“The commercialisation of it distresses me.”

The first Christmas of the new decade found Eric, Ernie, Cilla and Rolf on the cover of the Radio Times gathered around a table groaning with festive food and gifts. The seasonal schedules this year were great for the BBC – but shameful for ITV. The contrast in quality, imagination and variety was immense; and it was a gap that was to persist for most of the 1970s.

BBC1 opened up at 9am with the usual selection of carols sung by a school choir (this year from Wandsworth) before an hour of children’s programmes comprising Basil’s Christmas Morning – 30 minutes in the company of the insolent fox and sidekick Derek Fowlds – then Michael Aspel introducing three Disney cartoons including “the first complete Mickey Mouse cartoon on British television in colour!”: Pluto’s Christmas Tree. Then came 70 minutes reminding viewers once again of “the real meaning of Christmas” – a Family Service, this year from Glasgow.

ITV stole a short lead on its rival, starting at 8.15am with its own take on the kids carol format, utilising host David Hamilton to link five separate choirs from across the country. Carefully avoiding clashes with BBC1, ITV broadcast its church service – from St Albans Cathedral no less – when children’s shows were on the other side, and vice versa. In this case, youngsters had to make do with the 15 minute Anita in Jumbleland: Anita Harris in a make believe world where, besides trilling Ave Maria, “Anita and the kids discover a Christmas tree, a sleigh and – surprise, surprise – a present for Anita herself.” Then Michael Parkinson rolled up to host ITV’s annual seasonal film clip package for kids, Christmas Cinema.

Next was the regular trip round the hospital wards. Leslie Crowther was back for his second stint wishing A Merry Morning to the bed-ridden of Pinderfields Hospital in Wakefield. Besides handing out presents, ventriloquist John Bouchier was on hand to cheer up the sick kids. Just half an hour of this, perhaps fortunately, and then Granada viewers had to put up with the ancient black-and-white film Tarzan and the She-Devil for company until 1pm. Viewers in the Border and HTV regions had the pleasure of a seasonal episode of Crossroads instead, plus some hip-shaking from Tom Jones.

Rolf Harris was also on his second year fronting Meet the Kids on BBC1. It was the fifth annual visit by the Corporation to the Queen Mary’s Hospital in Surrey; and joining Rolf was musician Bert Hayes – but something must have happened to one of the members of Hayes’ group, for earlier in the day it had been The Bert Hayes Sextet appearing with Basil Brush but now here, mysteriously, it was just the Bert Hayes Quintet.

“Sir Robert Fossett’s Elephants. Miss Wendy and her Doves from the Argentine. Phyllis Allen and her Poodles.” Yes, it was circus time again, and ITV were off to their cheap half-arsed big top in Glasgow for Kelvin Hall’s Circus at 1pm, followed an hour later by A Gift for Gracie: 60 minutes of variety from Gracie Fields’ “house” – actually a Yorkshire Television studio converted into a mock-18th century mansion with Bruce Forsyth employed as butler and Miss Gracie entertaining the likes of Harry Secombe, Arthur Askey, Lionel Blair and The Mike Sammes Singers.

Much better viewing over on BBC1 where, after a dull skating television movie - The Story of the Silver Skates, an hour and 40 minutes of Robin Askwith gliding around frozen canals in Holland – it was time for this year’s seasonal Top of the Pops. Joining Jimmy Saville, Tony Blackburn, Pan’s People, Johnny Pearson and The Top of the Pops Orchestra were the biggest selling artists of the year. And as with previous Christmases, this was merely part one – part two was the following day, at 3.30pm, with the same team in charge.

After an unusually long message from the Queen (25 minutes), notable for being the first time other members of the Royal Family had appeared in the broadcast, BBC1 settled into its familiar, popular run of festive regulars. The annual visit to Billy Smart’s Circus, hosted this year by none other than Frank Bough, was followed by Disney Time presented by the great Harry Worth. Then at 5.10pm came the special BBC pantomime; this year it was Robinson Crusoe, with Lyn Kennington in the lead role, Ken Dodd, Peter Glaze and Arthur Mullard supporting.

Christmas Night with the Stars followed, and the BBC had cajoled an impressive army of celebrities into appearing. Along with host Cilla Black, viewers could enjoy special turns from Bob Hope, Frank Sinatra, Jerry Lewis, Mary Hopkin and Clodagh Rodgers. Specially-recorded sketches involved Stanley Baxter, Dick Emery and Terry Scott besides new scenes with the cast of Dad’s Army and also Bachelor Father, an Ian Carmichael family-based sitcom which had debuted on BBC1 that autumn. But the best was still to come, with the second annualMorecambe and Wise Christmas Show at 8.15pm. Joining Eric’n’Ern were Peter Cushing, Edward Woodward and Eric Porter. For some reason this particular edition hasn’t been remembered as well or repeated as often as the pair’s other BBC Christmas shows. It was still, thanks to Eddie Braben’s script, great fun.

In competition with this, ITV offered up a dismal sequence of programmes. Following the Queen came an episode of The Man from UNCLE: “The Jingle Bells Affair”. OK, not bad, at least it had a Christmas theme. But then came an utterly un-festive episode of the dreadful US soapPeyton Place, Mia Farrow and Ryan O’Neal overacting their way through a plot involving a runaway child. ITV’s attempt at a panto was decidedly weak too. “Here’s Cinderella with a difference. It’s back to the good old days. Traditional pantomime without the modern idea of introducing pop groups and the like,” snapped TV Times. All this meant was Lionel Blair in tights and The Mike Sammes Singers, all making their second appearance of the day in a matter of hours.

At 6pm came the shameless Christmas Night … rip-off, All Star Comedy Carnival. Now in its second year, it was no less of massive event, with over 70 “Stars” choking up its painful 150 minutes, plus 13 different series or sitcoms jostling for attention, all linked by the Max Bygraves. Production director Peter-Frazer Jones insisted: “Our aim is to provide a final course of fun to Christmas dinners everywhere. Every item is original and independent from the series it represents,” – a dig at the BBC for its compilation effort the previous year. But this was a marathon show, hopelessly over-long, with the familiar - Doctor in the House, Jokers Wild, a special sequence from Coronation Street – awkwardly sequenced with the now long-forgotten:The Worker (Charlie Drake’s short-lived comedy set around a Labour Exchange) and Girls About Town (female-orientated goings-on with Julie Stevens and Denise Coffey).

The remainder of ITV’s evening comprised a special Christmas episode of On the Buses, at that point already half-way through its fourth series (amazing given the show had only first started the year before). Then it was cabaret with Val Doonican, News at Ten, and one last film through to closedown at 12.10am. Granada viewers had to put up with the grisly war movie Guns at Batasi, while HTV swapped this for a much better late evening choice, Breakfast at Tiffany’s. BBC1 also opted for a film to complete its evening, following Morecambe and Wise with the unremarkable 1963 thriller Charade before picking up the mood with some old time music hall in The Good Old Days at 11pm from the Varieties Theatre in Leeds. This had been a staple on BBC1 since 1954, forever chaired by the dry Leonard Sachs – “More Victorian than the Victorians,” he bragged. Anyone still up at 11.50pm found Ernie Wise back again pausing for thought with Joyce Grenfell and Cyril Fletcher to discuss what the nativity story meant to them. BBC1 shut up shop at midnight on the dot.

The youngest of Britain’s TV channels opened at 10.30am with Play School and Julie Stevens and Brian Cant telling the Christmas Story. But then BBC2 shut down until 1.30pm, continuing with the old film Sammy Going South, the story of the 4500 mile trek by a 10 year old boy across Africa in search of his relatives. A Cinderella ballet from the Royal Opera House followed, then a 90 minute dramatisation of the life of Charles Dickens, notable for being the only repeated programme shown today by any of the channels. It’s a Terrible Waste at 6.40pm was a bizarre magic show set in Edwardian England starring Dudley Foster entertaining his family with tricks involving candles, baking powder, vinegar, ice, boiled eggs, needles and decanters.

In fairness, BBC2’s schedule actually seemed far more accessible than some of those it would offer during the ’80s and 90s – all of the programmes on this day were in English for a start. Some aerial photography of British islands, a detective mystery in Thirty Minute Theatre, songs from a country church and the film of Kiss Me Kate rounded off a good effort from a channel at this point still not normally on air before 7.30pm.

Overall, then, a fine Christmas for the BBC, deploying all its big names and stalwart hit shows to make up an entertaining, lively line-up in utter contrast to the poorly realised pensioner-fodder ITV offered. Elsewhere this year’s Beatles film was A Hard Day’s Night on 28 December on BBC1 at 4.05pm, but sadly there was no Carry On … this time. Cliff fans could enjoy their hero in a special festive show on Christmas Eve, where hopefully the man explained what he really meant when he declared to Radio Times that “Christmas is like driving a car in fog.” Thanks, Cliff.

“The entire World of Sport team supply percussion.”

BBC1’s schedule this year was almost identical to that of 12 months earlier – and therefore, just as impressive. Chetham’s School in Manchester provided the carols which began the day at 9am; Michael Aspel showed up with some cartoons and special guest Peter Glaze at 9.30am; then came the church service, this year from Moseley in Birmingham, followed by an appeal, Basil Brush at 11.35am and Rolf back to Meet the Kids yet again down at the Queen Mary’s Hospital in Surrey.

Then a change to previous years. First up was Ken Dodd at 12.50pm with We Want to Sing: an “absolutely discomknockerferatingly tattifilarious, tickling tonic” was promised by the tickling stick wielding resident of Knotty Ash, with 300 diddy boys and girls singing Christmas carols – a terrifying thought. Dodd was no stranger to the BBC, of course, but his last Christmas Day show for the Corporation had been back in 1968, before hopping over to LWT for an ITV Boxing Day special in 1969, then back to the Beeb for the panto in 1970.

After Ken came Bruce. The Generation Game was the new smash hit show of 1971 and it was perhaps inevitable it would turn up on Christmas Day – and go on to remain a regular addition to the seasonal schedules. Newly-poached from Yorkshire Television, Forsyth had delivered the BBC a new light entertainment success; and here, with Anthea Redfern, he amused and humiliated more families with festive games all in pursuit of the whatever the conveyor belt had to offer. A guaranteed ratings winner, this was clever scheduling by the Beeb, leading straight into Top of the Pops ‘71 (hosted this year by Jimmy Savile alone, leaving Tony Blackburn to present part two on 27 December): a great pre-Queen’s message line-up.

Over on ITV, things were not so impressive. Events started early again at 8.15am with some carols, this time recorded on location at the reconstructed Victorian street in the Castle Museum, York. ATV viewers had the added bonus of a five minute rundown of Tomorrow’s Horoscope (what about today’s?) before the morning ran on through the same tired cartoons, church service and hospital visit. Leslie Crowther, however, was nowhere to be seen, his place taken by John Alderton who wished A Merry Morning to kids at the Woodlands Orthopaedic Hospital in Rawdon, Yorkshire. At 10.45am came clips from children’s films – no Parky this year, though, he’d defected to the BBC to launch his chat show; then at 11.30am a boring film:Sinbad. Dating from 1963, and despite boasting a “cyclone, a tidal wave, a nine-headed monster and a wizard with a pet ocelot”, this was lazy programming.

Some music arrived at 1pm with Christmas Singalong with The Bachelors – the legendary Jack Parnell and his Orchestra providing the backing for a group of performers whose average age was heading towards 60. Then there was just time for another visit to the Kelvin Hall Circus – where amusingly ringmaster Alfred Delbosq was billed below “Elephants and Horses” in TV Times.

Just 10 minutes from Liz this year, following which it was BBC1’s turn to visit the big top. On this occasion Billy Smart promised us a “Christmas tree that grows as you watch, and the fairy on the top is real!” ITV went straight into their second film of the day, King Solomon’s Mines – a classic maybe, but a decidedly dated choice and very similar in style and theme to Sinbad.The Black and White Minstrels showed up on BBC1 at 4.15pm, ousting Disney Time from Christmas Day for the first time in a long while. Here was a real relic from the BBC’s early days – and a show that would become increasingly untenable and problematic as the decade wore on. But then it was back to routine and the usual pantomime at 5pm: Aladdin once more, with Cilla in the title role, Roy Castle as Wishee Washee, and Ronnie Hazelhurst’s second appearance of the day (he’d already provided the music for The Generation Game earlier).

Christmas Night with the Stars was introduced this year by the Two Ronnies, also stars of this Christmas Radio Times cover. Messrs Corbett and Barker had worked together for many years in TV comedy, but 1971 saw the first proper series of The Two Ronnies launched back in April on BBC1 – the beginning of a show that ran for 15 years and became a staple BBC variety hit. Joining them for Christmas Night were Lulu, Vera Lynn, Harry Secombe, The New Seekers and the cast of Till Death Us Do Part, Mike Yarwood (who, like Parky and Brucey had joined the BBC this year), plus a sketch titled “A Policeman’s Lot” – a one-off spoof written by and starring Eric Sykes with Hattie Jacques. Morecambe and Wise followed as usual at 8pm, a classic this year including Frank Bough, Cliff Michelmore, Michael Parkinson, Patrick Moore, Robert Dougall and Eddie Waring all in top hats crooning You Were Never Lovelier to Glenda Jackson.

ITV conspired to fill up the rest of its day with as few programmes as possible. After King Solomon’s Minescame A Variety of Varney featuring the popular On The Buses star in songs and sketches, before 6pm signalled the start of Mike and Bernie Winters’ All Star Comedy Carnival. The twin hosts had won a mention in the show’s title presumably thanks to the high-profile of their Thames Television shows; but this was a massive two and half hours worth of material, again far too long, though at least including vintage fare likePlease, Sir!, Doctor at Large and Sez Les plus the usual now-obscure offerings such as His and Hers (a shortlived Yorkshire TV role-reversal sitcom with Ronald Lewis) and Lollipop Loves Mr Mole (ATV husband and wife vehicle for Peggy Mount and Hugh Lloyd).

After this 150 minute epic came … a three hour long film. Around the World in 80 Days had been a critical and commercial success, but was too demanding and draining for Christmas night viewing, even with a 10 minute news break in the middle. Anyone not comatose by its conclusion at 11.40pm had the wonderful prospect of a regional current affairs documentary to send them to bed.

As with the previous year, BBC1 responded to ITV’s marathon film screening with – another film. The bland thriller Arabesque ran from 9.05pm until 10.45pm when those Good Old Days were calling up at the Varieties Theatre in Leeds once more. You could then enjoy a night-cap withDuncan Carse at 11.35pm, exploring the countryside’s resilience to change in The Countryman at Christmas, before a five minute reflection on a nativity painting by Metropolitan Anthony of Sourozh took you to closedown at midnight.

BBC2 offered up its usual selection: old films, more ballet, new drama (Laurie Lee’s Cider With Rosie), another surreal Victorian magic show using the same cast and plot as last year, and the National Folk Ballet of Korea. It was also Carol Chell and Derek Griffiths’ turn to read the Christmas Story on Play School, well-timed at 10.30am so as not to clash with BBC1’s kids programmes. A few pennies had been found to keep BBC2 on air a bit longer as well – Play School was followed, not by an immediate closedown, but the original animated version of How the Grinch Stole Christmas.

With 26 December being a Sunday, Boxing Day fell on Monday 27 December this year. Disney Time was shown here, hosted by the Blue Peter team (Val, John and Pete); and here was where this year’s Beatles film could be found – A Hard Day’s Night, again, at 9.40am – as well as the seasonal Carry On film, back after a year’s absence. This time it was Carry On Cowboy, screened as prime-time viewing at 8pm – a perfect hour for its semi-festive message from Sid James: “First they tell me the peace is on, then it’s peace off!”

“‘Hello Ask’, a small boy greets Aspel.”

ITV launched their Christmas Day with an ambitious carol service recorded at the Royal Festival Hall involving the massed choirs of all of London’s hospitals – no cheap, low-key schools effort this, and all the more ironic given that the BBC’s idea of an early morning carol concert this year was actually a repeat of last year’s Chetham school singalong – boo! BBC1 then went straight into an episode of Mr Benn(“Cowboy”) followed by the morning service, outdoors in Runcorn Town Square.

After the familiar appeal, though, a major change: A Stocking Full of Stars at 11.30am replacedMeet the Kids, with a new location – the National Children’s Home in Harpenden – new hosts – Michael Aspel and Roy Castle – and a new format, with special live and pre-recorded appearances by the stars of Blue Peter, The Goodies, Animal Magic, Basil Brush, Top of the Pops, Tom & Jerry, The Generation Game and Vision On. This sort of junior version ofChristmas Night with the Stars ran for a whole two hours and was an imaginative, if perhaps a bit contrived, means of combining the sober aspects of life at the children’s home with some great entertainment for viewers and residents alike. The Black and White Minstrel Show turned up next, and Top of the Pops ‘72 followed according to plan at 2.10pm. Again it was in two parts, this first edition fronted by Sir Jim plus Ed Stewart. Part two wasn’t until 28 December – a Thursday – when new recruit Noel Edmonds joined Tony Blackburn.

On the other side, ITV followed its early morning carols with a short story for young children, set to music: Enchanted House, told by Mary Malcolm and Howard Williams. This animal-centred fable led into A Merry Morning at 9.30am and the return of Leslie Crowther, now taking up residence at the King Edward VII Orthopaedic Hospital in Sheffield. This time, the hapless patients had to put up with a ukulele recital from Alan Randall. Then came the film clips for kids - Clapperboard’s Christmas Cracker hosted by Chris Kelly – and a highly flamboyant church service at 10.45am from St George’s Chapel in Windsor with no less than the full royal family in attendance.

Sandwiched between this unconventional regal encounter and the conventional 3pm message was a feature length cartoon of Gulliver’s Travels – but dating from 1939, so very much showing its age. Why did ITV have this habit of scheduling ancient films or animation in the midday slot every Christmas? Could nothing more up-to-date ever be found? The annual look-in to the big top followed at 1.15pm, though this year it was the Mary Chipperfield International Circus down on Clapham Common rather than Kelvin Hall. 12 Lippizaner horses and David Hamilton were promised. Then a charmless musical about the flight of a snow goose – with songs by Glen Campbell – bored viewers into submission before the National Anthem.

A textbook BBC1 schedule followed the Queen’s message: Billy Smart’s Circus; the pantomime (Dick Whittington, with Peter Noone in the title role, Dick Emery as Sarah the Cook and Michael Aspel popping up again this time as The Vizier); Bruce Forsyth and The Generation Game; Christmas Night with the Stars at 6.55pm; and finally Morecambe and Wise.Christmas Night … was hosted for the second year running by The Two Ronnies and with a fantastic menu including Lulu, Cilla Black, The Goodies, The Liver Birds and Dad’s Army. It meant Ronnie Hazelhurst and his Orchestra scored their second appearance of the day – having already provided suitable music for the panto.

Morecambe and Wise at 8.15pm delivered the goods, along with guests Jack Jones, Vera Lynn, Shirley Bassey, Glenda Jackson (again) and many more. Eric’n’Ern graced the cover of the Christmas Radio Times as well, posing in a circus ring alongside Bruce and Lulu. BBC1 rounded off this memorable schedule with their usual choice, a film – this year, the Robert Redford 1967 movie of the musical Barefoot in the Park; then came another look back to thoseGood Old Days – a special 20th anniversary retrospective – and finally a 10 minute short story told by John Slater before a midnight closedown.

You could catch Morecambe and Wise on both sides this Christmas: ITV followed up the Queen with the pair’s dreadful 1960s film That Riviera Touch. But then Hughie Green, the old trouper, came to the channel’s rescue at 4.50pm with an Opportunity Knocks! Christmas Special. This all-winners show was trailed as a chance for viewers to see entrants for theOpportunity Knocks! Fanfare for Europe – though they couldn’t vote for anyone as the winner was to be chosen “by a special committee.” Still, better viewing than what followed: All Star Comedy Carnival, this time hosted by Jimmy Tarbuck, but once again lasting way too long (105 minutes) and scheduled directly against Christmas Night with the Stars: a ludicrous idea. However it did promise the unlikely sketch “Christmas with Wogan” – Terry opening gifts by his log fire?

Also appearing were the stars of this Christmas’ TV Times cover: Jack Smethurst and Rudolph Walker, from Thames’ Love Thy Neighbour, dressed up as “The Black and White Santas” under the heading “Merry Christmas Neighbour”. Launched in April of this year, the notorious series was perhaps the most talked about comedy show around, certainly the most controversial. Two series had already been shown come this Christmas, and incredibly another six would be made over the next three years.

Because it was a Monday there was an episode of Coronation Street at 7.30pm; that was followed by another recent smash hit: Granada’s stand-up cabaret show The Comedians. Breeding ground for innumerable game show hosts, this ludicrously cheap but popular programme had debuted in June 1971 and already run for five series come Christmas 1972. Indeed, a 45 minute special, The Comedians Christmas Party, had aired on Christmas Eve last year. This time the bunch of northern comics won a primetime slot on Christmas Day itself – a bizarre choice, as they were hardly family entertainment, and were up against Morecambe and Wise on BBC1. Still, if you wanted Bernard Manning, Charlie Williams, Frank Carson and Jim Bowen, here they were.

The evening ended as per usual – the long film, with a break half way through for a short news summary. Granada viewers could enjoy the epic tale Tom Jones, while ATV ran the dreary colonial saga Khartoum. But wait, what’s this, lurking at 11pm? The Love Goddesses. “The treatment of sex in the cinema has long been a reflection of the customs, manners and morals of the time. The story of the Love Goddesses it itself a history of sex in the movies.” Blimey. This was actually a collection of clips from 40 black and white classics, not the Channel 4-esque sounding romp that TV Times promised. Still, an amusing contrast with The Good Old Days on BBC1.

Boxing Day again proved to be the resting place for this year’s Beatles film - Help – and theCarry On, which this time was Carry On Cleo: both great viewing. Disney Time was on Christmas Eve, with Rolf in charge. As for BBC2 – well, a more varied line-up was tried on Christmas Day this year. Play School at 11am saw Miranda Connell and Rick Jones telling the Christmas Story; while later there was a festive edition of the timeless Call My Bluff with guests Jean Marsh, Miles Kington, Douglas Fairbanks Junior and Anne Stallybrass. Peter Alliss reviewed sporting highlights in Golf Story ‘72, Alastair Cooke continued his personal history of the US in America, the classic 1944 film of Henry V followed the Queen’s message, and then a Berlioz opera, a silent film about a stallion and a French romantic ballet filled up the early evening. The premiere at 9.25pm of Nigel Kneale’s play The Stone Tape provided an excellent contrast to the film action on the other two channels. With the evening closing with Fred Astaire in conversation with Dick Cavett besides singing a few of his famous tunes, this was a fine effort by BBC2 – their best so far this decade.

“A cast of 362 animals, birds and lords a-leaping.”

If there was one person above all who was responsible for the BBC’s memorable Christmas schedules throughout the 1970s it was Bill Cotton. Head of Light Entertainment from 1970 to 1977, and then Controller of BBC1 to 1981, he was the man who effectively established the BBC’s reputation as home of great Christmas telly – able as he was to draw upon the huge pool of variety and comedy talent he had often personally recruited to the Corporation, and ensure the Beeb’s complete domination of ITV year in year out.

Cotton was very much of that old tradition of cabaret and music hall, sharing similar tastes and background to his father the great Billy Cotton. Since joining the BBC as a producer way back in 1956, he’d supervised the signing of a vast array of glittering talent: an army of stars ranging from singers, comedians and dancers to all-round entertainers who could be deployed to great success each and every Christmas. Bill Cotton made the careers of so many performers, besides influencing younger figures in the broadcasting business – particularly Michael Grade – and his legacy was immense. In one sense, the fact that BBC1 still resorted to variety of the Little and Large kind beyond even the 1980s is a reflection of the scale of Cotton’s achievement.

In 1973 Bill Cotton was faced with a major change to BBC1’s established Christmas line-up.Christmas Night with the Stars was to be scrapped, never to return (aside from a one-off semi-ironic BBC2 stunt in 1994). In its place, Cotton suggested giving Mike Yarwood his own Christmas special for the first time. The impressionist had already cropped up on 25 December the last two years as part of Christmas Night …, and by Christmas 1973 had made three series for the BBC of his legendary Look – Mike Yarwood! show. With his stock impressions of Harold Wilson, Robin Day and Prince Charles, Yarwood would go on to become as firm a fixture on 25 December as the institution he replaced. Indeed, his role on Christmas Day would turn increasingly important as the decade wore on.

This year he was slotted neatly into a schedule which was virtually a carbon copy of that of 12 months earlier. No early morning carols this time, though, with repeats of two Canadian imports opening BBC1’s day at 9.35am: Along the Trail, a film on native wildlife, and The Selfish Giant, a cartoon of the Oscar Wilde fairy tale. Then came a service from Wimborne Minster in Dorset, and the second annual A Stocking Full of Stars, with exactly the same hosts, location, duration and line-up as last year (though the careless Bert Hayes had somehow contrived to lose another member of his group, appearing here with just his Quartet).

The Black and White Minstrels at 1.30pm were succeeded by Top of the Pops ‘73, hosted by Tony Blackburn and Noel Edmonds. This was the first time since 1966 the show hadn’t been split into two parts; instead, viewers could enjoy a special anniversary retrospective, Top of the Pops: Ten Years of Pop Music 1964 – 74, on 27 December at 5.45pm, with Sir Jim spluttering and gurning to camera between archive clips and live performances. Then after the Queen cameBilly Smart’s Circus, the panto at 4.20pm (Robin Hood, with Anita Harris in the title role), The Generation Game, Mike Yarwood at 7.05pm and Morecambe and Wise at 7.35pm with their obligatory remarkable supporting cast: Vanessa Redgrave, Yehudi Menuin, Rudolf Nureyev, Laurence Olivier and The New Seekers. For once there was a good film to follow: The Odd Couple, running through to 10.30pm when Michael Flanders introduced a special Gala Performance featuring popular classics from Nigel Kennedy and the New Philarmonia Orchestra. A chilling mystery drama, Lost Hearts, closed BBC1 on a distinctly pagan, devilish note. Cliff Richard would not have been pleased.

Over on ITV some familiar faces made their first Christmas Day appearance: the cast ofRainbow, opening at 9am with some festive games and jokes. Cosgrove/Hall’s Sally and Jakeand a film version of The Twelve Days of Christmas led up to A Merry Morning at 10am and Leslie Crowther patronising the afflicted at the Airedale General Hospital in Keighley with ventriloquist Ward Allen. Fans of the school choir would’ve been relieved to find some well-scrubbed kids as part of the morning service at 10.30am.

A dreadful variety based religious production titled The Glories of Christmas, and a return visit to the Chipperfield Circus – this time fronted by Ed Stewart – led up to the Queen at 3pm. Then once more ITV opted for a film to follow her Majesty: the bizarre convent-based nun fantasyWhere Angels Go, Trouble Follows, perhaps the most pointless thing ever screened by any channel in this slot. A Danny La Rue fronted dramatisation of Alice in Wonderland followed -Queen of Hearts, by Bryan Blackburn. But while the Beeb may have dropped their annual celebrity cavalcade, ITV persisted with their rip-off version: All Star Comedy Carnival ran from 6.30pm – 8pm, with Jimmy Tarbuck making his second appearance as host and linking sketches from Man About the House; Doctor in Charge; LWT’s brand new comedy Billy Liarwith Jeff Rawle in the title role; Leslie Crowther’s sitcom My Good Woman; and a new Thames show, Spring and Autumn, written by Vince Powell and Harry Driver of Love Thy Neighbourfame.

One of Bill Cotton’s regrets, he insists, is “never finding the right vehicle for Tommy Cooper.” Aside from his debut TV appearance, an eight-week stand-up series in 1952, Cooper had never worked for the BBC – always choosing to make shows for ITV companies. In 1973 the fez-sporting failed magician was in the middle of a Thames series titled The Tommy Cooper Hour, one of which appeared on Christmas Day this year at 8pm. It was probably about the only truly entertaining programme on ITV all day; the film at 9pm was the premiere of the creaky Frank Sinatra/Trevor Howard war thriller Von Ryan’s Express. Then rounding off the day was a show new to Christmas Day: Celebration, an unashamedly old-fashioned and painful mix of music and celebrity, with crinkly Welsh opera singer Sir Geraint Evans warbling traditional carols in poorly-realised studio sets (such as a South American jungle) with guest rugby player Barry John. It was on this note than ITV ran for cover, pausing for a quick epilogue before closing at 12.25am.

Sadly there was no Carry On film this Christmas – though, as the cover of TV Times promised, you could find some of the stars in ITV’s fourth Carry On Christmas TV special. Disney Timewas on BBC1 on Boxing Day, hosted by a grinning Paul and Linda McCartney. Macca showed up earlier in the day as well in A Hard Day’s Night, this year’s seasonal Beatles film. And it was on 26 December that you could find other festive regulars: The Good Old Days, and also The Two Ronnies (co-stars of Radio Times’ cover together with Morecambe and Wise) in An Old-Fashioned Christmas Mystery, written by one Gerald Wiley, aka R Barker.

As for BBC2 – Carol Chell and Johnny Ball told the Christmas Story in Play School at 11am, and after a brief Thought from the Bishop Of Gloucester came that perennial festive film favourite White Christmas. Highlights of the rest of the day here included a special edition ofWhat’s My Line? with guest panellists Kenneth Williams, Nannette Newman, Isobel Barnett and William Franklyn. An animated version of A Christmas Carol, puppetry from France, Swan Lake from Vienna, a new dramatisation of Alice Through the Looking Glass starring Sarah Sutton as Alice, and another panel game - Face the Music – provided much entertainment; and the superbQuatermass and the Pit, closing BBC2’s schedule, meant that writer Nigel Kneale had his work appear two Christmas Days in a row.

“Music composed and conducted by Ronnie Hazelhurst.”

As ever, BBC1’s morning schedule ran to form: some carols, kids programmes -Camberwick Green, and Cartoon Christmas Box fronted by Paul Jones – the Appeal, the church service (from the Scottish village of Killearn Kirk), then at 11.25am A Stocking Full of Stars. Rolf Harris returned to co-host this third mixture of sketches and songs with Michael Aspel, once again from the Harpenden Children’s Home. Only an hour with the residents, however, for at 12.25pm came the 1937 Laurel and Hardy film Way Out West featuring our heroes as a pair of gold prospectors on The Trail of the Lonesome Pine. This, and the skating special that followed - Holiday on Ice – were close to your standard ITV festive fare, and therefore an unusual lapse in the Beeb’s previously strong seasonal schedules.

Thankfully Top of the Pops appeared on cue at 2.15pm, part one of the 1974 review hosted as ever by Sir Jim and Tony Blackburn. Part two could be found on 27 December at 5.20pm, though this time with Noel Edmonds and Dave Lee Travis doing the honours. As with last year, Christmas Day 1974 found another major change to BBC1’s traditional post-Queen menu: no panto. Instead, after Billy Smart’s Circus came the popular western True Grit – which, as the second film on in just less than four hours was another surprisingly lazy bit of programming from this normally lively channel.

Worse was to come, however. After The Generation Game there was a special Christmas episode of Some Mothers Do ‘Ave ‘Em. The distinctive face of Michael Crawford as Frank Spencer was emblazoned on the front of the seasonal Radio Times, hinting at the prominence the BBC were giving him and his irritating show. The character was a huge hit; the first series ofSome Mothers … had begun in February 1973, and the second had culminated in the much-publicised birth of Frank’s first child on 27 December last year. “Jessica’s First Christmas” was the title of this special, with Frank and Betty given a whole 50 minutes to faff and flap. There was no escaping Frank Spencer this Christmas: his annoying features, beret and mac had already shown up once today during A Stocking Full of Stars. And immediately after this special episode came Mike Yarwood’s Christmas Show – with this host appearing as Frank Spencer!

For some reason there was no Morecambe and Wise special this year, which just weakened the whole evening line-up further. If you survived the Christmas night film – as per usual incredibly long: Bridge on the River Kwai, lasting two hours 40 minutes without a break – there was some kind of reward: the stupidly titled Parkinson Takes a Christmas Look at Morecambe and Wise. A new interview with the pair, plus some classic clips, rounded off the first poor BBC1 Christmas schedule of the decade.

ITV started badly with a repeat: 1972’s carols from Kirkgate at 8.45am. Princess Grace of Monaco then read a story from the Bible, before puppet action with Sooty made for a fun if repetitive half-hour and an alternative to Windy Miller and Captain Flack. After a service from Sandringham Parish Church, A Merry Morning (Leslie Crowther enlisting Keith Harris and Cuddles to help tame the kids in Hull Royal Infirmary) and the expected film - Captain Nemo and the Underwater City – came something completely unexpected. “It’s part rock. It’s part pop. It’s all action.” Granada’s 45 show, hosted by David “Kid” Jensen and Emperor Rosko, had begun earlier this year as token opposition to Top of the Pops. Here, appropriately, was a special Christmas Rock with 45, with our hosts promising Queen, Mud and – gasp – the Bay City Rollers. Perhaps the best thing ITV had shown in this slot for many years.

An hour of magic with the redoubtable David Nixon led up to the Queen, then came the second film of the day: Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines – at last, a proper Christmas Day family movie with the right mix of celebrities and action, and a great alternative to BBC1’sTrue Grit. ITV then squandered their chances of delivering a top rate schedule for the first time this decade by showing Meet Peters and Lee at 5.45pm: 30 minutes of comedy and music with Lennie P and Dianne L, together “for the first time,” and hopefully the last.

Another Tommy Cooper Hour preceded a special This Is Your Life at 7.15pm (no record of who the subject was, sadly), then a film to replace All Star Comedy Carnival, axed at long last after five painful years. John Wayne, already familiar to viewers of True Grit, now showed up here in yet another Western movie, The Undefeated. Of course, sticking to tradition this was yet again way too long to be shown on a Christmas evening (130 minutes). After the News at Ten came yet another unexpected choice: a one-off documentary, part of Granada’s Private Lives strand which had run through the autumn and comprised producer/director Denis Mitchell profiling the great, the good and the neglected.

Sir Geraint Evans’ lusty Welsh vocal chords rang out once more at 10.45pm, his second mix of old carols and even older guests titled For This Christmas Only (a blatant lie – see next year). In a wobbly HTV studio recreation of a Victorian mansion, Kiri Te Kanawa and Spike Milligan warmed themselves by the fire. Best programme of the day was the very last one, and a repeat at that: Alfred Hitchcock Presents, at 11.45pm, and a tale titled “Back For Christmas”, featuring Hitch stalwart John Wilson (who’s appeared in more of the director’s work than any other actor) as a wife-murderer typically undone by the episode’s end.

Even BBC2 relied on a lot of repeats: Henry V again, two years since it was last on Christmas Day; golf highlights; a re-showing of David Frost’s film of Evel Knievel’s sky-cycle jump across Snake River Canyon … Even the ballet (La Traviata) was a repeat. The post-Play School (Derek Griffiths and Chloe Ashcroft on duty) closedown was back too. There were a couple of interesting programmes to be found: Ronnie Barker’s 1970 silent short film Futtock’s End, andWhen The Angels …, a Seven Up style documentary, focusing on the group of kids who’d performed the first ever TV nativity in 1956 and how their lives had developed over the intervening 18 years. Elsewhere the Beatles film was present - Help, on Boxing Day at 10.30am; Disney Time was also hanging on, albeit back on 21 December and hosted by Derek Nimmo. A grim year, though, for all channels. And no Carry On at all – infamy!

“A sort of Christmas bonus, you might say.”

After their botched effort last year, the BBC rallied in 1975 to deliver another classic Christmas Day schedule with the restoration of many of the traditional big-hitters to the schedule. But before that we had to get through the morning …

Both channels had tried ringing some changes with their morning schedules. BBC1 began withRagtime with Maggie Henderson and Fred Harris; the return of the kids carol concert; a cartoon of Oscar Wilde’s fable The Happy Prince; then after a service from St George’s Chapel in Windsor (with the royals in attendance) a big shock: no hospital visit. This was a major departure from tradition. And there wasn’t even a similarly-themed replacement: just Rod Hull, Emu, 300 kids and the Glossop School Band with more carols, before the same pattern as last year: Laurel and Hardy (in Pack Up Your Troubles), Holiday on Ice and at 2.10pm Top of the Pops with Tony Blackburn and Noel Edmonds (bizarrely this was part two of the usual double edition, part one airing on 23 December with Sir Jim and DLT hosting).

A classic bit of meaningless scheduling began ITV’s day: a short film describing the origins of the carol Silent Night at 8.40am, then after Rainbow at 9am came … another short film describing the origins of the carol Silent Night. But after this unfortunate duplication it was business as usual: a service from Luss Parish Church in Scotland; A Merry Morning from St Luke’s Hospital in Bradford with Leslie Crowther, magician Larry Parker and the surreal Animal Kwackers; a compilation of Harold Lloyd film clips; Jack Parnell and his Orchestra playing big band classics; and finally Chipperfield’s Circus taking us through to 3pm.

Meanwhile, on BBC1, almost everything was back in its proper place for the afternoon, including – best of all - Morecambe and Wise; and The Wizard of Oz was a fantastic choice of film to fill the previously problematic gap between Billy Smart’s Circus and The Generation Game. The only weak point was what followed Bruce and Anthea: the perhaps inevitable return of Frank Spencer in another one-off festive special, the first new episode since last year’s seasonal offering. Still, it would’ve scored a high audience, no question; and things improved drastically come Eric’n’Ern’s appearance 45 minutes later, with Diana Rigg, Des O’Connor, Robin Day, Gordon Jackson and others joining the pair for another superb Christmas Show.

The rest of the evening wasn’t too bad either. Another fine film at 8.45pm, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, probably kept many viewers switched to BBC1, after which came The Good Old Days – restored to its place on Christmas Day after a two year exile. A fitting finale to an almost faultless line-up of programmes was the man Parkinson with a specially recorded interview with Bob Hope.

In contrast ITV struggled – as usual. They opted for the deeply unfunny film Doctor in Trouble to follow the Queen – but up against The Wizard of Oz anything would’ve flopped. The familiar lapse into pointless filler material began with Captain Noah and his Floating Zoo at 4.45pm – animated bible stories did not belong at this stage of the day. Next came an episode ofCrossroads, simply because Christmas happened to fall on a Thursday this year. “David Hunter extends an invitation which may prove very embarrassing,” hinted TV Times, and maybe Ronald Allen, a key attraction during this period of the soap’s history, could’ve wooed a significant audience away from Judy Garland. Unlikely.

ITV seemed to be catering for different audiences with each new programme, rather than going for consistent all-out family entertainment. So Crossroads was followed by a slice of mid-’70s pop: The Bay City Rollers Show with Gilbert O’Sullivan, The Drifters, Elton John and David Cassidy on offer. Another ill-assortment of stars showed up next in Christmas Celebrity Squares, which marked the first appearance on Christmas Day telly of the great Bob Monkhouse. He was joined by John Inman, Noele Gordon, Charlie Drake, Des O’Connor, Arthur Mullard and others, all for charity. Then at 7.30pm came an hour of Thames Television comedy. First, a special Christmas episode of a series that had only debuted on screens that October:Get Some In!, the Esmonde and Larbey scripted comedy set in 1950s Britain and the world of National Service. Then came Love Thy Neighbour, half way through its (count ‘em) eighth – and last – series. If ITV wanted to lure viewers away from Morecambe and Wise, a sitcom barely two months old and one on its last legs was a miserable idea.

The big film that followed was another epic: The Taming of the Shrew, running until 11pm (with 15 minutes for news in between) and featuring Liz Taylor and Richard Burton in yet more rounds of love wars. And finally, wrapping up the evening was crusty old Sir Geraint Evans, back for the third year with his carols and tall tales, this time to be found Beneath the Christmas Tree – a disturbing image to conjure with.

BBC2 was better this year: kids could look forward to both Play School, with Chloe Ashcroft and Johnny Ball telling the familiar nativity story, and also Christmas Day Play Away. Then after a load of repeats – including Prince Charles Pilot Royal, a sober film on the heir to the throne’s flying career – came Nice One: a 15 minute portrait of a Cockney wedding. “A red letter day in the East End: Alan Jude and Helen Savage get married and to cap it all West Ham win 1-0.” Great stuff later on as well: a re-showing of Jack Rosenthal’s fine drama The Evacuees (starring his missus Maureen Lipman); the classic film of the musical Guys and Dolls; and perhaps most memorably a rock version of the legend of Troy not only starring Bernard Cribbins, Paul Jones and Patricia Hodge but with music arranged and directed by Jonathan Cohen.

The holiday period was topped off with the proper appearance of both the Carry On team (… Up The Khyber on 23 December at 7pm) and The Beatles in Let It Be, the supremely downbeat documentary of their impending demise, a brave choice for Boxing Day morning. Good old Bing Crosby showed up too, hosting Disney Time the same day; while on Christmas Eve came the premiere airing of a true comedy classic: the first special Christmas episode of Porridge – “No Way Out”, 45 minutes of genius. An excellent year for the BBC, then, only spoilt by the choice for the Radio Times cover: a crap drawing of a huge robin.

“400 brownies are yelling ‘We want Leslie Crowther’.”

The Radio Times noted that a key element of Christmas was “being able to be sure that you can look forward to the annual programme of fun on BBC1; like positively knowing that the Morecambe and Wise Show is on.” The Beeb was to offer us most of its conventional fare in 1976. There was the Carry On film (… At Your Convenience, on 27 December), at 6.30pm; a new special episode of Porridge (“The Desperate Hours” on Christmas Eve at 8pm), Disney Time (also on 27 December, hosted by The Goodies) and though there was no Beatles film, The Wizard of Oz was back on 26 December.

As for the big day itself, BBC1 began with exactly the same edition of Ragtime that had opened Christmas Day 12 months ago. They continued with entertainment for the kids (carols from school choirs and Hong Kong Phooey cartoons), the grown-ups (a service from Quinton Park Baptist Church in Coventry) and for everyone: Rod Hull and Emu at 11.15am, repeating the formula of last year by enlisting 300 children plus guest (good old Rolf Harris, nice to see him back on Christmas Day) to trill some songs. Then came a black-and-white comedy film (a clip package of Laurel and Hardy, Buster Keaton and Charlie Chase) and the skating (Holiday on Ice): in essence, the same pre-Queen’s message line-up three years running. Top of the Popsat 2.10pm found Noel Edmonds and DLT hosting part one of the familiar hits run-down; part two tomorrow with – who else? – Tony B and Jimmy S.

Once the annual date at the Palace was disposed with, it was back to the honking seals ofBilly Smart’s Circus. Then there was another excellent choice of family film – the 1968 version of the musical Oliver – taking you through to Bruce and The Generation Game. After that, Radio Times’ favourite: Morecambe and Wise, and yet another classic Christmas special, featuring Elton John, John Thaw, Dennis Waterman, Kate O’Mara and The Nolans. The big evening film followed, and this year it was Airport – a change from the epic war/western movie that usually cropped up here, but a gloomy choice for Christmas night. A weird note to end on, as well, withThe Parkinson Magic Show at 11pm: Michael plus three of the world’s top conjurers: Fred Kaps, Ricky Jay and Richiardi Junior. Still, at least it wasn’t a re-hash of old clips, or another of Parky’s fawning chats with crotchety Hollywood biddies.

Major scandal on BBC2: no Play School. Instead the channel opened at 12.10pm with a religious Reflection; then Horizon on the legend of King Arthur; a repeat of last year’sChristmas Play Away; then the traditional carol service from King’s College Cambridge, uprooted from its normal slot on Christmas Eve. Two fairy tales followed the Queen: a new dramatisation of The Snow Queen, then a repeat of 1973’s festive version of Alice Through the Looking Glass.

However, after another cartoon and a dull film about a Russian polar bear came one of BBC2’s best ever Christmas evenings: nearly three hours of clips from the BBC archives, celebrating forty years of British television. The retrospective included over 200 extracts of famous and obscure Beeb broadcasts, and had originally been shown to launch the Corporation’s Festival of Television earlier in the year. This was a great choice for Christmas viewing, a wonderful feast of nostalgia and a chance for indulging in shameless reflection and wistful reminiscence. BBC2’s evening ended with another documentary (on being stranded in the Antarctic), carols and a classic film: Yankee Doodle Dandy.

Could ITV, for once, come up with an attractive, popular and consistent schedule to give the BBC a run for its money? Well, the morning line-up wasn’t that exciting (but there again, neither was BBC1’s): carols from Durham Cathedral; a religious parable, The Legend of the Christmas Messenger; a service from Boxgrove Priory in Sussex; A Merry Morning with Jimmy Tarbuck from Harrogate General Hospital; then the film version of the musical Doctor Dolittle. That took us through to 2.15pm when there was an attempt at direct competition with TOTP: Christmas Supersonic, a charity do from the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane with Russell Harty and Joanna Lumley introducing Marc Bolan, Gary Glitter and John Miles raising money for the Invalid Children’s Aid Association. Princess Margaret was in attendance too; though this was a marked step back from the unashamed pop and rock glamour of last year’s 45.

ITV’s choice of post-Queen material was initially promising: the film spin-off of Please, Sir!, then a special New Faces with Derek Hobson introducing a selection of 1976’s big winners (Our Kid!), and a visit by Nicholas Parsons and his array of kitchen tupperware in Christmas Sale of the Century. But then came The John Curry Ice Spectacular: sure, Curry had won a gold in the 1976 winter Olympics, but skating belonged earlier in the day, and this “spectacular” not only featured Millicent Martin and Julia McKenzie but was based around the songs of Stephen Sondheim. What the hell was this all about? It led into the film Waterloo at 8.25pm which ran all the way through to the news at 10.25pm – what a pathetic Christmas evening, a load of musical celebrities stumbling around on a frozen pond followed by Americans putting on iffy French accents and blowing each other up on a muddy field.

Hooray, then, for Two’s Company at 10.35pm: Elaine Stritch and Donald Sinden in an episode that marked the end of the second series of this LWT Brit-meets-Yank sitcom. Though the initial series, which began in September 1975, had only been shown in London, the follow-up run had been fully networked and proved quite popular. Last up, who else but Sir Geraint Evans with another Celebration at 11.05pm. This year we could find him entertaining Petula Clark at Castell Coch near Cardiff – so no wobbly sets this year to close yet another poor Christmas for ITV.

“Both parties contemplate divorce.”

25 December fell on a Sunday this year, so that meant a slight re-working of the traditional menu to incorporate, in the Beeb’s case, a special Songs of Praise from the Albert Hall into the usual line-up. But little else on BBC1 was changed from that well-worn template of programmes rolled out each Christmas this decade.

Perhaps remembering its ratings success two years ago, Bill Cotton opted to schedule The Wizard of Oz as the film slotted in after the Queen and Billy Smart’s Circus. Following the adventures of Dorothy and Toto, Basil Brush made a welcome return to Christmas Day in a special panto pastiche, Basil Through the Looking Glass.

Then after the news and Songs of Praise came a formidable trio of programmes: Bruce Forsyth and The Generation Game at 7.15pm; Mike Yarwood at 8.20pm (back on Christmas Day for the first time since 1973); and Morecambe and Wise at 8.55pm, with guests Penelope Keith, Elton John, Francis Matthews and others. This last show registered 21.3m viewers – one of the highest figures for any single programme for a long time.

To close the day the Beeb followed a late news bulletin with the 1968 Barbara Streisand movieFunny Girl. A much better choice, however, could be found over on BBC2 at the same time -The Big Sleep, the classic Humphrey Bogart thriller. BBC2 was kind of dwarfed by its sister channel this year and had nothing exceptional to offer – and, as with last year, because Christmas Day fell on a weekend there was no Play School either. There were too many documentaries as well – six in all: on deaf children, on predators in the wild, on the seashore in winter, on the Queen’s silver Jubilee, on home movies from the 1920s and ’30s – and lastly, and best of the lot by a mile, Thanks For the Memory: a 140 minute film on ordinary people’s recollections of watching TV over the last 25 years.

Earlier in the day BBC1 had sequenced their usual mix of programmes to fill up those barren morning hours. Star Over Bethlehem at 8.55am featured Christmas music from around the world; Playboard followed with some puppetry introduced by the persistently amusingly named Christopher Lillicrap. Then after the morning service from All Saints Parish Church, Kingston Upon Thames, came a long film: National Velvet, that terribly creaky racehorse movie from 1944.

Amends were quickly made thanks to what followed: a Christmas episode of Are You Being Served?, first shown on Christmas Eve last year but an obvious choice for 25 December itself. The show, now past its fifth series, would’ve pulled in the viewers nicely ahead of Top of the Pops ‘77 part one, hosted by Noel and David “Kid” Jensen. As per usual, part two followed on Boxing Day with Tony B and DLT.

ITV’s morning was also pretty textbook: carol concert, random cartoons, morning service (from Tynemouth) then at 11am A Merry Morning. This was becoming ever more outdated – the Beeb abandoning the concept of the hospital visit in 1972, and indeed the whole idea of visiting unfortunate kids at all in 1975 – though Tarby played it by the book, with guests Tina Charles and The Wurzels making for a lethal combination to scare the kids at the National Children’s Home in Bramhope, Yorkshire. A film followed: Robinson Crusoe and the Tiger, a movie so dull that its entire cast list read: “Robinson Crusoe; Friday; A Tiger”. The only spark of life occurred in the hour before the Queen: a Just William adaptation (made by LWT, who came into their own whenever Christmas fell on a weekend) of the story “William’s Worst Christmas.” This was a new production and starred Adrian Dannatt as the cheeky well-spoken rascal, supported by Diana Dors and Bonnie Langford.

Clips from four decades of British comedy films followed Her Majesty: a specially made compilation titled To See Such Fun, narrated by Frank Muir. This was a better choice than previous years to fill this slot, though it was immediately compromised by what followed: Emu’s Christmas Adventures. Highlight of the day, though, came at 5.45pm: a special Christmas episode of The Muppet Show, with guest Julie Andrews – the best thing on ITV on Christmas Day for years. Kermit and co were now in the middle of their second series (which ran for an amazing 30 weeks); all the shows being made in Britain, of course, thanks to Lew Grade and ATV.

ITV’s evening ran from Sale of the Century through Stars on Christmas Day (a special version of the Yorkshire TV religion-and-celebrity staple Stars on Sunday, here featuring none other than Bob Hope) to the seemingly contractually obliged boring film (Young Winston – 2 hours and 50 minutes on the early life of Winston Churchill).

Then came some light relief: Stanley Baxter’s Greatest Hits at 10.15pm. This was a compilation comprising 75 clips of comedy and mimicry from the stalwart of LWT’s variety stable. Baxter was another great veteran of broadcasting – his first big success coming with the BBC in 1959 in the revue show On the Bright Side. He’d been with LWT since 1972; a shame that the usual bickering over which ITV company supplied the main programmes for Christmas night had probably meant Baxter hadn’t been properly utilised until 25 December fell on a weekend. ITV ended the night with the only man who could possibly follow Stanley: yes, it was time for another Celebration from Sir Geraint Evans – voice still going strong, helped by some Welsh male voice choirs and Isla Blair.

The festive period on the BBC was sealed with a special anniversary edition of Disney Time on 27 December, marking 50 episodes of the show and hosted by the man who fronted the very first one: David Jacobs. No Beatles film this year – again – and no new Carry On either, just a repeat of … Up The Khyber on 23 December.

Viewers didn’t know it at the time, but 1977 was the end of an era for Christmas television in Britain. In retrospect, it represents the conclusion of a golden period in festive telly – and the last truly great BBC1 Christmas Day schedule. Once it was over, Christmas TV would never quite be the same again. The kind of effortless scheduling victory the BBC achieved would never be so consistently, and overwhelmingly, guaranteed in the future. As the 1970s drifted to a close, so the tendency increased for people to look back at these past Christmases and wish TV was as good now as it was then.

“People actually send spies to the rehearsal rooms.”

Christmas 1978 was one of those pivotal moments in television history, where a number of separate events and developments coincided to mark a sea-change in tradition and convention.

First of all, and most importantly, there was no Morecambe and Wise on BBC1. In early 1978 Thames Television had approached the pair with a deal promising far more money than they were currently earning, plus the usual offer of no-expense spared glamorous sets and guests. Thames had been eyeing up the duo for a while, conscious that although they had a hugely influential solo artist on their books – Benny Hill, who’d ironically jumped ship from the Beeb just as Morecambe and Wise headed in the opposite direction – they had no double act of similar standing. So they engineered what was seen as a major coup, and signed Eric’n’Ern much to the fury of the BBC.

But immediately there were problems. Eddie Braben, chief scriptwriter on all the duo’s BBC Christmas specials, was still signed with the Corporation until 1980. So jobbing wordsmiths Barry Cryer and John Junkin had to be bussed in to pen both the pair’s first appearance on ITV, a 60 minute special on 18 October 1978, and their next outing, on Christmas Day itself. However the quality of their material was generally dreadful, and no amount of high-profile celebrity guests could hide the fact these were below par efforts from Morecambe and Wise.

It meant that TV Times could crow “Christmas wouldn’t be quite the same without Eric and Ernie,” unaware that their 75 minute festive special was quite the worst thing the duo had done for television in decades. ITV had embarked on a shameless whispering campaign ahead of Christmas, hinting that both a former Prime Minister and a member of the royal family were to appear with the pair. In reality, although Harold Wilson showed up, he was joined by just Jan Hunt, Leonard Rossiter and Frank Finlay. Sadly, this was only the start of Morecambe and Wise’s decline; Christmas 1979 would see an even further fall from grace.

The second big blow to the Beeb’s Christmas schedules was the absence of Bruce Forsyth. Not for the first time, and definitely not for the last either, Bruce had decided to defect to the opposition – in this case shortly after what turned out to be his final Generation Game, on Christmas Day last year. He was coaxed over to LWT by the promise – again – of big money, but it wasn’t until October that he made his debut on ITV with a new show, Bruce Forsyth’s Big Night.

This was a Saturday evening review package with the host introducing music, competitions and pre-recorded items. These included a revival of Frank Muir and Denis Norden’s BBC radio comedy The Glums, now re-adapted for telly in 10 minute chunks starring Jimmy Edwards and Ian Lavender; and also the screen debut of a pair of comics who would go on to dominate ITV’s Christmas schedules throughout the ’80s: Cannon and Ball. Yes, these former welders from Oldham got their big break thanks to Brucie, contracted to contribute 15-minute sketches toBig Night through to the series’ close on Christmas Eve (although none of them were ultimately shown). However, thanks in part to Christmas Day not falling on a weekend in 1978, neither they nor Bruce won an appearance on 25 December: LWT losing out to Thames once more in the ITV scheduling games.

No Morecambe and Wise, no Bruce – and the Beeb had even lost Billy Smart’s Circus to their rivals, meaning for the first time in a generation there were no dancing elephants or human cannonballs to follow the Queen’s speech on BBC1. Maybe ITV now had the armoury to put together a strong Christmas schedule for the first time – but the Beeb, rather than wilting, fought back with a powerful, impressive alternative line-up – which went on to trounce the opposition in the ratings.

ITV’s 1978 primetime Christmas menu began wimpishly with the film Battle for the Planet of the Apes after the message from Her Majesty. This was the fifth in the Apes sequence and a pathetic prelude to what was to come: Billy Smart’s Circus at 4.55pm, then another superbChristmas Muppet Show at 6.15pm with special guest Danny Kaye. This was followed by, for the first time ever, a Bond film on Christmas Day: the fantastic Diamonds are Forever. ITV had at least realised the need to have a strong, popular movie at this hour rather than a sprawling western or war effort. 007 dovetailed into the traitors Morecambe and Wise at 9pm, then came another This Is Your Life special at 10.15pm. One sorry absence from the schedules this year was Sir Geraint Evans, as ITV had axed his annual Celebration in favour of a weird TV movie titled Ghost Story starring Larry Dann and Marianne Faithful. A short one-act play in theMeditation slot led up to closedown at 12.45am.

A commanding schedule, then, but it had kicked off poorly and here was where BBC1 stole an important early lead. Bill Cotton decided to pitch the re-launched Generation Game in the post-Queen’s message slot. “Larry Grayson is here to play, so … shut that door!” sang the theme tune when new host Larry and assistant Isla St Clair debuted on BBC1 in September. They’d quickly pulled in the viewers, so there was no question this special Christmas edition would’ve drawn a huge audience – which inevitably would’ve stayed tuned to BBC1 for the film that followed: The Sound of Music. An epic, of course – almost three hours long – but a clever way of seeing the channel into the early evening without frittering away any ratings lead.

After that, and the news, came another new episode of Some Mothers Do ‘Ave ‘Em – thankfully the last ever outing for Frank and his beret, though both this and Mike Yarwood at 8pm were guaranteed successes. Over the next few years Yarwood would prove to be a sure-fire hit for the BBC, ultimately pulling in more viewers than Morecambe and Wise on the other side. But BBC1 rounded off this Christmas day rather aimlessly – a TV movie (True Grit: A Further Adventure), Parkinson at the Pantomime (Michael with Les Dawson, Little and Large and others doing seasonal turns) and a Christmas Ghost Story: The Ice House by John Bowen, a new one-off drama starring John Stride.

Both main channels had offered up usual morning entertainment: for the Beeb, carols from Cambridge, The Flumps, a service from Knutsford, The Spinners at Christmas (music and comedy from that same Victorian street in York Museum that cropped up seemingly every other Christmas), the Elvis movie Clambake, Holiday on Ice, and Top of the Pops ‘78: just the one part this year, with Noel Edmonds in charge.

ITV opened with Paul Copley telling the Christmas story; some kids programmes - The Wotsit from Whizzbang and Pipkins; Christmas Clapperboard; A Merry Morning (Tarby in charge again from the Harrogate National Children’s Home); a service with the royals in Windsor; Living Free, one of the film sequels to Born Free; and Crossroads. But then came something of a highlight: “Twice round the wainscot and close with the stick, dig deep in the holly to discover the trick …” – of course, a 3-2-1 Christmas Special. One of ITV’s most popular new shows, it made for a good choice in the pre-Queen slot, especially as it boasted Terry Wogan, Clodagh Rodgers and Pat Coombs amongst the guests taking part for charity along with Ted Rodgers and Dusty Bin dressed up in the style of a Dickensian Christmas.

BBC2 showed little noteworthy programmes this year – Sarah Long and Don Spencer hostedPlay School, there was a repeat of The Snow Queen from 1976, The King’s Singers, carols from the Albert Hall, Richard Baker re-joining the navy after 35 years, and a new dramatisation of an 18th century farmer’s wife’s diary. If you were up past midnight you could enjoy Tom Baker reading a Late Night Story: The Emissary, a horror tale by Ray Bradbury.

Elsewhere, traditionalists would’ve been pleased that The Wizard of Oz was back for its fourth consecutive appearance, this time on 27 December at 6pm on BBC1; and the great Carry On Girls followed it later at 9.15pm. Disney Time was back on Boxing Day, hosted by Paul Daniels, ahead of both The Two Ronnies and the excellent Boxing Night at the Mill with Bob Langley and Tony Lewis.

The BBC had proved it could survive without Bruce or Eric and Ernie – it wasn’t just giving up in the face of renewed competition. Sure, ITV’s Morecambe and Wise Show proved to be the most watched programme this Christmas; but overall – thanks in part to people still associating Christmas evening with BBC1 and refusing to switch over out of prejudice or stubbornness – despite all the upheavals and defections the Corporation enjoyed another ratings triumph for the bulk of Christmas Day in 1978.

“Best switch off – if you don’t believe in laughter.”

This final year of the decade found the BBC enjoying renewed popularity thanks to a 75 day strike that blacked out ITV throughout the autumn. Beginning in some regions on 6 August, but soon spreading to the entire country from 10 August, industrial action of this kind was unprecedented in Britain. Smaller, low-key disputes had occurred before – such as the one that knocked LWT off the air within minutes of its launch on 2 August 1968. But the scale of this particular disruption was severe – and hugely significant.

It meant that the BBC enjoyed complete supremacy of the airwaves for the 10 or so weeks that ITV was crippled, during which time many of its programmes – both new and old – picked up increased audiences which then stayed with the channel once ITV returned on 24 October. Suddenly, even the Beeb’s run-of-the-mill everyday shows were picking up ratings close to 15 or 20 million – a development that went some way to explaining the Corporation’s total dominance of the Christmas schedules in 1979, where they even toppled Morecambe and Wise on ITV. In particular, three new shows that all began during the preceding 24 months - Blankety Blank, All Creatures Great and Small and To The Manor Born – had scored huge audiences this year, and helped deliver BBC a complete ratings victory over ITV thanks to cunning scheduling by Bill Cotton.

BBC1 began Christmas Day at 9am with another trip round the music of the world in Star Over Bethlehem; then it was a rather dull run-through the morning with a service from Llanedeyrn, Bagpuss, the return of The Spinners at Christmas, the 1971 re-make of Black Beauty, and worst of all a John Curry ice show. “Music is my reason for skating,” claimed Curry implausibly, “I feel I must express it.” The first part of Top of the Pops ‘79 at 2pm hosted by David Jensen and Peter Powell saved BBC1’s early schedule from being a complete write-off (part two turned up on 27 December with DLT and Mike Read in charge).

Once you got the other side of the Queen, things improved drastically with Larry and Isla back for another Generation Game special. Then came another unfortunate lull in the shape of the 1966 Disney film The Gnome Mobile – a huge anti-climax compared to the big films shown in this slot on previous years. Much better was to follow at 5.50pm with a seasonal edition ofBlankety Blank. “Lord Terence of Wogan arrived late for a Christmas party, forgetting that he hadn’t properly done up his BLANKS.” Terry, stick mike in hand, was faced with not just the traditional six celebrity panellists, but a whole dozen – and what a line-up. All the usuals were here: Lennie Bennett, Lorraine Chase, Wendy Craig, Sandra Dickinson, Shirley Ann Field, Kenny Everett, David Hamilton, David Jason, Roy Kinnear, Patrick Moore and Beryl Reid. Some “spontaneous” reason would have been found to have the six comprising the first panel “walk off” in disgust half way through, and for the rest of the guests to then amazingly appear from within the audience to much hilarity.

Next came All Creatures Great and Small, in a festive episode painfully titled “Plenty To Grouse About”. This was actually the first instalment of the third series of this incredible popular drama – one that would apparently end for good a few months later in April 1980 when the collective Darrowby vets were called up to fight in World War II. All Creatures … wasn’t dead, however, next appearing on screens … on Christmas Day 1983. A hefty audience would’ve been passed on to Mike Yarwood at 7.20pm, joined this Christmas by Johnny Mathis, and viewers undoubtedly remained glued to BBC1 for what followed as well: a special episode of To The Manor Born. Penelope Keith and Peter Bowles had found themselves stars of an unlikely hit comedy which had begun on the last day of September 1979 and rocketed up the ratings thanks to the ITV strike, ending up pulling – in one instance – almost 24 million viewers. Audiences of this size wouldn’t be seen again for many years (see EastEnders at Christmas 1986, and Only Fools and Horses at Christmas 1996).

The evening was rounded off with a stunning film, The Sting, before more chat with Parkinsonat 10.45pm. Not surprisingly, the whole line-up thrashed ITV, who vainly tried to piece together a schedule of comparable impact to the one last year, but to no avail. As in 1978, they went for a Bond film to follow the Queen: Goldfinger, a good choice; and also as in 1978, there was a 3-2-1 Christmas special, this time moved to an early evening slot to follow 007. Next up was the very last episode of George and Mildred. This popular and undeniably entertaining Thames sitcom once again found Mildred lusting after the passion her husband would never provide – indeed, the episode’s title was “The 26 Year Itch” – but after four years and five series she was to be left unfulfilled. It may have pulled in some viewers, but these would have switched over come 6.45pm and the start of the dreadful film The Three Musketeers: The Queen’s Diamonds- a woeful comedy thriller from 1973 with Michael York and Oliver Reed.

That left Morecambe and Wise at 8.45pm. Unbelievably, Thames hadn’t been able to wangle a new show out of the increasingly obstinate pair since last Christmas. No doubt this was in part due to the continuing unavailability of Eddie Braben as scriptwriter; nonetheless, ITV needed them back for Christmas Day – but what they got was diabolical, a complete waste of time, as all this 60 minute show comprised was a long boring interview with David Frost, one solitary new sketch with Glenda Jackson, and some really old clips. A truly low point for this duo who just two years earlier had created one of the best Christmas shows seen on British television ever.

ITV’s evening concluded with yet another special This Is Your Life at 9.45pm; Cleo’s Christmasat 10.40pm – songs, requests and light banter from Ms Laine; but worst of all, the spectacularly inappropriate Vegas at 11.40pm: a US cop show, starring Robert Urich and Bart Braverman. What were ITV thinking? If you survived that, there was always some monks chanting 8th century plainsong at 12.35am to send you screaming to bed.

ITV’s Christmas, then, was a complete mess. Billy Smart’s Circus, which they’d so eagerly nicked from the Beeb, was wasted – dumped on Boxing Day; and if that wasn’t enough, centrepiece of the morning schedule was A Merry Morning – repeated from last year! What if one of the kids had died since filming? Filling up the rest of the hours were a service from Harpenden, the terrible TV movie Lassie: The New Beginning, short Disney cartoons and Christmas Oh Boy! – an attempt to re-stage the famous 1950s ITV music show, but with Alvin Stardust and Shakin’ Stevens croaking old hits while the audience were asked to wear black, white or grey – though “it still promises,” pleaded TV Times desperately, “to be a colourful occasion.” C-list celebrities making fools of themselves in Michael Aspel’s Star Games brought us up to 3pm.

Even BBC2 managed a better line-up than ITV this year – it was certainly more imaginative and entertaining. A Hard Day’s Night was shown at 3pm – part of a fantastic season of all the Beatles films, including Magical Mystery Tour and Let It Be, screened over the holiday period. At the other end of the day was another great movie, here receiving its TV premiere: Cabaret. In between there was a Christmas concert from Amsterdam, a repeat of an award-winning dramatisation of A Christmas Carol with Michael Hordern as Scrooge, a survey of British horticulture in The Front Garden, and a special festive edition of Face the Music hosted as ever by Joseph Cooper.

As the 1970s were rung out at midnight on New Year’s Eve, viewers could look back over a decade of Christmas television that had displayed an incredible amount of consistency: while some shows had come and gone (mostly sitcoms), others had persisted in one form or other right through ten long years. A person tuning back in to British telly at the end of 1979 after maybe spending the whole decade abroad would’ve found the Christmas Day schedules in essence remarkably similar to how they originally remembered them. Sure, some familiar programmes had moved days, like Disney Time which here in 1979 was on Boxing Day with Rod Hull and Emu; some had hopped channels, like Morecambe and Wise and Billy Smart’s Circus. But in summary: staggeringly little change. Only the hospital visit had been consigned to the dustbin – though ITV kept up that tradition.

So maybe as we tuned in to BBC2 on 27 December 1979 to enjoy songs, stories, sketches and rhymes with Richard Stilgoe “looking optimistically into the ’80s”, we would have concluded that the 1970s had been an astonishingly successful and memorable decade for Christmas telly; and not without reason imagined that the forthcoming new decade would continue to be just as superb …