Celebrate
Christmas with BBC Religion & Ethics
BBC
Religion & Ethics celebrates the festive season with a feast
of programmes across television and radio.
Amongst
the wide selection are traditional Christmas services and favourite
carols, a specially created gospel choir and reflections on the
festive season from Joan Bakewell and the Rt Hon Chris Patten.
This
year marks the 75th Anniversary of the first broadcast of the Festival
of Nine Lessons and Carols on BBC Radio.
For
people throughout the world, the solo chorister singing the opening
verse of Once in Royal David's City now marks the beginning of Christmas.
The
traditional broadcast (Radio 4 and Radio 3) is celebrated in a special
programme Angels Over the Airwaves (Radio 4) in
which Andrew Green looks at its history and speaks to participants,
both young and old.
BBC
TWO also joins the world-famous choir for Carols from Kings
which includes popular carols and readings telling the Christmas
story afresh.
Another
long-running favourite, Songs of Praise (BBC ONE),
hosts a traditional Christmas carol service from the candlelit setting
of Gloucester Cathedral.
Aled
Jones is joined by actors Colin Buchanan and Phyllida Law who tell
the Christmas story with the help of the Cathedral Choir.
In
the final Songs of Praise of the year, Pete Waterman
takes a magical Christmas journey in a steam train as he introduces
a selection of his favourite Christmas music.
Also
on BBC ONE, The Heaven & Earth Show offers
a festive gospel music edition with viewers of the show taking part
in a unique musical experiment.
Top
gospel music artist Daniel Thomas has just two days to blend the
volunteers into a choir that can sing and swing and produce that
inspirational gospel sound.
And,
while music from Salvation Army Bands fills high-streets the length
and breadth of the UK, the short film Where There's Brass
takes a closer look at the work of the Salvation Army.
Counting
down to Christmas, BBC ONE's advent series Can't Wait Till
Christmas presents four services of traditional and contemporary
worship from around the UK with Christian songwriter and musician
Dave Bilbrough.
On
Christmas Eve, BBC ONE joins the congregation to celebrate Midnight
Eucharist live from Ely Cathedral.
While
the Christmas Day service comes from the ecumenical Church of Christ
the Cornerstone, Milton Keynes. Entitled The Joys of Christmas,
the service looks at the theme of opening doors at Christmas.
Services
on radio include Midnight Mass (Radio 4) from the
Roman Catholic Cathedral of St George in Southwark and the Christmas
Morning Service (Radio 4) from Durham
Cathedral led by the new Bishop Rt Rev Tom Wright.
Radio highlights this year include Eternal Echoes
(Radio 4) which looks at the work of the best-selling writer and
poet John O'Donohue.
The
themes of wonder, beauty and longing are explored through his conversations
with fellow poet Michael Symmons Roberts.
The
Rt Hon Chris Patten, European Commissioner for External Relations,
shares his thoughts on the significance of Christmas in A
Christmas Reflection (Radio 4).
And
on Christmas Morning, the Rev Roger Royle talks live to Christian
leaders and correspondents worldwide in Good Morning Christmas
(Radio 2), while Emily Buchanan goes beyond the headlines in Joy
to the World (Radio 4) as she talks to reporters around
the globe about the personal stories behind the year's headlines.
In
Spirit of Christmas (Radio 4) Joan Bakewell leads
a panel of celebrity guests, including Jo Brand and former Archbishop
of Durham Dr David Jenkins, as they look back through the film,
television and radio archives to find pieces that capture the magic
of Christmas for them.
Joan
also presents a new series of Belief (Radio 3),
in which guests from the world of literature, science, music, religion
and politics discuss how their beliefs affect their life and work.
Joan
meets the author Amy Tan, musician Nitin Sawhney, Christian activist
Jim Wallis, neuroscientist Prof Steven Rose and Secretary General
of Amnesty International Irene Khan.
There
are also special Christmas editions of regular favourites including
Sunday Half Hour (Radio 2) and Good Morning
Sunday (Radio 2).
Finally,
bringing us into the New Year, The Archbishop of Canterbury's
New Year Message (BBC TWO, repeated BBC ONE) sees Rowan
Williams reflect on the year gone by and look forward to the challenges
of the year ahead.
Full
details of all programmes, including transmission times, are available
at www.bbc.co.uk/advent.
Related
links
BBC
ONE Christmas 2003 highlights
Feature
films on BBC Television this Christmas
From
Sadlers Wells to the Queen Vic - the BBC is alive to the sound of
Christmas music
Have
A Very Merry Digital Christmas!
Network
Television Programme Information for Weeks 51 & 52
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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