Category Archives: Christmas 2018

The shocking truth about “Father Christmas”

 Written by Deborah Marinkovic The classic animated film of “Father Christmas” based on the beautifully illustrated books by Raymond Briggs, is an annual festive TV special which appeals to the child in everyone. It has been popular Christmas fare since it first aired in 1991. In the film, Father Christmas is not the cheery paternal… Read More »

‘Mediating’ your way through Christmas…

In the interest of ‘research’ for this blog post I thought I better look back and browse through some Christmas TV Specials. For this I turned to a very useful tool called ‘Box of Broadcasts’ affectionately known as ‘BoB’.  The official description of this service is as follows: Box of Broadcasts is an on demand TV… Read More »

Doctor Who: The Christmas Invasion of Artificial Intelligence

The Christmas Invasion, which was David Tennant’s first full episode as the infamous two-hearted Time Lord in 2005, was the first Christmas Special in its, then, 42-year history. Now, 13 years on and four regenerations later, it has become a tradition for the TARDIS to be beamed into our living rooms every year on Christmas… Read More »

Record breakers

*If you’re the tallest, the smallest … For a child growing up in Britain in the 1970s the Christmas edition of Record Breakers was a sign that the holiday was really underway.  This children’s TV programme, presented by the multi-talented Roy Castle, met the BBC’s remit to educate and entertain by presenting the facts and… Read More »

Morecambe & Wise 1971

In 1971 André Previn was three years into his tenure as the principal conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra. He was booked to appear on the Morecambe & Wise Christmas Show, but two weeks before his mother fell ill and he flew to New York. Eric Morecambe was so concerned that he couldn’t make rehearsals… Read More »