The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Happy Christmas from across the pond
British holiday specials are gifts for all
TV fans are a lucky lot during the holidays. Watching festive television specials and holidaythemed episodes of beloved shows is a time-honored tradition in many households, and fans of British TV are particularly fortunate.
Across the pond, broadcasters often gift viewers with lavish extended editions of their favorite programs, and many of them will make their way into North American homes this season. On this side of the Atlantic, broadcasters sometimes feature holiday themes in regular TV episodes, but British broadcasters have a propensity for producing longer, stand-alone Christmas specials, which often air outside a series’ regular run. Shows such as “Call the Midwife,” “Doctor Who,” “Victoria,” “Downton Abbey” and “The Office” have been highly praised for their special holiday editions.
The U.K. film and television industry has earned a reputation for superior period dramas, and “Call the Midwife” has a long-standing track record for topnotch Christmas specials. Inspired by the memoirs of British nurse Jennifer Worth, the show follows the lives of nurse midwives working in London’s poverty-stricken East End in the late 1950s and early 1960s. The show premiered in 2012 to widespread acclaim and has aired a stand-alone holiday special between each season since the very beginning.
PBS executive Beth Hoppe expressed appreciation for the popular series in an official release about the 2016 holiday special when it was scheduled to air on the network.
“The series has been praised for its compassionate and bold approach to issues, including stillbirth, mental health, abortion, homosexuality, race and disability,” Hoppe said of “Call the Midwife.”
When the show began, Vanessa Redgrave (“Julia,” 1977) narrated the story as nurse Jenny Lee (Jessica Raine, “Line of Duty”) as she worked alongside her fellow midwives and the nuns of Nonnatus House, a nursing convent. Raine left the show after season 3, but many of the core cast have remained. Jenny Agutter (“The Avengers,” 2012), Judy Parfitt (“Dolores Claiborne,” 1995), Helen George (“Strictly Come Dancing”) and Miranda Hart (“Miranda”) also appear in the series.
Over the years, “Call the Midwife” Christmas specials have dealt with such topics as mental illness, teenage pregnancy and adoption. Fans will be happy to know that another Christmas special is in the works to premiere before the new season begins in 2019.
Perhaps the most popular period drama to emerge from British television lately is “Downton Abbey,” and it, too, has gifted fans with several Christmas-themed specials. Since its premiere in 2010, the show has captivated audiences with the saga of the aristocratic Crawley family and their domestic servants at their Yorkshire country estate known as Downton Abbey.
Oscar winner Julian Fellowes (“Gosford Park,” 2001) created the program, which features a very large cast of talented performers, including Hugh Bonneville (“Paddington,” 2014) as Robert Crawley, Earl of Grantham, and Elizabeth McGovern (“The Handmaid’s Tale,” 1990) as his wife, Cora, the Countess of Grantham. Michelle Dockery (“Good Behavior”), Laura Carmichael (“Marcella”) and Jessica Brown Findlay (“Albatross,” 2011) portray their daughters, Mary, Edith and Sybil.
The show chronicled their tumultuous lives from 1912 to 1925 over the course of its six-season run, which included five Christmas specials. In fact, the final episode of the series aired as a Christmas special on Christmas Day in 2015, a bittersweet holiday treat for viewers. Like so may other British specials, the Yuletide editions of “Downton Abbey” feature stories of romance, tragedy and scandal. Each one wraps up significant moments in the Crawleys’ lives, from the births of children to the deaths of loved ones.
Those hoping for a glimpse inside a Royal Christmas may want to look out for the holiday edition of “Victoria.” Created by Daisy Goodwin (“Jamie’s Kitchen”), the show is a fictional retelling of the days of Queen Victoria, played by Jenna Coleman (“Doctor Who”). On this side of the pond, the program airs under PBS’s “Masterpiece Theatre” banner, and it’s earned considerable acclaim from North American audiences.