In Britain, a more recent variation is a specially recorded Christmas day message on Channel 4 which is then run in competition with the monarch's televised Christmas message (recent years have seen announcements from Ali G and Marge Simpson). Brown's Boys ended up being specials in a similar manner. It is not unusual for British sitcoms to continue producing new Christmas Episodes for several years after the show has finished as an ongoing series the final series of The Royle Family was aired in 2000, but new Christmas specials continued to air sporadically until 2012, and more than half of Mrs. Alternatively, the Christmas Episode may be the last-ever episode of the series, as happened with the UK version of The Office, Doug (before getting Un-Cancelled), Invader Zim, Roary the Racing Car, and Only Fools and Horses (although the latter had more Christmas Episodes commissioned afterwards).

Note that unlike other holiday episodes included in a series, the Christmas Episode is usually a special production or commission separate from the season it occurs alongside as such, it generally just features the series' core cast (and sometimes, popular secondary characters) and is not necessarily in continuity to the rest of the season - though it can also be used to set up major changes in continuity through events such as a Christmas wedding or a Christmas birth ( a popular one for obvious reasons), which can then be canonized in the next year's season. Only the most popular shows get their Christmas episodes shown on Christmas Day itself.

Sometimes the Christmas Episode will be shown in two or three parts over consecutive nights, typically in the build-up to Christmas Day. Known in Britain as a 'Christmas Special' (not to be confused with a Christmas Special, a series or franchise based on Christmas itself), the Christmas Episode is a one-off seasonal episode of an ongoing series, typically a comedy or comedy drama.

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