Streaming service BritBox allows viewers to watch Christmas Day schedules from 1986 ad 1996 

The shows of Christmas past: Streaming service BritBox allows viewers to watch Christmas Day schedules from 1986 and 1996

  • Eastenders special where ‘Dirty Den’ gave Angie divorce papers will be available
  • Only Fools And Horses episode A Royal Flush can also be watched on BritBox
  • The service’s subscribers can watch the classics online or TV from December 19
  • Viewers will be able to download BBC1 Christmas specials from 1986 and 1996 

For many, the fun of festive TV viewing is being able to wallow in the nostalgia of classic programmes and films from years gone by.

And now viewers have the chance to take it a step further – and watch the prime-time BBC1 Christmas Day schedules from 1986 and 1996.

Streaming service BritBox, owned by the BBC and ITV, is making much-loved, vintage episodes of shows available to subscribers – including the iconic two-part EastEnders special which saw ‘Dirty Den’ hand divorce papers to his wife Angie. 

Eastenders Christmas special where Dirty Den handed divorce papers to his wife Angie in 1986 is soon to be available to BritBox subscribers

The service, available for £5.99-per-month, will show current and archive programmes but will not have any original content until 2020

The service, available for £5.99-per-month, will show current and archive programmes but will not have any original content until 2020

The 1986 special is said to have been watched by more than 30million viewers – and is one of the highest-rated episodes in UK broadcasting.

The evening schedule for 1986 also featured Just Good Friends, with Paul Nicholas and Jan Francis, as well as Only Fools And Horses episode A Royal Flush.

In the prime-time schedule from a decade later, viewers see EastEnders’ Grant Mitchell cheat on his pregnant wife Tiffany. 

Only Fools and Horses trilogy Heroes And Villains, which saw Del Boy and Rodney dress up as Batman and Robin (pictured), attracted more than 21million viewers and will be available to download from December 19 as part of BritBox's new service offering BBC1 Christmas Day schedules from 1986 and 1996

Only Fools and Horses trilogy Heroes And Villains, which saw Del Boy and Rodney dress up as Batman and Robin (pictured), attracted more than 21million viewers and will be available to download from December 19 as part of BritBox’s new service offering BBC1 Christmas Day schedules from 1986 and 1996

It also includes the first part of an Only Fools And Horses trilogy, Heroes And Villains, which saw Del Boy and Rodney dress up as Batman and Robin – and attracted more than 21million viewers.

BritBox subscribers can watch the classic shows on their televisions – or using a laptop, tablet or smartphone – from December 19. Viewers will be guided through the content in the order that it originally aired, but can choose to select programmes at random.