Have
A Very Merry Digital Christmas!
•
An alternative approach to the advent calendar;
•
an exclusive television premiere of Our House – The Musical;
•
a celebration of the works of award-winning writer and adapter
Andrew Davies;
•
a weekend of Soul music;
•
and a brand new children's game show...
just
some of the offerings this Christmas from the BBC's Digital channels
- BBC THREE, BBC FOUR, CBBC and CBeebies.
BBC
THREE
Look
through the window of your advent calendar and what do you find
- mistletoe, gifts, Santa?
Or
perhaps you'll find some of the most outrageous and downright weird
pieces of contemporary art ever to be associated with yuletide.
BBC
THREE's Advent Calendar is a series of short mini-films airing
on the days leading up to Christmas.
BBC
THREE presents the television premiere of Our House – The
Musical featuring the music of one of Britain's best love bands,
Madness.
Filmed
live at the Cambridge Theatre on the show's final night, it features
two new Madness songs as well as some of the band's greatest hits
including Baggy Trousers, Driving In My Car, House Of Fun and It
Must Be Love.
The
show won the Olivier Award For Best New Musical 2003.
Also
find Christmas specials of two comedy favourites on BBC THREE this
Christmas - a Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps musical
comedy extravaganza and a festive 3 Non-Blondes special.
BBC
FOUR
BBC
Four presents a season of work this Christmas by the prolific BAFTA
and Emmy Award-winning writer and adapter Andrew Davies.
 Films
to be shown include House of Cards, A Very Peculiar Practice,
Mother Love, The Signalman, Vanity Fair and
Tipping the Velvet.
The
films chosen for the season highlight the more mischievous side
of one of Britain's best loved and most successful television writers.
BBC
FOUR will also broadcast a new interview with Davies in which he
will discuss what themes attract and motivate him in his work.
Lying
deep in the recesses of buildings around the world are many hidden
television gems.
Time
Shift – Missing Believed Wiped
reveals some of television's finest programmes that have recently
been unearthed.
The
programme also features exclusive interviews with John Cleese
and Terry Jones along with Steve Bryant, Keeper of Television
at the National Film & Television Archive and Dicky Fiddy from
the British Film Institute.
[The
BFI is also celebrating ten years of the search for lost television
with their own Missing Believed Wiped screening on Saturday 29 November].
With
Time Shift – Missing Believed Wiped, BBC FOUR will broadcast
some of the greatest comedy shows that have never been shown on
television since their original transmission in the 1960s.
The
line-up is:
At
Last The 1948 Show from John Cleese and Graham Chapman;
Till
Death Us Do Part – Arguments, Arguments;
Morecambe
& Wise Show – from 1968;
Spike
Milligan Offers A Series Of Unrelated Incidents At Current Market
Prices ;
and
The Old Campaigner featuring Terry Thomas.
Sexy,
empowering and arguably the most influential music the world has
ever known - Soul electrifies the charts on both sides of the Atlantic.
It
breaks through racial, cultural, geographical and musical boundaries.
In
the New Year BBC FOUR celebrates
the music's massive international popularity with a Soul Weekender
which includes two insightful documentaries exploring some of its
rich history – Urban Soul and The Story of Soul to
Soul.
CBeebies/CBBC
For
younger members of the family, the BBC's two dedicated children's
channels offer some seasonal treats over the festive season.
On
CBeebies: Balamory Winter Special brings you all your favourite
characters from the picturesque village of Balamory.
PC
Plum, Edie McCredie, Josie Jump, Miss Hoolie and the rest of the
village share some great stories and songs, mixed with a little
winter magic, for an episode to warm the hearts of parents and pre-school
children alike.
 On
the CBBC Channel: In Sleeping Beauty Uncovered a star-studded
cast of your favourite CBBC presenters bring this classic tale up
to date in a modern pantomime remake.
Witness
slapstick antics with presenters Fearne Cotton and Barney
Harwood starring as the Princess and Prince, and the mischievous
Dick and Dom as the two halves of the pantomime horse.
We
see how the Evil Warlock (Ortis) does his best to scupper
the plans for the princess and deny her a budding romance.
The
spectacular also stars Angellica Bell as the Queen and Simon
Thomas as the King.
Notes
to Editors
Please
note that this news release highlights only some of BBC Digital
Television's Christmas schedules.
Work
is still continuing on the final schedule, which will be announced
fully in early December.
Celebrate
Christmas with BBC Religion & Ethics (05.12.03)
From
Sadlers Wells to the Queen Vic - the BBC is alive to the sound of
Christmas music (25.11.03)
Feature
films on BBC Television this Christmas
All the
BBC's digital services are now available on Freeview,
the new free-to-view digital terrestrial television service, as well
as on satellite and cable.
Freeview
offers the BBC's eight television channels, interactive services
from BBCi, as well as 11 national BBC radio networks.
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