The 2026 Christmas adverts arrived early and all at once. Debenhams went first in the middle of October, four big names landed on the weekend of 1 November, and John Lewis joined them on Tuesday 3 November with a toy dog, a flying tuk-tuk and a Sam Fender cover of the Rolling Stones. As of 3 November, twelve UK campaigns are out, Aldi has shown a ten-second teaser, and Waitrose, M&S, Morrisons, Boots, Amazon and Coca-Cola are still to come.
This page is the running list. Each advert gets a short entry in launch order, with the song, the people who made it and a link to its own page where we have one. We add to it as the season goes on, so the table at the top is the quickest way to see what has changed.
Out now and still to come
| Brand | Advert | First shown | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Debenhams | Christmas. For Everyone | 15 October | Out |
| Tesco | The Wrong Address | 1 November, ITV | Out |
| Sainsbury's | The BFG returns (The Big Delivery) | 1 November | Out |
| Argos | Tales of Argos Past | 1 November | Out |
| Very | That's the Very Thing | 1 November | Out |
| Thatchers | Saving Tasting Time | 2 November | Out |
| John Lewis | Gloria and Pickles | 3 November, ITV and Channel 4 | Out |
| Lidl | Lidl Christmas Everybody | 3 November | Out |
| Asda | All of Christmas at Asda Price. BOOM! | 3 November | Out |
| Sports Direct x Nike | Unwrap Potential | 3 November | Out |
| Aldi | Kevin the Carrot (title to come) | Teaser 2 November | Teaser only; full film due in a Gogglebox ad break on Channel 4 |
| M&S | Lucy Punch campaign | Expected this week | Not yet |
| Waitrose | Not announced | Mid November last year | Not yet |
| Morrisons, Boots, Iceland, TK Maxx | Not announced | Early to mid November last year | Not yet |
| Amazon | Not announced | Late November last year | Not yet |
| Coca-Cola | Truck tour; no new film announced | Tour ran 27 Nov to 21 Dec last year | Truck town vote closed 3 November |
Dates for the adverts still to come are last year's launch dates, not announcements. We will swap them for real ones as soon as the brands say.
John Lewis: Gloria and Pickles
The twentieth John Lewis Christmas advert, and the one everyone will have an opinion about. Dame Kristin Scott Thomas plays Gloria, a grandmother about to give up and put cash in cards, until Pickles, a vintage Fisher-Price pull-along dog voiced by Paul Whitehouse, comes to life and whisks her across London in a flying tuk-tuk. The payoff is a Gran Cave of disco balls on Christmas morning.
The song is Sam Fender covering The Rolling Stones' You Can't Always Get What You Want, with a choir from his old school in North Shields and Easington Colliery Band. Saatchi & Saatchi made it, for the fourth year running, with Lucy Forbes directing. It went online at 7:30am on 3 November and had its TV debut that evening in Coronation Street and Bake Off.
Our take: a deliberate return to the Monty and Buster formula after two years of quieter family stories, and the first John Lewis advert in a while with a toy you can buy on the way out. Full page, credits and the song.
Thatchers: Saving Tasting Time
The surprise of the week, and the one film fans should seek out. Thatchers' first ever Christmas TV advert is a stop-motion short made by Aardman in Bristol. Snow cuts off the family cider farm on tasting day, and a puppet Martin Thatcher takes a hot-air balloon to round up the scattered tasting team, prompted by Myrtle the dog. Bray Leino is the agency. On air from 2 November across ITV, Sky, Netflix and Channel 4.
Our take: proper Aardman craft in an ad break, a miniature snowbound farm and all. Full page and credits.
Tesco: The Wrong Address
A single three-minute story instead of last year's vignettes. Lizzie's Christmas food order goes to the house she moved out of, hundreds of miles away, and the delivery driver turns out to be Polly, an old school friend. A broken-down van turns the handover into a road trip and the two of them finally talk about the falling-out that ended the friendship. Roisin Conaty and Anna Maxwell Martin star, BBH London made it, Steve Rogers directs, and the song is The Police's Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic. It premiered on ITV on 1 November during Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?
Our take: the most film-like of the big supermarket adverts this year, and the trade press's early favourite.
Sainsbury's: the BFG, year three
The BFG has a cold and is set to miss Christmas, so Annie, a real Sainsbury's colleague back for her second year, loads a van with food and drives it into Giant Country with her sidekick Fred. There is an ambush by the Greedy Giant, a van hanging off a cliff and an avalanche of sprouts. New Commercial Arts made it with the Roald Dahl Story Company, Sam Brown directs through Rogue Films, and the score is by Chris White. It premiered at 6:26pm on 1 November. The Comic Relief partnership continues.
Our take: the strongest consumer-panel scores of the first wave, and a few grumbles on social media that 1 November is too early. Sainsbury's has not confirmed a title; the trade is calling it The Big Delivery. Our Sainsbury's adverts through the years has the back story.
Argos: Tales of Argos Past
Richard Ayoade plays a man stuck in the past, still circling toys in the old Argos catalogue, until the brand's mascots Connie and Trevor appear as Christmas ghosts and walk him through what the shop sells now. It is a straight riff on A Christmas Carol, which means it belongs in our ranking of every A Christmas Carol film as a footnote. T&P made it, Declan Lowney directs through Merman, and the posters pair 80s and 90s catalogue favourites with their modern equivalents. Out 1 November.
Very: That's the Very Thing
A new animated flamingo family replaces the old one, and the Very cube becomes a doorway into each bird's dream world in a 30-second spot. The Gate made it with M3Labs, Peter Lee-Scott directing. Very says it is the first of its campaigns to combine CGI with AI-assisted production, declared openly rather than quietly. Live from 1 November.
Debenhams: Christmas. For Everyone
The first major retailer out, on 15 October, and online first. Emily Atack and Mathew Horne play old schoolmates who meet again when she comes home for Christmas; a snowstorm strands the party's headline act, the power goes, and the village improvises. Gabrielle performs Dreams on screen. Tom Day directs.
Lidl: Lidl Christmas Everybody
Shaun Williamson, forever Barry from EastEnders, sings his own Lidl-themed rework of Slade's Merry Christmas Everybody while handing round pigs in blankets, with Chris Kamara, Kemi Rodgers and Abi Clarke along for the party. Out 3 November, with the Lidl Toy Bank running from 5 November to 16 December.
Asda: All of Christmas at Asda Price. BOOM!
No sentiment this year. Four 30-second spots take a tidy festive scene (hosting, decorating, gifting, dinner) and escalate it into a party before a BOOM pay-off, to a remix of Martin Garrix's Animals. Lucky Generals made it and Finn Keenan directs. Out 3 November.
Sports Direct x Nike: Unwrap Potential
A 60-second film in which an uncle shopping for his niece is steered by Erling Haaland, Dina Asher-Smith, Leah Williamson, Henry Pollock and Aitch. Chaos x Magic made it and Tyrus Hill directs. Announced 3 November.
Also out
Shelter's winter appeal film, which the charity is careful to say is not a Christmas advert, follows a mother and daughter who turn out to be counting down to the keys of a social home rather than to Christmas; Maverick Sabre wrote the score. Dogs Trust's Kira Needs a Family has an eight-year-old campaigning to rehome a real rescue dog. The Perfume Shop's Let Love Last is a first Christmas film about two brothers and their late father's yearly gift. Burberry, Tiffany and Prada have global films out, Prada's with hand-drawn animation. Cadbury's Secret Santa postal service is running again from 2 November, with no new TV film.
Aldi: Kevin the Carrot, teased
A ten-second teaser on 2 November: Cauli Dog, the family's cauliflower pet, has gone missing and Kevin and Chantenay are putting up posters. Aldi is sponsoring Channel 4's festive entertainment, so the full film will premiere in a Gogglebox ad-break takeover, date to be confirmed. Until then, our Kevin the Carrot movie years covers the back catalogue.
Still to come
M&S has confirmed Lucy Punch as the face of a campaign that spans fashion and food together, and the reveal is expected around its results on 4 November. Waitrose launched on 12 November last year. Morrisons, Boots, Iceland and TK Maxx all launched in late October or early November last year and have said nothing yet. Amazon went on 19 November last year with a rerun of Joy Ride. Coca-Cola held its first public vote for a truck tour stop, which closed on 3 November; the tour dates and any new film are unannounced, and last year the UK reran the existing trucks spot. Our history of the Coca-Cola trucks explains why they still feel like the start of Christmas.
The songs
Covers and reworks are this year's pattern: Fender's Stones, Williamson's Slade, Asda's Garrix remix, with Tesco and Debenhams using the original recordings and Sainsbury's, Argos and Shelter commissioning scores. Our Christmas advert songs guide explains how to find the right version, and we will add the 2026 recordings there as they get proper releases.
How this page works
New adverts go into the table and get an entry the day they land. Expected dates come from last year's launches until a brand announces. Every advert we give a full page to is in the Christmas adverts collection, where you can watch the official upload and see who made it.
