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Adam Marshall

How To Watch Bad Education: A Christmas Carol Online And From Anywhere

Layton Williams, Jack Whitehall, and Charlie Wernham in Bad Education: A Christmas Carol, the 2023 Christmas Special.

How To Watch Bad Education: A Christmas Carol

Watch Bad Education Christmas Special: Preview

With a busy period of Christmas TV ahead of UK viewers, the much-loved Bad Education is getting a head start on the field and dropping its Christmas special a couple of weeks before the big day. With Jake Whitehall making a welcome return for the one-off episode, you can find out in this article all the information you need to watch Bad Education: A Christmas Carol online from anywhere in the world.

With everything from Blackadder to Beavis and Butt-head getting the Christmas Carol treatment over the years (there even seems to be a nod to The Muppet Christmas Carol in the newly-released Wonka), 2023 will see one of Charles Dickens' most famous works coming to Abbey Grove School.

Ever the centre of attention, the 30-minute special kicks off with drama teacher Stephen (Strictly Come Dancing finalist Layton Williams) staging his own funeral, with his teaching career apparently coming to an end so that he can tread the boards in the glitz and glamor of the theater scene of... Swindon (if you know, you know).

But, to show him the error of his ways, the ghostly apparition of Jacob Marley Alfie Wickers (the returning Whitehall) visits the school's own Ebenezer Scrooge. No prizes for guessing that three further spectres follow, in a musical extravaganza that will put the jingle in your bell. With a fifth season of Bad Education confirmed for 2024, this festive visit to Abbey Grove's finest teaching staff and alumni is the perfect Christmas canapé.

Follow our guide below, where we’ll explain how to watch Bad Education: A Christmas Carol online and stream the seasonal special episode absolutely FREE – no matter where you are.

Watch Bad Education: A Christmas Carol online in the UK

(Image credit: BBC)

The half-an-hour Bad Education: A Christmas Carol special is being broadcast on BBC Three in the UK on Wednesday, December 13 at 9pm GMT.

It will also be available to stream live or on catch-up on the BBC iPlayer streaming service.

BBC iPlayer is available on a number of devices and it's absolutely free to create a BBC account. All you’ll need is an email address and a UK postcode (e.g. W1A 1AA), in addition to a valid TV licence.

Away from the UK? Use a VPN using the instructions below to access BBC iPlayer and Bad Education like you would at home

How to watch Bad Education Christmas Special online from anywhere

If you're a UK citizen on vacation or working overseas, you can still watch the Bad Education: A Christmas Carol just as you would at home. 

While the BBC blocks access from IP addresses outside of the UK, there's a handy piece of software called a VPN which can change your IP address to make it look like you're accessing streaming services from any country in the world. 

For example, UK citizens currently in the States can subscribe to a VPN, join a UK-based server and tune into all the programmes on iPlayer from anywhere in the world, just like you would back home.

How To Use A VPN To Unblock Streaming Services:

1. Choose your ideal VPN and install - as we say, ExpressVPN is the total package when it comes to great streaming VPNs

2. Connect to a server - most good VPNs make it super simple to connect to a server in the UK or whatever country you require

3. Stream away! - login to your streaming service – BBC iPlayer in this instance - and stream Bad Education: A Christmas Carol like you were in your home country

How to watch Bad Education 2023 Christmas Special in Australia

(Image credit: SBS)

Regular episodes of Bad Education can be found to stream for free on SBS On Demand and 10Play, with the Bad Education Christmas Special arriving on the former on December 14.

It is free to sign up and use SBS On Demand. All you need is an email address and an Australian zip code (for example, NSW 2000).

Away from home? Use a VPN to access SBS On Demand while overseas

Can I watch Bad Education Christmas Special online in the US and Canada?

While the regular first four seasons of Bad Education are all available to stream on BritBox in the US and Canada, it doesn't look as though this year's special Christmas Carol episode will be available to stream on the platform (at least not in December 2023).

A Brit abroad looking for your free stream? Get a VPN to access BBC iPlayer while across the Atlantic


Bad Education: A Christmas Carol Cast

  • Layton Williams as Stephen Carmichael
  • Charlie Wernham as Mitchell Harper
  • Vicki Pepperdine as Bernadette Hoburn
  • Mathew Horne as Shaquille Fraser
  • Anthony J Abraham as Inchez
  • Francesca Amewudah-Rivers as Blessing
  • Ali Hadji-Heshmati as Warren
  • Asha Hassan as Usma
  • Bobby Johnson as Harrison
  • Laura Marcus as Jinx
  • Jack Whitehall as Alfie Wickers
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