Time to get the DVDs and streaming services going.
Different people have a different barometer to measure the start of the Christmas season. For some, it's when the tree is up, for others, it's the Christmas season whenever December starts.
However, film and TV fans will know that things really start to get serious when the RTÉ Christmas Guide is available to buy and having glanced through the listings for the next few weeks, we're shocked to see that somebody has said Avada Kedavra to all eight Harry Potter films on terrestrial TV - RTÉ, Virgin Media, TG4, BBC, ITV, Channel 4 etc.
Granted, the boy wizard isn't as closely associated with the Christmas season in the way that genuine Christmas films like Die Hard, Home Alone, Gremlins, and Elf are, but they're still films that you'd associate with this time of year.
After all, it's not Christmas without settling down to watch the likes of the Indiana Jones trilogy (the fourth film never happened), The Great Escape, Hook, The Snapper, and the Back to the Future films.
Ok, they're not Christmas films but you 100% associate them with this time of year.
Sadly, viewers will only be able to see Harry's adventures on DVD, but if you're a NOW TV viewer, every single Harry Potter film will be available to watch from 23 December.
As NOW TV state, viewers will be able to "watch all eight Harry Potter films on NOW TV, to add a touch of magic to your festive break. Add boost to your Sky Cinema pass to enjoy the series in full UHD."
FYI, as sad as this news is for Harry Potter fans - even if they've seen the films 1,237 times before - there's still a plethora of fantastic films being shown over the Christmas season on TV.
Case in point, in terms of family-friendly films alone, viewers can enjoy the likes of Space Jam, The Grinch, Toy Story 3, Frozen, Cool Runnings, Elf, The Lego Movie, Matilda, Home Alone 1 and 2, Jumanji, Paddington 2, all the Shrek films, and lots more on their TVs.
That's just one genre!
Sadly, the Harry Potter films won't be shown on any free-to-air station, but if you've got NOW TV or the DVDs, you're not going to miss out.
