
For the last 5 or so years, our Boxing Day tradition has been an afternoon of games (word/board/trivia), followed by Christmas dinner leftovers. It’s pretty much perfect.