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What to Stream this Month

Daniel Hautzinger
Mary Berry and Paul Hollywood in the Great British Baking Show Masterclass Christmas Special. Photo: Love Productions
Photo: Love Productions

Find our streaming recommendations for the previous month here.

Do you ever wish you could binge-watch your favorite PBS programs? If you’re a member you already can; if not, it’s easy to join. With WTTW Passport, members can watch a huge library of PBS and WTTW programming on-demand on any streaming device. To learn more about WTTW Passport, check out our dedicated site. You can activate or sign up for Passport here.

Each month we’ll bring you a few Passport picks. December obviously brings the holidays, and is also the perfect time to curl up in your warm home and watch some TV while snow falls outside. Here are holiday specials from your favorite British shows, a Christmas concert, holiday baking episodes, and more to tide you through those dark, cold nights. 

Christmas with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir

The Mormon Tabernacle Choir’s Christmas concert has become a beloved holiday tradition, and this year it will be hosted by Hugh Bonneville of Downton Abbey and feature Broadway star Sutton Foster as a musical guest. But if you need some beautiful choral singing before that special airs on December 17 at 9:00 pm, you can re-watch last year’s, featuring the tenor Rolando Villazón.


Victoria Season 2 Christmas Episode

With the return of Victoria around the corner (the new season premieres January 13), it’s the perfect time to catch up on the previous season, including the Christmas special that served as a finale. Albert wants to ensure a magical Christmas for his family, while Victoria befriends a young, frightened girl brought to stay at the palace. And if you need recaps of all of Victoria or other fun related content, we’ve got it covered.


Grantchester Christmas Special

Speaking of Christmas specials of favorite British shows, the first episode of Grantchester’s last season took place over the holidays and featured some nativity play shenanigans involving Leonard as well as a wealthy groom who shows up dead before his wedding. You can stream the entire third season of Grantchester, and recap it too.


The Great British Baking Show Masterclass: Christmas

Season 1    Season 2    Season 3     Season 4

Need a hand making some classic holiday baked goods for a party? Or do you just want to watch some delightful British professionals make said holiday treats? You’re in luck: there are four episodes of The Great British Baking Show Masterclass devoted to Christmas. Watch Mary Berry and Paul Hollywood effortlessly tackle everything from Christmas pudding to gingerbread houses to saffron buns.

Mary Berry and Paul Hollywood in the Great British Baking Show Masterclass Christmas Special. Photo: Love Productions Photo: Love Productions


Rick Steves’ European Christmas

There are rich and wonderful Christmas traditions around the globe, especially in the historically Christian countries of Europe. Join Rick Steves as he explores holiday markets, traditions, and snowy settings in Bath, Paris, Oslo, Tuscany, Salzburg, and more. A Passport membership is not required to stream.


Marshall Field’s Christmas Windows

For some localized holiday fun, take a look back at the history and evolution of the legendary holiday windows at Marshall Field’s in an episode from our old Chicago Stories series. It’s available to stream by everyone – and you just might see that favorite window decoration that you have never forgotten!

And finally, take a quick tour of more than 80 Chicago landmarks constructed entirely out of foraged materials such as bark, twigs, gourds, acorns, and more in our video of the Chicago Botanic Garden's Wonderland Express: