It’s the Holiday Season everyone, which means it’s time for some good Christmas-themed TV. Back in 1843, the epic novella A Christmas Carol by novelist Charles Dickens gave us the chill of the holidays. Now, in 2019, the BBC and FX will give us the chance to relive the festive story on our small screens. The new mini-series – A Christmas Carol is coming your way, and I have everything you need to know about how to stream live anywhere. Let’s get your Jingle Bells up and running.
How to Watch A Christmas Carol Live Online
A Christmas Carol – Your Streaming Options and their Grinch
Streaming has become an important part of today’s daily routine. You would rarely find a household without a channel or cable subscription. That’s exactly how you’re going to get a hold of A Christmas Carol.
The new show will air on BBC One in the UK on December 22–24, 2019 and of FX in the United States on December 19th, 2019. Unfortunately, the Grinch part comes in the form of geo-blocks, a mechanism used by those channels to limit user access to a specific location. To be exact, the US and the US, respectively.
Streaming services can determine your location by examining your IP address. If your traffic happens to be coming from outside their area of coverage, your access will be terminated on the spot.
In other words, BBC iPlayer and FX will block you as soon as they pinpoint your physical whereabouts. You’ll be notified when this occurs with the following geo-error messages:
- BBC iPlayer: “BBC iPlayer only works in the UK. Sorry, it’s due to rights issues.”
- FX Now: “Thank you for your interest in FX Networks. The content you are trying to access is not available in your region.”
So, basically, you have to be present either in the US or the UK to be able to watch the new hit mini-series. Well, not quite. After you’re done with the next part, you’ll be able to stream A Christmas Carol no matter which channel you choose, or what country you reside in.
A Christmas Carol – Jingle All the Way to Global Streaming
As I mentioned, streaming channels rely on your IP address to determine your location. What if there’s a way you can change that? The answer is yes, by the way.
It’s called a Virtual Private Network (VPN), an internet software used to encrypt your data and anonymize your browsing activities. When you connect to a server, the cybersecurity tool will reroute your whole traffic through a private tunnel, encrypting your data and hiding your IP address in the process.
Next, it’ll assign you a new IP in the gateway city where the server you connected to is located. For example, if the server is in the US, an American IP address you shall receive. Not only does this avoid your ISP’s monitoring habits, but it also allows you to access everything geo-restricted to the United States, including FXNOW.
You can also do the same with BBC iPlayer if you connect to a UK server instead. How else do you think BBC iPlayer got over 65 million people regularly accessing its service from abroad? With a VPN, of course.
The Steps – A Christmas Carol Live Anywhere
BBC is well-known for documentaries and over the top shows, and to top it all up; it’s free. That’s why I’m going to be using it as an example in the steps below. Remember that the same steps also apply to FXNOW. Just substitute the British server with a US one.
- First, sign up with a premium VPN service. Free VPNs will compromise your privacy, so I highly recommend ExpressVPN.
- Download and install the VPN application on the device you’re streaming on. There are dedicated clients for iOS, Windows, Android, macOS, and Fire Stick.
- Run the app, log in with your username and password, and head over to the VPN server list.
- Connect to a server in the United Kingdom.
- Launch BBC iPlayer.
- Stream A Christmas Carol anywhere you are for Free.
ExpressVPN is the perfect tool to use for such a task. Not only is it superfast for HD-streaming, but it also allows you to connect to more than 3000 servers across 94 countries.
Moreover, the provider excels in the security department, offering the likes of a kill switch, split tunneling, zero-knowledge DNS, no-logging policy, and one tough 256-bit AES encryption. Give it a try, risk-free, courtesy of their 30-day money-back guarantee. If you don’t happen to see it fit, you can always opt for any of the following top alternatives.
- 30-Day Money-back Guarantee
- Unlimited Bandwidth
- Apps For All Your Devices
- 24/7 Live Support
A Christmas Carol – The Other Way Around (Smart DNS)
Now, this is an alternative for those who get really affected by what a VPN encryption does to their connection speed. As you may know, when a VPN encrypts your data, your speed will drop (it’s inevitable).
ExpressVPN offers high-speeds, and you’ll barely notice that drop, but still, some of you won’t settle for that. That’s where Smart DNS comes in.
Smart DNS does not encrypt your data (no added security), but it does allow you to stream geo-restricted content at full speed. Also, it doesn’t change your IP address (no anonymity). However, with that, you can navigate between your local channels and restricted ones simultaneously.
Also, the best thing about Smart DNS is that it covers a wider range of devices that a VPN does. You get to watch your content on the likes of PlayStation, Android, iOS, PC, Mac, Smart TVs, Apple TV, Chromecast, and Android TV.
The best option you have is the Danish Smart DNS legend, Unlocator. It has been around since 2013 and has become one of the top services in the industry. Here’s how you can set it up.
- First, head over to the Unlocator website and sign up.
- Next, follow the setup guides provided there and configure Smart DNS based on the platform you’re using.
- Restart the device and head over to BBC iPlayer’s website.
- Stream A Christmas Carol wherever you are with minimal speed loss.
Unlocator supports more than 240 channels, so you won’t be running out of options. Also, it gives you a 7-day period to test their service out for free. That way, you can know whether you should invest in this provider or not.
BBC iPlayer and FXNOW – Device Compatibility
To enjoy the new show, you must have the right streaming platform. What good is unblocking the channel if you don’t have the supported device to stream it on? Therefore, here are the devices compatible with both BBC iPlayer and FXNOW:
BBC iPlayer
- Mac
- Android
- iPhone
- Roku
- PC
- Amazon Fire TV
- PS4, PS3
- Xbox
- Apple TV
FXNOW
- iOS
- Android
- Roku
- Apple TV
- Amazon Fire TV
- Xbox One
- Chromecast
- PC
- Mac
A Christmas Carol – From 1843 to 2019
The show is coming to FX and the BBC as a three-part miniseries. It will air on FX on December 19th, 2019, and on BBC iPlayer on December 22-24, 2019.
Although we’ve seen so many adaptations of the novella before, this one is brought to you by none other than the creator of Peaky Blinders, Steven Knight.
A Christmas Carol will star Guy Pearce as Ebenezer Scrooge, a bitter old man who despises the Christmas holiday and then famously undergoes time-traveling therapy, courtesy of three spirits.
On Christmas Eve, the three spirits will take him on a journey to see his past, present, and future. We all know the story, but do we know what the mini-series has in stores for us? No.
That’s why I’ll help you out with everything I know so far. First, let’s check out the amazing cast of the show, followed by the first trailer released by the BBC and FX.
- Guy Pearce as Ebenezer Scrooge
- Andy Serkis as Ghost of Christmas Past
- Stephen Graham as Jacob Marley
- Charlotte Riley as Lottie/Ghost of Christmas Present
- Joe Alwyn as Bob Cratchit
- Vinette Robinson as Mary Cratchit
- Jason Flemyng as Ghost of Christmas Future
- Kayvan Novak as Ali Baba
- Lenny Rush as Tiny Tim
- Johnny Harris as Franklin Scrooge
Tom Hardy is also set to star in the show, but a specific character has not yet been enrolled. With that said, here’s the first look at the new BBC/FX mini-series, A Christmas Carol
Watch A Christmas Carol Live Anywhere – Final Words
You’ve seen the trailer above. How gritty, stylistically-ambitious is the adaptation? It really shows that the show comes from the mind of Steven Knight.
Now, everyone around the world can tune in and watch A Christmas Carol thanks to VPNs and Smart DNS. What do you think of the show? Will it be a TV Blockbuster? Do you like the cast? Share your thoughts below.
