TV Guide: Best Fireworks TV, Films & Docs to Watch This Christmas & New Year

Looking for a fireworks documentary, movies with epic fireworks scenes, or a way to relive those huge London New Year’s Eve fireworks on TV? Then you are very much our sort of human.

If you love fireworks, the Christmas-to-New-Year stretch is basically your perfect time to sit back, relax and binge with big-budget displays, nerdy behind-the-scenes docs and a surprising amount of anime angst under the glow of shells.

And, because we’re Epic Fireworks, we’ll also show you how to turn all that screen inspiration into a real-world display in the garden.

Proper Pyro Geekery

Pyros: Painting with Fire

A doc series following the Montreal company Groupe Fiatlux-Ampleman (GFA) as they put on huge displays around the world – competitions, Canada Day, giant festival shows.

Watch how they think in modules: each segment of a big show is almost like one of our single-ignition barrages. It’s a very similar mindset to building a DIY display with our New Year packs or wedding kits – just on a “we’ve closed half a city” scale.

Where to watch in the UK:

• Amazon Prime Video UK – Pyros: Painting with Fire Season 1 & 2 (streaming with Prime / Prime with ads)

• Magellan TV – Seasons 1 & 2

• Free with ads: Tubi TV and Pluto TV (both have Pyros S1 & S2)

• Buy to keep: Amazon Video (digital download of episodes/seasons)

The Explosion Show – S1E3 “Fireworks Declassified"

A Discovery series where Tory Belleci (ex-MythBusters) and Streetbike Tommy poke around things that go boom. The main fireworks episode is a full 44-minute dive into a giant fireworks company and how big shows are put together.

Lovely to pair this with a browse of our larger compound cakes – you’ll see the same principles in action: fewer fuses, more pre-programmed variety, less running around the lawn like a headless chicken.

Where to watch in the UK:

• discovery+ UK – The Explosion Show S1, including Episode 3 “Fireworks Declassified”.

• Amazon Prime Video UK – The Explosion Show – Season 1 is available to buy; Episode 3 is clearly labelled “Fireworks Declassified” in the episode list.

Naked Science – “Secret World of Fireworks”

From National Geographic’s Naked Science series Season 6, Episode 15/16 (numbering varies): “Secret World of Fireworks” is a full episode on the history, chemistry and engineering behind fireworks, originally aired July 2009.

Perfect sofa companion if you’re choosing between strobes, peonies and other firework effects in the Epic range and want to know exactly which metal salts you’re throwing skywards.

Where to watch in the UK:

• Available via National Geographic platforms

• On-demand through Prime Video and Apple TV Store as part of the Naked Science back catalogue

There’s also the full-length upload on YouTube which we've shared above - you're welcome!

Short, Nerdy & Very Watchable

How It’s Made: Fireworks

The Canadian series How It’s Made did a dedicated fireworks segment, showing how shells are assembled, filled and tested.

Where to watch in the UK:

The Science Channel has chopped the segment out neatly on YouTube, which we've shared above.

Full seasons of How It’s Made are also broadcast in the UK on Discovery Channel, Quest and DMAX, and available via discovery+.

Lucy Worsley’s Fireworks for a Tudor Queen

A BBC Four special from 2018, Lucy Worsley and Zoe Laughlin recreate a 16th-century fireworks display for Elizabeth I, using original Tudor manuals and recipes.

Lovely pairing with a mug of something hot and a browse of the quiet-effects Epic selection if you’re feeling historically inspired.

Where to watch in the UK:

While it’s not currently up on iPlayer, there’s a full upload in a BBC-focused YouTube playlist: “Tudor Britain at the BBC” / “Lucy Worsley at the BBC” on the Culture Vulture Rises channel, featuring “Lucy Worsley’s Fireworks for a Tudor Queen (BBC)” (runtime ~59 minutes).

We've shared it above, or you can pop ‘Lucy Worsley Fireworks for a Tudor Queen Culture Vulture Rises’ into YouTube on your smartTV and you’ll find the full doc.

Fireworks in Fiction

Fireworks (2017 anime)

The anime film often listed as “Fireworks: Should We See It from the Side or the Bottom?” is a time-twisting teen romance built around a summer fireworks festival.

Good one to enjoy alongside our low-noise and romantic effects ranges – horsetails, willows and slow-falling golds for proposals and “we got through another year together” moments.

Where to watch in the UK:

• Amazon Video UK: available to rent or buy digitally (HD rental and purchase).

• Crunchyroll: lists Fireworks as available to stream in its movie library

V for Vendetta

Dystopian Britain, Guy Fawkes mask, and a climactic fireworks-and-explosions sequence over Parliament that’s burned itself into pop-culture pyro history.

According to recent coverage, it’s enjoying a fresh wave of streaming popularity and even has a TV reboot in development – so it’s very much back in the zeitgeist.

Imagine a scaled-down, legal, non-treasonous version in your cul-de-sac: a tightly-timed Epic compound cake finale that goes from “oh that’s nice” to “wow” in about 30 seconds.

Where to watch in the UK:

• Amazon Prime Video UK (included with some Prime tiers / with ads)

• Apple TV, Rakuten TV, Amazon Video, Sky Store

YouTube Rabbit Holes for Fireworks Fans

If your budget for December TV is “free and on the laptop while I eat Celebrations,” YouTube has you covered.

BBC London New Year’s Fireworks 2006–2025

The “BBC New Year’s Eve Fireworks – BBC” and related playlists contain years’ worth of London NYE shows. Search ‘London New Year’s Eve Fireworks’ and pick a year at random.”

Great to have on while you’re building an Epic shopping basket – “we’ll have that sort of gold, that amount of red, and definitely that level of finale.”

The Epic Fireworks YouTube Channel

And then, of course, there’s our own little corner of YouTube.

The Epic Fireworks YouTube channel is basically a massive live-action catalogue of what we sell, including:

• Hundreds of firing videos for individual products – cakes, barrages, rockets, fountains, compounds, low-noise pieces and more

• Full run-throughs of our DIY display packs

• Real-world display footage using Epic kit – handy if you want to copy a firing order or finale style

If you’re planning a New Year’s Eve display, winter wedding, or a summer blow-out, it’s the easiest way to go from “that looks cool on the label” to “yep, that’s exactly what we want in our sky.”

Just head to our channel Epic Fireworks – then disappear down the rabbit hole for an hour or three while you fine-tune your display.

From Screen to Garden: Turning Inspiration into Your Own Show

Spend a few evenings with London, Pyros, Lucy Worsley and a dystopian anarchist and you’ll almost certainly end up thinking: “We could do something like that at home… right?”

Yes. You absolutely can – within reason, neighbours and UK law permitting.

That’s where Epic Fireworks comes in:

• The UK’s biggest range of consumer fireworks, from compact garden-friendly pieces to serious display barrages

• Dedicated New Year’s Eve packs and DIY display kits that give you pre-planned pacing and finales – very much like a mini version of the shows you’ve just watched

• Low-noise ranges for built-up areas, pets and “we like our neighbours and want to keep them” situations

• Clear info on safety distances, categories and noise levels, so you can match your ambitions to your actual garden

• Free UK mainland delivery on orders over £295 (some remote areas excluded)

So the ideal holiday plan for fireworks people looks something like this:

1. Christmas to Twixmas – binge the docs, films and playlists above.

2. Use what you’ve seen to pick out a DIY pack, a low-noise selection, or a big finale cake plus rockets from our online shop.

3. New Year’s Eve – Head outside and run your own perfectly planned display.

Screens are nice. But nothing beats the real thing – especially when it’s your show everyone’s talking about.