Home Advent Calendar 2018 Day 3: Christmas With Val Doonican, 1986

"Tonight for me is no jaunt or spree, for I'm off to work at the BBC!" Eat it raw, Dylan. Val's BBC1 Christmas Eve shows only actually lasted from 1978 to 1988 but the combined impact of his rocking-but-gently, becardiganed LE spectaculars cannot be underestimated, right from the opening sequence filmed in his actual home. Jan Leeming reveals the secrets of the news Christmas shift, Dennis Taylor does some trick shots because it's the mid-80s, the deaf Evelyn Glennie keeps conversation with Val despite having seemingly no visual aid and White Christmas is essayed from the suspiciously shiny rocking chair.