A version of "Christmas Time (Is Here Again)", an original composition which appeared in edited form on the 1967 record, gained an official release in 1995, as part of The Beatles Anthology project.

The first Christmas recording[3] from the Beatles featured several renditions of the traditional carol "Good King Wenceslas" and individual messages from the four, ending with a closing chorus of "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Ringo".

John Lennon mocks the script by making it obvious he's reading from a prepared text; when Paul McCartney asks him if he wrote this himself, he says, "No it's somebody's bad handwrouter."

[11] Several off-key, a cappella versions of "Yesterday" are dispersed throughout the record, alongside Lennon's "Happy Christmas to Ya List'nas", "Auld Lang Syne" (which briefly morphs into an impression of Barry McGuire's "Eve of Destruction"), then begin singing the Four Tops' "It's the Same Old Song" (but stop after George tells them they can't continue because the song is copyrighted), and an original poem titled "Christmas Comes But Once a Year".

The Beatle Bulletin, the publication of the US fan-club, explained in its April 1966 edition that the tape arrived too late to prepare the record in time for Christmas.

[15] Recorded between sessions for "Strawberry Fields Forever", for the 1966 offering, the usual greetings and thanks gave way to a 'Pantomime'-themed collection of original songs and comic skits.

Instead, they received a postcard with the message on one side and a short version of The Beatle Bulletin on the other, with enough room for a mailing label and postage.

[19] The Beatles portray a multitude of characters, including game show contestants, aspiring musicians ("Plenty of Jam Jars", by the Ravellers), and actors in a radio drama ("Theatre Hour").

This offering was likely a deliberate homage to/continuation of the broadly similar "Craig Torso" specials produced for BBC Radio 1 that same year by the Beatles' friends and collaborators the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band, and also shares much in common with their then-unreleased track "You Know My Name (Look Up the Number)", recorded six months previously.

It features an extensive visit with Lennon and his wife Yoko at their Tittenhurst Park estate, where they play "what will Santa bring me?"

The North American version of the flexi-disc had an elaborate collage of the Beatles' faces on it (drawn by Ringo), while the rear album sleeve contained stick-figure scribbles made by his son, Zak Starkey.

[31] Less than a year later, on 29 September 1983, an entrepreneur announced that he was going to issue all seven messages on one record, which he planned to call John, Paul, George and Ringo.

Mere seconds later, this is merged into the final moments from the 1966 flexi-disc, complete with McCartney's ad-lib line, "Jolly Good".

An edited and abridged version of the 1963 single appeared as unlockable bonus content in 2009 The Beatles: Rock Band video game and was made available as a free download from the iTunes Store between 23 December 2010 and 9 January 2011.

[34] The cover shows the faces of John, Paul, George and Ringo, all of whom are wearing Santa hats, and the words Happy Christmas Beatle People!