Festive Favourites: Study Reveals the Most Loved Christmas TV Specials
As snow begins to fall this Christmas season in the UK, nothing is better than cuddling up and enjoying back-to-back Christmas TV specials.
And with millions of Brits every year tuning in for Christmas TV, BonusFinder decided to delve into IMDb data to determine the best-rated episodes of Christmases past.
Highest-rated Christmas TV specials
| Rank | TV Show | Episode name | Year aired | Average rating (/10) |
| 1 | The Bear | Fishes | 2023 | 9.6 |
| =2 | Downton Abbey | Christmas Special | 2015 | 9.3 |
| =2 | The Office (UK) | Christmas Special, Part 2 | 2003 | 9.3 |
| 4 | Black Mirror | White Christmas | 2014 | 9.1 |
| =5 | Downton Abbey | A Moorland Holiday | 2014 | 9.0 |
| =5 | Coronation Street | Coronation Street: Tram Crash | 2010 | 9.0 |
| =5 | Six Feet Under | It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year | 2002 | 9.0 |
| =8 | Peep Show | Seasonal Beatings | 2010 | 8.9 |
| =8 | The Vicar of Dibley | The Christmas Lunch Incident | 1996 | 8.9 |
| =8 | Bottom | Holy | 1992 | 8.9 |
| =8 | Mr. Bean | Merry Christmas Mr. Bean | 1992 | 8.9 |
| 12 | Father Ted | A Christmassy Ted | 1996 | 8.8 |
| 13 | The Office (US) | Christmas Party | 2005 | 8.7 |
| =14 | Ted Lasso | Carol of the Bells | 2021 | 8.6 |
| =14 | Gavin and Stacey | Christmas Special | 2008 | 8.6 |
| =14 | Gordon, Gino & Fred’s Road Trip | Desperately Seeking Santa | 2020 | 8.6 |
The top spot is taken by the ever-so anxiety-fuelling global hit, The Bear with the episode Fishes scoring an outstanding rating of 9.6 out of 10. Although not aired during Christmas, this episode sets the scene for what Christmas was like in the Berzatto family. The star-studded cast includes Jamie Lee Curtis, where the overwhelmingly anarchistic episode shows the dysfunctional family doing what they do best; causing havoc and bringing tension to the dinner table.
In joint second place are two polar opposite shows, Downton Abbey and The Office (UK) both scoring 9.3 out of 10. Downton Abbey’s Christmas Special was fuelled by love and in The Office, chaos. Whilst Downton Abbey was full of loved-up couplings and elegance, The Office set new records for cringe-comedy in its final episode.
The ‘cult classic’ horror-anthology show, Black Mirror takes fourth place with 9.1 out of 10. Starring Jon Hamm, this eerie episode is set during Christmas where story swapping turns dark, with both characters revealing the horrors of their past in the true dystopian fashion that Black Mirror fans crave.
