Merry Christmas -- uh, I mean Happy Stranger Things Day! The Netflix phenomenon is back on our screens this festive period for the second installment of its fifth and final season, and you can rest assured that a lot of households will be tuning in over the holidays to see what Eleven, Mike, Will, Dustin and the rest of the Hawkins Squad get up to.
The first part - or "Volume" as Netflix calls them - premiered back in November for the Thanksgiving period in the US as the streamer plans on capitalizing on Stranger Things' success by releasing it on all the holidays throughout fall 2025. It was a game-changer for sure, but it also resulted in a lot of questions being asked for those attempting to watch it in the UK. You can bet that those same issues are going to be encountered today, as a multitude of the show's fans in the United Kingdom will discover that Stranger Things 5 Part 2 is not on Netflix on December 25. Fear not, though, you don't have to wait too much longer.
Stranger Things 5 Volume 2 comes out later than you think in the UK
Stranger Things 5 Volume 2 premieres on Netflix in the UK at 1:00 a.m. GMT on Friday, December 26. So, yes, technically if you stay up really late on Christmas Day, the episodes will be waiting for you one hour after midnight - which is, of course, technically Boxing Day. Although that is a drastically different release style to what Netflix users are familiar with, it is the same pattern that Volume 1 adhered to.
As for why Netflix has chosen the odd release format? It all has to do with the streamers' collective trend towards releasing new episodes during primetime in the US. Disney Plus saw success with this approach when it came to Marvel shows such as Loki and Agatha All Along, while Amazon's Prime Video has also enjoyed playing with the release times of some of its biggest shows. It's a change for streamers, most of which originally gravitated towards unveiling new episodes at the beginning of the day as they are now favoring broadcast TV's format of having specific evening start times for their programs.
Stranger Things season 5 part 2 has a US release date and time of Christmas Day at 8:00 p.m. ET / 5:00 p.m. PT, which explains why it will release in the UK and Europe after midnight - technically making December 26 its release date in those countries instead.
Christmas Day is a globally celebrated day around the world, but people in the UK have some long-standing traditions that might make it more challenging to stay up to 1:00 a.m. We are of course talking about the long days in front of the telly after the Christmas dinner is finished, which are usually spent watching the Strictly Come Dancing Christmas Special, Coronation Street, Emmerdale, and the annually-shocking Christmas episode of EastEnders that has the nation's jaws dropping. After all of that, will Stranger Things fans be able to stay up to watch their favorite show in the wee hours of the morning?
Although it's a challenge for them, the answer to that question is still a resounding yes. These are some of the most committed fans in the world and you can rest assured that they will be tuning into part 2 when it premieres. Can you blame them?! We need answers after that stunning midseason finale that resulted in Volume 1 ending on one of the biggest cliffhangers in Stranger Things history.
The series has now become the most-watched show in Netflix history, pulling in millions of viewers over the course of the past decade, and we have no doubt that the next installment of season 5 - and the two-hour finale on New Year's Eve - will only add to that legacy!