Home Advent Calendar 2017 Day 2: Christmas Night With The Stars, 1972

The fifteenth of BBC1's traditional Christmas Nights, and the last (discounting that Fry & Laurie version). It may have looked foolish for All Star Comedy Carnival on ITV to go head to head with it, but we see the results. The Two Ronnies host, got the Radio Times cover for it, and it really feels with how often they feature it's built around a show of their own rather than having them linking different elements. In one notable segment they compare gifts in a segment notable for how often Barker's flubs are left in, which we hope was for lack of editing time rather than spite. The linking script has thirteen credited writers, including Michael Palin and Terry Jones (and Barry Cryer, but you'd probably have guessed that - no Gerald Wiley, for the record) Elsewhere Lulu frugs with the Young Generation, the Goodies showcase their manic, silent Travelling Instant Five Minute Christmas, the Liver Birds overindulge and view the turkey in much the way Carla Lane would have, Mike Yarwood does Gerald Nabarro and Malcolm Muggeridge - yeah, this sketch might not have worn the passage of time well - Corbett and Cilla do a satirical duet and Dad's Army broadcast live to the nation. Also Sally James is in one sketch. Fun for all.