I was thinking this morning that soap has its own set of Christmas cliches that get rolled out year after year. Here's one to get us started ...
[LIST][*]If 'Merry Christmas Everybody' by Slade is playing, someone's probably seconds away from being murdered or having a nasty accident.[/LIST]

It snows, always.

If the Christmas meal is delicious, someone will have a shocking announcement. However if everyone is happy, something will go wrong with the christmas meal.

If your baby is due around Christmas, it will either be born in Christmas related festivities or around the day itself.

Characters only ever give one present, usually in a rectangular box - they never give the mountains of presents that most people give.

It is imperative that cheaters see their mistresses/misters on christmas day itself

Relatives that do not live in the immediate vicinity never visit for Christmas.

yeah totally, but how many have their birthdays mentioned at xmas?

A family secret will always come out - preferably over dinner.

They will then be seen lying unconscious or dead during the line "It's only just begun".

Someone either goes on the run on xmas day or someone who's been the black sheep of the family makes a shock return

Hahaha THIS!

*Dead body lying on the ground*
"It's only just begunnnnnnnnnnn"

*Wrecked car smoking by the side of the road, close up to unconscious passenger*
"It's only just begunnnnnnnnnnn"

A 'community' Christmas tree will appear, fully-decorated without any knowledge from the local residents.

It never gets vandalised.

If you have being stalked in November and December, your stalker will be revealed on Christmas Day a la Louise Appleton

EVERYBODY ends up in the pub leaving the kids behind to presumably get the xmas dinner on!

Someone gets murdered and someone has a affair.

S/Ls either start or reach a climax on Christmas day, it's never just a regular day when a storyline is still being built.

You can book a flight to literally anywhere at a moment's notice and be able to afford it no problem.

Someone always has to ruin christmas dinner.
Someone always gate crashes another's christmas dinner.
No relatives come to spend the day if they have left the series.

You MUST die, under a car, a bench, a chimney etc etc!

you can afford christmas despite spending very little time working

Saying 'This is going to be the best Christmas ever!' means you're definitely going to die/get dumped/find out your newborn baby was actually fathered by your arch-nemesis/get evicted/go bankrupt.

Someone will get married.

Someone will wreck their xmas dinner/forget to put the oven on so will go round to the neighbours who will magically have enough food to feed all the guests.

Someone always gos outside and has a confrontation with someone after christmas dinner. Has anyone noticed this?

Residents are either completely oblivious to mischief/scandal happening on the street or are so perceptive that even the smallest thing arouses their suspicions.

you cannot have a normal family Xmas simples!