It's the season for office get-togethers, Christmas parties and events with loved ones.
There's nothing like getting the whole gang together, and if you fancy a space that's private for you and your chosen company - Leeds has seemingly unlimited options for a day or night out to remember.
Here's everywhere we've spotted in and around the city centre where you can hire a local venue out for your special event...
Image: Shear's Yard via Instagram
The Packhorse
What: Private upstairs room with its own bar with space for up to 90 people (trading until 1am)
Where: Park Horse Yard, Briggate, Leeds, LS1 6AT
Gaucho
What: Two private dining rooms (seating 14-22 guests), semi-private dining in main restaurant for up to 50 and exclusive venue hire for 100 guests is available. Menus range from £45-£85pp and canapes £18-£32 with space for live music and DJs
Where: 21-22 Park Row, Leeds, LS1 5JF
Distrikt
What: Late night underground bar with private hire across two floors for up to 200 guests with no minimum spend and no hire free Sunday - Thursday until 2am. Live music, DJs and drinks packages all available
Where: 7 Duncan Street, Leeds, LS1 6DQ
Shear's Yard
What: Seated dinner space for up to 60 people or 130 standing, plus open to big events like weddings
What: Wine bar with private basement bar with space for up to 60 people
Where: 4-8 New Station Street, Leeds, LS1 5DL
MANS Markets
What: Modern Chinese restaurant with (free) private hire for up to 45 guests. Christmas buffers and bottomless brunch available Wednesday - Sundays
Where: Unit F, West Point, Wellington Street, Leeds, LS1 4JJ
Stuzzi
What: Private upstairs area with private bar space for up to 24 diners or 60 standing guests. No hire fee.
Where: 7 Merrion Street, Leeds, LS1 6PQ
The Collective Inc.
What: City centre restaurant with packages for canapes, grazing tables with five and eight course taster menus. Space for 40 seated or 110 standing
Where: 33 Boar Lane, Leeds, LS1 5DA
Hooyah Burgers
What: Burger bar with private upstairs dining for 15-20 people
Where: 78 Albion Street, Leeds, LS1 6AD
The Old Red Bus Station
What: Space for up to 50 people with bar and catered menu, vegan kitchen and DJ equipment for hire
Where: 104 Vicar Lane, Leeds, LS2 7NL
Liquor Studio
What: Private venue hire with spirit-led masterclasses
Where: 156a Lower Briggate, Leeds, LS1 6LY
The Brotherhood of Pursuits and Pastimes
What: Sports bar with pool tables, beer pong and darts available for hire with drinks and buffet packages
Where: 54 New Briggate, Leeds, LS1 6NU
Parkside Tavern
What: Private upstairs function room with space for up to 150 guests. Private bar, ber pong, adjoining terrace and four TVs included, plus access to the games room for 15-50 guests at £25 per hour
Where: St John's House Merrion Street, Leeds, LS2 8JE
The Shed
What: Indie rock bar with private area for up to 30 guests with raised stage area OR early week private hire with space for up to 150 guests
Where: 6 Heaton's Court, Leeds, LS1 4LJ
Archie's Bar & Kitchen
What: Multiple private hire options for 30-150 people
Where: Granary Wharf, The Dark Arches, Neville Street, Leeds, LS1 4BR
Pinnacle Beer and Gin Hall
What: Hire area for 20-150 guests, with seven pool tables
Where: 1 Bond Street, Leeds, LS1 5BQ
Mabgate Bleach
What: Indie music venue with private hire space for up to 80 people
What: Two floors including a roof terrace with space for up to 280 people (trading 8am-6am). Free hire available (T&Cs apply) and U18s can stay until 9.30pm
Where: 52 Call Lane, Leeds, LS1 6DT
The Backroom
What: Late night speakeasy with private hire space for up to 150 guests. There's no hire fee or minimum spend on Thursdays - Sundays until midnight. Private hire for 350-500 people also available.
Where: 50a Call Lane, Leeds, LS1 6DT
XVC Bar
What: Two rooms for private hire with space for 40-50 people, both include private bar, DJ booth and seating area
Where: 95 Kirkgate, Leeds, LS2 5DJ
Dirty Martini
What: Bar with private upstairs Martini Lounge with space for up to 80 guests
Where: 31 King Street, Leeds, LS1 2HL
The End
What: Space for up to 300 guests with food, drink and entertainment packages
Where: Hirst's Yard, Leeds, LS1 6NJ
Archive
What: Bar close to the city centre with space for up to 250 seated or standing. Private hire includes projector, screen, private bar and garden, plus fairy and festoon lights
When: 94 Kirkstall Road, Leeds, LS3 1HD
Springwell
What: Private hire space upstairs in North Brewing Co.'s flagship brewery with food options from Little Bao Boy
'Tis the season to sit on your backside and do nothing but gorge on mountains of food and watch TV for hours on end as you make your way through all the Christmas specials and best of British telly you can muster.
Now, there's nothing worse than when it feels like there's nothing on you're stranded in that spot on the sofa that's too comfy to vacate, so that's where we come in.
Along with all the usual stuff you'll find in the TV guide at this time of year, we thought we'd round up some of the very best British Christmas specials to have ever aired - that way you'll have a steady supply of festive viewing and barely need to move an inch.
In no particular order, let's get stuck into it, shall we?
Where else to start than with the pride of Wales and a series that millions watch from start to finish every year? Gavin & Stacey. Still revered as one of the most beloved comedies to ever come out of the UK, their two festive specials are also part and parcel (pardon the pun) of many Brits' Christmas.
It still feels a bit weird going back and watching Corden as Smithy before the days of American fame, that first Nessa entrance; Uncle Bryn being, well, Bryn - even the soundtrack takes us back, but with a third special and ultimate 'Finale' airing at 9pm on BBC One on 25 December, it's time to do it all over again.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xSFldB3KEp4
'OH! What's occurin'?...'
9. The Office - 'Christmas Special' (Part 1 and 2)
Next up is not only this particular telephile's ultimate Christmas TV event but possibly one of the very best episodes of British telly in history. Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant broke new ground with this genre-defining comedy and while they fine-tuned cringe throughout the series, this was pure heart.
Rom-com juggernaut Richard Curtis dubbed this two-part Christmas special spread across just 96 minutes as the culmination of what he believed to be "one of the great romantic stories of all time" between Tim and Dawn, and the perfect end to a "masterpiece". You'll hear no arguments from us.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GanUwGPbc6I
Is it the best Christmas special in British TV history?
8. The Royle Family - Christmas Specials (1999, 2000, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2012)
Another classic not only British but fundamentally Northern comedy, The Royle Family perfectly captures the comfortable monotony of sitting in the front of the telly for hours on end - especially over the holiday season.
There are multiple specials to get through and while they all do a great job of creating that familiar feeling of a working-class family's front room (they nailed that throughout the entire show), the 1999 Christmas with the Royle Family special where the late great Caroline Aherne's water breaks and that tear-jerking scene with Ricky Tomlinson... it gets us every time.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7aKaCVZl-b4&t=20s
Still has us weeping just as much now as it did back in the day.
7. Peep Show - 'Seasonal Beatings'
Cauliflower may or may not be traditional but one thing we can agree on is that watching Peep Show's hilariously miserable, ill-mannered, tense ever-awkward and bloody brilliant Christmas episode from 2010 is very much part of our annual holiday ritual.
The fifth episode of the seventh season - which many would rightly champion as peak-era Peep Show - may only last less than half an hour but it feels like an eternity of familiar festive agony and walking on egg-shells before the fantastic crescendo that is Mark pouring gravy into a shredder. Merry ChrisMark!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KJ38jTQcO1k
If you don't think Peep Show's Christmas special/festive episode is one of the best in British TV history, you're just wrong, sorry.
6. Ted Lasso - 'Carol of the Bells'
Approaching the halfway mark and we're going to be somewhat controversial and introduce not only a very contemporary pick but one that isn't technically a UK production, but the show is set entirely in England and there's one thing it has tried to be since the start it's very overly British.
Now, we're going to qualify that we have a weird relationship with Ted Lasso; it's by no means the funniest thing we've ever seen and the broad-strokes American look at football is frustrating at times, but one thing this show does do well is being incredibly sincere and never more so that in its Christmas special. Plus, you get to hear Hannah Waddingham sing her pipes off - what's not to like?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tXZdEHUroCU
Christmas is about reminding your loved ones how much they mean - regardless of what you make of the show, this episode nails that.
5. Extras - Christmas Special (Part 1 and 2)
Our penultimate pick is also our second Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant creation: the Extras Christmas special, which aired back 2007 and still has some of the funniest gags in the history of British TV as far as we're concerned.
Managing to rope in even more big names for this equally cringeworthy and even painful to watch at times conclusion to the show which also ran for just two series like The Office, the frustrating arc of Gervais' main character Andy Millman is such a great payoff when all is said and done. Only an hour and a half in total, well worth sticking on if you've never seen it before.
Just look at how many famous faces they managed to rope in for this fantastic two-parter. (Credit: Press Image via BBC)
4. Doctor Who - 'End of Time' (Part 1 and 2)
From a David Tennant cameo to him in arguably one of his greatest-ever performances in his final full-time appearance as the space-travelling Time Lord in what we are officially declaring the best Doctor Who Christmas special to date and some of Russell T. Davies' very best work.
It's hard to believe it's been nearly 15 whole years since the national treasure said goodbye to the role in the gut-wrenching two-parter which also saw the return of John Simm as 'The Master' but we're still confident that there hasn't been a better Xmas/New Year's Day special pairing since this one. Here's hoping RTD's recent return will mean this year's is back up to his very high standards.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8D7RaZQ2xWo
That delivery of 'I don't wanna go' still makes us well up.
As we gradually approach the end of our list, we want to give so much deserved love to what we think isn't just the underdog of British telly but an unsung hero when it comes to spotlighting friendship, positive male relationships and downright fraternal love. It's Mortimer & Whitehouse: Gone Finishing - the festive editions. We especially love the one with Mr 'Driving Home For Christmas' himself, Chris Rea.
If you've ever sat down to watch an episode of this laid-back laughter-filled show, you'll know that these two can often achieve that warm, heartfelt and cosy feeling regardless of whether it's Christmas or not. It's also a great antidote to any latent toxic masculinity left on screen and with some serious emotion being laid bare in these Christmas specials episodes especially, for us, this is what reality TV should be.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LHqDwF_Q28M
Two very wholesome chaps.
2. Click & Collect
Ok, we promise this is the last Merchant mention on this list as we're intensely aware of some bias on our end, but this straight-to-TV BBC short film really took us by surprise when we first saw it and is well worth setting aside a nice round hour to enjoy.
Not only does the core premise feel like a very relatable scenario for many parents rushing to sort out everyone's Christmas presents in time but it's a touching tale of family, kindness and sparing that extra bit of patience during what can be a tough time of year for lots of people. You'll love it.
And finally, what better place to round off this list than with only the series consistently voted the greatest British comedy of all time but the episode that is widely considered its best-ever Christmas special? It can only be Del Boy and Rodney dressed up as Batman and Robin in 'Heroes and Villians'.
Now, there is a whopping total of 18 Only Fools Christmas specials and we're sure everyone has their own personal favourite, but surely there isn't a single one more iconic than the first episode of the legendary 1996 festive trilogy. It also sets up events for 'Time on Our Hands', one of the most moving scripts they ever wrote, but it all starts with the much-loved duo plodding through the mist in capes.
It's still regarded as the best British comedy ever, but where does it rank on the list of all-time greatest Christmas TV specials?
A very Christmas special mention...
Father Ted - 'A Christmassy Ted'
Not technically British we know but the cult Irish hit remains one of the funniest comedies to ever come out of our corner of the world and if you've never seen Ted, Dougal and a bunch of other clergymen get stuck in a women's lingerie section like it's a warzone, you're seriously missing out.
Mrs Doyle is her usual quick-witted self and Father Jack can be found making the occasional outburst from his chair as usual and overall, 'A Christmassy Ted' is a very funny bit of seasonal telly.
Come on, you have to agree - we absolutely smashed that.
Some old, some new, some maybe a little bit out of left field but all absolutely guaranteed to keep you entertained this festive period.
If you think we've made the cardinal sin of missing an all-time TV great then please feel free to give it to us in the comments and educate on the best British Christmas specials.
In fact, one of our other writers, Emily, has forced me to add a line about The Vicar of Dibley Christmas Specials too... so here's the line. You can also find her round-up of all the best new bits coming to the box this holiday season down below.
Do Yorkshire puddings belong with your Christmas dinner? 12 million+ Brits think so
Emily Sergeant
Our county's finest creation is eaten on roasts, wraps and Christmas dinners it would seem.
More than 12 million Brits would argue that your Christmas dinner needs a side of Yorkshire puddings, a shocking survey has revealed.
The survey in question carried out by retailer Next - which polled a total of 2,000 Brits about their Christmas dining and tableware habits - has uncovered that millions of people stray off the beaten track when it comes to, what we can all agree is, one of the biggest and heartiest meals of the year.
It turns out, Brits like a lot of unusual items on our Christmas dinner plate.
Some of the most obscure finds the survey is that two million people admitted to eating onion rings alongside their turkey and sprouts, and a further 5% (3.4 million) Brits like tucking into a bit of seafood on Christmas Day.
A surprising 4% (2.7 million) of people admitted that they like to add ketchup to their Christmas dinner plate - with mac and cheese, chips, and sweetcorn also making the top 10 list.
More than 12 million Brits think Yorkshire puddings belong with your Christmas dinner / Credit: Rumman Amin (via Unsplash)
If all of that wasn’t mad enough as it is, one of the most shocking stats from the survey is probably the fact that a whopping 1.4 million respondents even said that they wouldn’t consider it a Christmas dinner without the addition of baked beans.
But when it comes to Christmas dinner, there’s probably one debate that’s bigger than them all, and is still yet to be decided - do Yorkshire puddings belong on your Christmas dinner plate or not?
Well, 12.7 million Brits believe that they do, and we reckon a good chunk of that number is us northerners.
The UK’s top 10 non-traditional Christmas food items
Yorkshire Puddings (19% - 12.7 million)
Bread sauce (5% - 3.4 million)
Seafood (5% - 3.4 million)
Ketchup (4% - 2.7 million)
Mac and cheese (3% - 2 million)
Onion rings (3% - 2 million)
Chips (2% - 1.2 million)
Bread (2% - 1.2 million)
Sweetcorn (2% - 1.2 million)
Beans (2% - 1.2 million)
A new survey has revealed has uncovered that millions of people stray off the beaten track for Christmas dinner / Credit: Lisa Baker (via Unsplash)
While previous research has shown that the most common items on a British Christmas dinner are roast potatoes and gravy, these latest stats reveal there are some people out there who just like to do things a little differently.
But no matter how you like to eat it, a delicious Christmas dinner is always going to be something to celebrate, right?
Sophie Smith -
8th November 2023 
