Christmas

Episode image for Christmas

Duration: 1 hour

Clive Anderson tries to fathom the miracle of Christmas television. Why do we sit down in front of the box, year after year, with such high expectations, and then feel surprised when it feels like we've seen it all before? Mostly because, it turns out, we actually have seen it all before.

The Funny Side of Christmas enjoys showing you the best and the worst that TV has served up to us over the years: the Blue Peter Advent crown, Christmas Top of the Pops, Morecambe and Wise, Nationwide's Christmas Panto, The Royle Family, Gavin and Stacey and one TV chef after another trying to come up with a variation on how exactly we should be cooking a turkey.

Contributors include Valerie Singleton, Mike Smith, Diane-Louise Jordan, Esther Rantzen, Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen, Mike Read and Barry Cryer.

Part of the BBC Christmas 2009 season.

Last on

Mon 19 Dec 2011 23:30 BBC Two only on Northern Ireland

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Credits

Presenter
Clive Anderson
Participant
Valerie Singleton
Participant
Mike Smith
Participant
Diane-Louise Jordan
Participant
Esther Rantzen
Participant
Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen
Participant
Mike Read
Participant
Barry Cryer
Director
Ewan Torrance
Producer
Jenny MacLeod

Broadcasts

  • Tue 22 Dec 2009 20:00 BBC Two except Northern Ireland (Analogue), Wales (Analogue)

  • Thu 24 Dec 2009 23:40 BBC Two except Northern Ireland (Analogue), Wales (Analogue)

  • Thu 23 Dec 2010 00:00 BBC Two except Northern Ireland (Analogue), Wales (Analogue)

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