Christmas 2023 gift ideas and inspiration for TV, movies and soaps fans
The festive season is upon us, and you're probably starting to think about last-minute Christmas gifts (if that wasn't already on your agenda).
In the run-up to December 25, we'll be sharing some Christmas gift inspiration here, with a particular focus on the TV, movies and soaps fans in your life.
Note that pricing is subject to change, and any offers are subject to availability. Each store also has its own policy on delivery in time for Christmas, with the most up-to-date information provided for you on retailers' individual product pages or as you take your basket to checkout.
Christmas 2023 last postage and order dates
The current recommended last posting dates for Royal Mail are Monday, December 18 for second-class post and Wednesday, December 20 for first-class post. So, you're just in time for the last first-class post.
Some big retailers have also advised on their own last delivery dates – although note that this may vary based on item availability, where you live in the country, and demand, so we'd still advise you take these as guidelines rather than definitive and order as early as possible:
• Amazon: December 19 (for non-Prime members), December 22 (for Prime members).
• Argos: December 19 (for standard delivery), options for same-day delivery or in-store collection until December 24.
• ASOS: December 20 (for standard delivery or click and collect), options for express delivery until December 23.
• Currys: December 18 (standard delivery small items) or December 22 (premium/next-day delivery small items), December 21 (standard delivery large items), click and collect in store up to 1pm on December 24.
• Disney Store: December 15 (standard delivery to England, Scotland and Wales only), no premium option available.
•EE: December 15 (standard delivery to Northern Ireland and the Scottish highlands and islands), December 18 (standard delivery for the rest of the UK), December 20 at 5pm (premium/express delivery). Full details are here.
• John Lewis & Partners: December 19 (for standard delivery), as late as December 22 for some premium delivery options
• LEGO: December 19 by 10.59pm (for standard delivery), December 21 by 2pm (for express delivery). Further delivery details for locations across Europe are listed here.
• Menkind: December 19 (standard delivery), December 20 (express delivery), December 21 (next-day delivery). The cut-off point for each type of delivery is 9pm on the date specified. Click and collect is available in-store until 12pm on December 24.
• Very: December 19 (standard home delivery or click and collect - small items), December 20 (standard home delivery, large items), December 22 (next-day delivery for items of any size). Check here for the latest cut-off times.
Check out our gift guides: Best toys | Best board games | Best Funko Pop! figures
Christmas gift ideas for movies fans
Know someone who is a fan of both movies and physical media? Then you might want to check out our round-up of the best movie box sets across numerous major franchises, including Star Wars, The Lord of the Rings/The Hobbit and, of course, the MCU.
Our highlights include the James Bond 1-21 collection, which includes all of the canon Bond films made up until 2017 across 24 Blu-ray discs. It's currently listed on Amazon at 30% off the list price.
Meanwhile, over at Zavvi, there are discounts on numerous MCU movie steelbooks, including Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.
Dr Martens and Warner Bros' recent collaboration on a series of limited-edition Blade Runner and Mad Max: Fury Road-inspired boots and accessories has proven popular.
Some shoe sizes are out of stock, but you can see the latest stock levels on individual product pages.
Pandora also has numerous pop culture tie-in ranges, including a Marvel line, with products including this Captain Marvel insignia charm.
LEGO gift ideas
If you're looking for a more detailed round-up of LEGO deals, then head this way. However, here are a few of our favourite gift ideas:
Created to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the iconic Star Wars movie Return of the Jedi, this LEGO Chewbacca figurine has a £50 price cut at both Very and Amazon in the run-up to Christmas.
When fully built, this 2,319-piece replica of the fan-favourite Wookiee stands 46cm tall. It's packaged with a Chewie Minifigure and information plaque, too.
This LEGO version of the Sanctum Santorum, the home and headquarters of MCU hero Doctor Strange, also gets just over a quarter cut off its RRP ahead of Christmas.
The 2,708-piece set can be configured in a few different ways thanks to its modular design, and is packaged with a range of Marvel Minifigures including Spider-Man, Wong, Iron Man, Mordo, Scarlet Witch and Doctor Strange himself.
Disney gift ideas
The Disney Store has its own Christmas shopfront online (and if you happen to be looking for an Eeyore soft toy in a festive onesie, you can currently get one for half price).
In terms of Disney stocking fillers, there's a Hocus Pocus-themed eyeshadow palette available via Truffle Shuffle for £16.99. It features 12 different colours, including some festively-appropriate sparkly eyeshadow shades.
And Charlotte Tilbury's limited-edition Tinkerbell beauty light wand is still available. It's part of the beauty brand's Disney 100th anniversary collection, priced at £30.
Continuing the Disney100 celebrations, Fever is selling tickets to the official exhibition in London, with general admission, fast-track and VIP packages available for dates throughout December and into January 2024.
And don't forget to check out our picks from the wide range of Disney collectables and merch available.
Christmas gift ideas for TV fans
Check out our themed TV gift guides for Doctor Who | Game of Thrones & House of the Dragon | Peaky Blinders | Great British Bake Off | Love Island | Friends | Ted Lasso
Doctor Who is celebrating its 60th anniversary with a trio of specials starring David Tennant and including Ncuti Gatwa's eagerly-awaited debut as the Fifteenth Doctor in 'The Giggle'.
A box set of all three specials became available to order on December 18, just in time for Christmas, with DVD (£14.99) and Blu-ray (£19.99) options available.
The Bear has been one of this year's breakout TV hits, and if you want your own 'Original Beef of Chicagoland'-inspired T-shirt, then you can pick one up via Amazon.
Another TV drama highlight of 2023 was The Last of Us, and if you'd like to buy the actual Flint & Tinder trucker jacket that Pedro Pascal's character Joel wears in the show, it's available via Huckberry.
We spoke to the show's costume designer, Cynthia Summers, in our Costume is Character video series earlier this year. She spoke about the lengthy search to find the jacket after attempts to create their own didn't quite work out.
"We had tailors flown in. We ran the gamut of trying to build it, so then finally it was like, 'okay forget it… buyers, get me every kind of waxed jacket that speaks to the game that you can find'," Cynthia told us.
"We got down to five different labels at the end of the day, and the Flint and Tinder was the one that won."
The official Netflix shop also has a selection of stocking fillers for some of its biggest TV hits.
While waiting for Bridgerton season 3 to land next May (and June), why not catch up on your correspondence with a plush canine companion? All dogs are Very Good Dogs, and this toy version of Kate Sharma's corgi Newton is no exception.
Netflix's store also contains a Heartstopper range featuring clothing and accessories inspired by the series and Alice Oseman's graphic novels, such as a T-shirt featuring Nick and Charlie.
Meanwhile, volume 5 of Oseman's Heartstopper book series has finally arrived, too, with hints of change on the horizon for the much-loved young couple.
The paperback edition is currently half-price at retailers including Amazon, WHSmith and The Works.
Waiting for the next instalment of Stranger Things? Here's a seasonally appropriate – or seasonally inappropriate, depending on your position on Christmas jumpers – piece of Hellfire Club merch.
(If you're looking for something more subtle, perhaps this Demogorgon Christmas mug is more suitable for you or your loved ones.)
Moving to reality TV, the Strictly fans among you might be tempted by a trip to the 2024 arena tour, bringing back seven celebs from the Class of 2023 to perform their routines.
Hosted by former Strictly professional-turned It Takes Two co-presenter Janette Manrara, three of the show's judges (Craig, Shirley and Anton) will also be present to mark the routines — but the final decision about who wins each tour show is down to the audience at each performance.
Other Strictly stocking fillers include fan favourite Johannes Radebe's recently-released autobiography JoJo: Finally Home and the first instalment in Shirley Ballas 'Sequin Mysteries', crime novel Murder on the Dance Floor.
Finally, don't forget to pick up your Taskmaster Christmas crackers for the big day. Your time starts… well, it's already started.
Christmas gift ideas for soaps fans
Check out our themed soaps gift guides for Coronation Street | EastEnders | Emmerdale | Neighbours
If you'd like to give the soaps fan in your life something with a personal touch this Christmas, consider a personalised video message.
Services like Cameo and Memmo have listings for stars from the likes of Coronation Street, EastEnders, Emmerdale and Hollyoaks, while Swysh features sports and TV stars from across Australia, New Zealand and beyond — including former Neighbours star Tim Robards and ex-Home and Away star Luke Jacobz.
Meanwhile, if you're considering visiting the Emmerdale village tour as a Christmas gift, you can buy tickets for two via sites like Virgin Experience Days and Buy a Gift. We've gone into a bit more detail about the different packages here.
Virgin Experience Days also has a listing for the Coronation Street tour package (as a bundle for two visitors).
Neighbours' merch line now pays tribute to a true icon of the show's original run. If you've wanted your very own Christmas-themed T-shirt celebrating the one and only Bouncer the dog, then your festive wishes have been granted.
Meanwhile, former EastEnders star Ross Kemp released his autobiography, complete with a perfect pun in the title, earlier this year. The hardcover edition of Take Nothing for Granted is available for half-price via Amazon in the run-up to Christmas. If you'd prefer Ross himself read it to you, there's always the audiobook version.
Christmas gift ideas in gaming
Check out our themed shopping guides for PS5 and PS5 Slim | Xbox Series S and X | Nintendo Switch consoles | PlayStation Portal stock updates
Why not check out our best games roundup of 2023 for some gifting inspiration? It features acclaimed titles such as Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, Alan Wake 2 and Baldur's Gate 3, which was recently named Game of the Year at The Game Awards.
Star Wars Jedi: Survivor is currently available for a discounted price via Amazon if you fancy picking up the PS5 version of the game for £29.99 (that price is for the Standard Edition).
Meanwhile, the Xbox standard edition of EA Sports FC is available via Amazon for £41.50 in a limited-time deal.
Over at hit.co.uk, you'll find one of the most competitive prices for Marvel's Spider-Man 2: The standard edition of the game is currently listed for £59.85.
And if you're a fan of The Sims 4 searching for the recently-released For Rent expansion pack, CDKeys has it available for 27% off (usually £34.99, now £25.49).
You'll find links to our console round-ups above, but in most places, such as Very, the digital edition of the PS5 Slim is priced from £389, and the PS5 Slim disc console is listed from £479.99 at Argos.
Very also has some PS5 Slim disc console and game bundles priced at just over the £500 mark — like this PS5 Slim disc console and Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora priced at £509.
More Christmas gift ideas
Star Trek's Picard spin-off ended earlier this year, and acting icon Sir Patrick Stewart recently released his autobiography, aptly titled Making It So.
Related: Best books of 2023 for TV, movies and pop culture addicts
It's been a busy year for memoirs, with celebrities from Prince Harry to Britney Spears also publishing autobiographies.
Disney+ is still selling its annual subscription cards if you want to introduce a new customer to the service. You can present a friend with a year's access to the streaming service if they've never been signed up for it. Further information is available here.
Amazon also has a wide range of gift cards — many of which can be ordered and delivered online — covering the likes of its own store plus Netflix, Google Play, Spotify, Vue, ODEON, Cineworld, Xbox Live, PlayStation, Ticketmaster and Currys.
If you're looking for Christmas gift inspiration for theatre lovers, LOVEtheatre offers gift vouchers, too.
It has listings for numerous West End shows with highlights coming up in 2024, including Matt Smith's return to the stage in An Enemy of the People, Succession's Brian Cox in Long Day's Journey Into Night, plus musicals from Mean Girls to The Devil Wears Prada.
It also still has tickets for the RSC's multi-award-winning stage version of the Studio Ghibli classic My Neighbour Totoro, which has returned to the Barbican for another strictly limited run.
You Might Also Like
