Here are some things that I always watch (and listen to) around Christmas, some of which have absolutely nothing to do with Christmas.
I was wondering why Raymond Briggs’s Father Christmas isn’t as well known as The Snowman, but then I remembered that the Snowman doesn’t get chronic diarrhoea after holidaying in the south of France (which would make it a very different film). Anyway, I love this and Mel Smith is perfect as a grumpy Father Christmas. Also, watch out for the cameo of Raymond Briggs’s Dad (the milkman doing his rounds at Buckingham Palace).
I always watch this cartoon of Oscar Wilde’s story The Selfish Giant at Christmas. It has such a strange atmosphere. (For the true hauntological experience you need to watch it on a warbly VHS.) What made this even weirder for me as a child was the fact that our tape ran out before the ending, so the whole thing felt shrouded in mystery. Looking back, maybe that was a good thing as I missed out on the pretty heavy-handed Christian analogy at the end. Albion, the recent album by Harp, really reminded me of this film for some reason.
The Department Store is genuinely one of the funniest things I’ve ever seen. It was first broadcast in 2008, so a few years after the boom in reality TV that was satirised by The Office, so there are moments in it which are a bit knowing, but it’s full of incredible dialogue and magnificent characters. It’s basically King Lear with soft furnishings. Sod’s law!
After all that, why not gather in the pub to listen to the pinnacle of human achievement:
While we’re on a folk tip, this is a beautiful version of ‘As I Roved Out’, given the ECM treatment by Iain Bellamy, Huw Warren and the incomparable June Tabor. Again, not Christmassy, but definitely wintry.
For some reason, Van Morrison’s 1990 album Enlightenment always reminds me of Christmas. I think I listened to it on a snowbound journey in the car with a friend once. The whole album is brilliant, but I particularly love this very strange, freewheeling paean to the revelatory experience of hearing rock and roll on the radio for the first time (Van’s only subject perhaps). It features the poet Paul Durcan, and I like to imagine they got absolutely razzed after recording it.
Merry Christmas!
Great list! A bit late now (only just joined Substack) but Laura Barton’s Notes on Music episode called Bells is perfect winter listening. Also I listened to The Dark is Rising this year and I imagine you’d like it, or maybe you’ve already read it? Same vibe as The Owl Service, creepy, a chapter each day from 20th Dec. Both are on BBC Sounds.
That Voice Squad clip! Incredible how they stay absolutely locked when the tempo is so elastic.
Incredible stuff - cheers for sharing.