Lord Grade

Christmas TV's past, present and future

The 1971 Morecambe & Wise Show, featuring put-upon composer Andre Previn (Credit: BBC)

Christmas ratings are not what they used to be. Many think that festive television is trading on past glories. Now it is threatened by streaming. When bingeing on box sets is more common than keeping up with the latest from the soaps, can Christmas telly survive?

In December, an RTS early-­evening event summoned up the ghosts of Christmas TV past, present and future to look back at festive classics, discuss the 2018 Christmas schedules and predict the role TV will have – if any – in Christmases to come.