Merry Christmas Father Christmas
Christmas special, first shown 28 Dec 1986, 35 min
Our take
A proper Christmas plot for a new third man: an inventor's crusade to rescue the dignity of Father Christmas, with the obvious candidate for the red suit wearing wellies. It is a slightly extended episode and it needs the room, with the rooftop business building nicely and a side plot of a secret present for a henpecked husband. One of the four specials gathered on the Christmas Specials DVD.
What happens
The village is getting ready for Christmas. A Santa riding a bicycle with an advertising board is too much for Seymour's sense of traditional values, and he resolves to put some of the magic back into Christmas by putting Father Christmas back where he belongs: on a rooftop, near a chimney. He tries to persuade Compo and Clegg that a rooftop is the best place to see Father Christmas. Clegg is an ideal, if unwilling, helper, but the question is who has the charisma, and the wellies, to play the part. Meanwhile Marina is trying to persuade Clegg to smuggle a present to Howard.
Can the kids watch it?
Not rated by the BBFC as a separate episode; gentle slapstick and a little innuendo, fine for families.
Cast and crew
Starring
- Bill Owen as Compo
- Peter Sallis as Clegg
- Michael Aldridge as Seymour
- Kathy Staff as Nora Batty
- Mike Grady as Barry
- Sarah Thomas as Glenda
- Jean Fergusson as Marina
- Robert Fyfe as Howard
Guest stars
- Jane Freeman as Ivy
- Joe Gladwin as Wally Batty
- Jonathan Linsley as Crusher Milburn
- Gordon Wharmby as Wesley Pegden
- Thora Hird as Edie Pegden
Writer
- Roy Clarke
Director
- Alan J. W. Bell