Cosy TV: A warm hug in episode form

Is there any better television than cosy television? After a gruelling shift at work, a day of seminars, or an interminable trip home on a U1 that was 38 minutes late, there’s nothing more gratifying than settling down and watching something that invokes not only escapism but comfort. With the Christmas period fast approaching and the television schedules filling up with just that type of television, let’s take a look at why cosy television is such a staple of our viewing habits. 

Why do we gravitate towards cosy television, particularly during the Christmas period? It’s no secret that food is an integral part of each year’s festive celebrations; the popularity of cosy television therefore reflects our desire for leisure during this period of the year. If the rest of the year is marked by work, then the weeks around Christmas are the opposite. Whether it be Christmas specials of a popular television programme or one-off extravaganzas – such as last year’s acclaimed Wallace and Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl – cosy television is a staple of the period because we want nothing more than to flop onto the sofa, slightly queasy from one too many Yorkshire puddings, and watch something that is nothing but entertaining and enjoyable. 

The television is a centre of community in the home

Yet, on a more emotional level, cosy television reflects and reproduces the togetherness of the Christmas period. The television is a centre of community in the home, often situated in the centre of the living room as a point of attention. The notion of cosy television is thus an appealing one as it enhances the warmth of the festive season and develops the pre-existing sense of community that the season and television more broadly are associated with. Programmes such as Friends and Gavin & Stacey are therefore stereotypes of what many would consider to be cosy television.  

Gavin & Stacey, in particular, is a prime example of television at its most comforting. For those unaware, the series follows Gavin, from a middle-class Essex household, and Stacey, from a working-class Welsh household, through their experiences with friends and family. A primary theme of the series is the dissonance between England and Wales, yet the overriding resolution to this issue is that of an expanded and diverse familial structure. Therefore, the series is not only representative of community but also reproductive of such.  

Last Christmas, I was holidaying in Wales, coincidentally with the entirety of my mother’s family, which also happened to be the Christmas in which the series finale of Gavin & Stacey aired. The broadcast brought together almost all of the family in one room at one time – surely a triumph in a world now dominated by streaming services in which all television is available on-demand at any time. The essence of cosy television, therefore, rests not only in its tone of warmth but also in its ability to form communities, united – no matter how briefly – in a moment of togetherness. 

Cosy television is reflective of the laidback desires of Christmas

Yet cosy television is defined not only by traditional associations with what one would consider ‘cosy’, be it literal or metaphorical, but also by nostalgia. Gilmore Girls, for example, is a stereotype of cosy television – whilst I’m rather lukewarm towards it, it’s a fan-favourite, along with other programmes that I may be rather ambivalent towards but are well-loved all the same. We gravitate towards what we grew up with, and we seek solace in that which reminds us of the rosiness of youth.  

As a result, series such as Doctor Who are synonymous with the concept of cosiness, and many of my favourite episodes remain those that I watched when much younger. Therefore, cosy television need not be defined in the most literal sense: the diverse tastes in my family alone prove that cosiness is not necessarily an inherent feature of a programme but fostered through singularly personal experience. 

To conclude, cosy television is an essential staple of not only the festive period, but attitudes towards television viewing in general. Cosy television is reflective of the laidback desires of Christmas but also the emotional and familial togetherness that the festivities often create, even in some instances, being able to enhance said togetherness. Yet what we consider ‘cosy’ is not restricted to the time of year or one’s audience peers: states of warmth are produced in thoroughly personal circumstances and often by unexpected series. The important thing is that television is able to carry all of these qualities. As the world’s most easily accessible artistic outlet, its ability to conjure up feelings of cosiness – both literally and emotionally – is surely one of its greatest strengths.