BBC Radio has announced its Christmas schedules for 2020. In addition to major new shows featuring French and Saunders, Count Arthur Strong and John Shuttleworth creator Graham Fellows the following shows will be available over the festive season.
Ed Reardon’s Christmas Week
22 December, 18:30-19:00
Meet Ed Reardon, author, pipe smoker, consummate fare-dodger and master of the abusive email, trying to survive in a world where the media seems to be run by idiots and charlatans.
It's nearly Christmas, and Ed needs a room at the inn. The Lock Keeper's Arms, that is. But first, he's got to deal with Scrooge.
Cast:
Ed Reardon ..... Christopher Douglas
Ping ..... Barunka O’Shaughnessy
Jaz Milvain ..... Philip Jackson
Jake ..... Sam Pamphilon
Eli ..... Lisa Coleman
Audiobook ..... Nicola Sanderson
Landlord ..... Colin McFarlane
Written by Christopher Douglas and Andrew Nickolds.
...And Please Can I Have A Unicorn And World Peace?
21 December, 20:00-20:30
Miles Jupp enters a winter wonderland as he travels to Santa’s post office in the Arctic Circle. He's been given special permission to join the elves who help Santa with around half a million letters that arrive each year from around the world.
Donning a red elf hat, and braced by snow and sub-zero temperatures, Miles gets to work sorting letters under the watchful eye of Elf Riitta. Opening letters from around the world, he discovers what is in the hearts and hopes of 21st century children - and adults.
Other global outposts of Santa's postal service include the UK’s Royal Mail and, in the USA, the town of Santa Claus, Indiana.
Joanna Espin from The British Postal Museum reveals how historic letters to Santa show evidence of poverty, loss, consumerism and affluence offering a social history of the times. One child in the late 19th century whose father had died from smallpox touched Santa with a heartfelt letter, receiving gifts and help.
Chief Elf Pat Koch in Santa Claus, Indiana, shares letters from the 1930s depression where children asked for clothes and help for their family rather than toys and sweets.
In the UK, we join Yorkshire school children in Sheffield as they write their letters. Will they reflect the events of 2020?
And back in Lapland, Miles takes a trip through snowy landscape on a reindeer sled as he prepares for a visit to the grotto of the Big Man himself.
Producer: Sara Parker
Executive Producer: Emma Walker
Elis and John’s Christmas Content
9-11am, Christmas Day
Comedians Elis James and John Robins guide us through Christmas morning with special guests, present-swaps, and one or two festive games.
Conversations From A Long Marriage
30 December, 18:30-19:00 1/6
Conversations from a Long Marriage is a two-hander comedy, starring Joanna Lumley and Roger Allam, as a long-married couple who met in the Summer of Love and are still passionate about life, music and each other. The audience hears – and empathises with - their dangling ‘conversations’ covering everything from health scares, jealousy and confessions, to TV incompatibility and sourdough bread.
In episode one, Roger gives Joanna a masterclass in dishwasher stacking while Joanna instructs him on how to wave goodbye to departing guests. As the turbulent year turns, Joanna makes some New Year Resolutions - for Roger - and suggests their marriage needs a re-boot’ . ‘Out the door?’ is his response.
Written by Jan Etherington
Produced and directed by Claire Jones
A BBC Studios Production for BBC Radio 4
Nature Table Christmas Special
25 December, 17:00-18:00
In keeping with the show's 'show and tell' format, Sue Perkins will be joined by celebrity guests from the worlds of comedy and natural history. Expert guests for the festive special include: naturalist, presenter and writer Chris Packham, botanist, presenter and writer James Wong, wildlife presenter Michaela Strachan. And helping Sue to make sense of the amazing funny facts that the experts present is Tony-nominated comedy actor Stephen Mangan (Billy Elliot, I'm Alan Partridge, Green Wing, Have I Got News For You).
For the Christmas special, our experts will be presenting flora and fauna that all have a festive connection. These include: reindeers, robins, fly agaric mushrooms (that hold the key to why reindeers can fly and Father Christmas wears red and white), turtle doves, Christmas spiders (and their link to the history of Christmas tinsel), holly and partridges.
Nature Table positively celebrates our planet's wild flora and fauna, by making a show that's both informative and funny.
Written by: Catherine Brinkworth, Kat Sadler & Jon Hunter
Music by Ben Mirin. Additional sounds were provided by The Macaulay Library at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.
Produced by: Simon Nicholls A BBC Studios Production
It's Behind You! The weird and wonderful story of British Pantomime
26 December, 20:00-21:00
What could be more British than the Christmas tradition of going out with the family to see a pantomime? Yet panto dates back to ancient Rome, via the 16th century Italian travelling street theatre known as the Commedia dell'Arte.
The familiar trappings of modern British panto originated with the Victorians - the principal boy, the pantomime dame, popular tunes with new lyrics and double entendres, and those well-worn catchphrases - 'Behind you!' and 'Oh yes it is!’.
Since then, pantomime has been rebooted in line with other forms of popular entertainment, from working class music hall to middle class variety; radio to film and television. Today, celebrities from both sides of the Atlantic queue up to appear on British stages at Christmas. The panto season has stretched to last from the start of December to the end of January and become essential to the UK’s theatre economy.
Cultural historian and writer Christopher Frayling delves into the BBC archive to explore the rich and surprising history of pantomime - with the help of panto historians, actors, writers and directors. He explores how the form has remained so very popular for almost as long as Shakespeare's plays, and examines its role in our more enlightened, politically correct times. And he hears from the companies striving to stage pantomimes in 2020, from scaled down theatre productions to a drive-in Christmas show.
Producer: Jane Long
A Hidden Flack production for BBC Radio 4
There will also be the following BBC podcast specials
Wheel of Misfortune Christmas and Wheel of Misfortune Parties
Available on BBC Sounds on the 8th and 15th December
Alison Spittle and Fern Brady have a double-whammy of merry misdemeanours coming in December. They’ll be exchanging their funniest bad party stories with David O’Doherty on 8th December then ending the first season on a festive high with their best worst Christmas tales, along with Romesh Ranganathan on 15th December. Of course they’ll also be sharing their listener’s tale of woe along the way too.
A BBC Radio Bristol production for BBC Sounds
James Acaster’s Perfect Sounds 25th December
A BBC Radio 1 production for BBC Sounds
