BBC CHRISTMAS TV 1968

  Christmas Eve Tuesday 24th December 1968

  BBC1

  11.15am  Apollo report

 11.20am  Jackanory
                 Ted Ray tells a traditional story for
                 Christmas Eve called The Little Juggler

 11.35am  The Christmas Story 
                  ... told to the infants class of a Dorset village
                  school by the head teacher, and acted by the
                  older children from St. Mary's Church,
                  Cerne Abbas​

 12.00       Carols and Cash
                  Just Because It's Christmas
                  Students from the University of York take
                  a look at some aspects of the Christmas festival​

 12.30pm  When Comedy Was King
                  Some great moments with the screen's most
                  famous laughter-makers   (b&w)

   1.30pm  Apollo report

   1.50pm  Watch with Mother : Trumpton 
                  The Greenhouse

   2.05pm  The News and The Weather

   2.10pm   Film : Captain Blood (1935) 
                   with Errol Flynn

   3.45pm  Bewitched 
                  Humbug Not Spoken Here ... or Santa
                  will sleigh you! 
                  A special Christmas edition

   4.10pm  Play School
                  Dressing-Up Day

   4.30pm  Nina and Frederick in The Christmas Tree
                  Hans Andersen's Christmas story retold
                   for television 

  5.00pm  Jack and the Beanstalk
                  starring Gene Kelly 
                  The famous seasonal fairy story with music 

  5.50pm  The News and The Weatherman

  6.00pm  Town and Around 
                  introduced by John Bierman

   6.15pm  Carols from King's College, Cambridge
                  A Service of Lessons and Carols

   7.00pm  Z Cars 
                  Blame it on Father Christmas, part 2

   7.25pm  The Gang Show 
                  Excerpts from the 1968 production with a
                  cast of 120 members of the Scout and Guide
                  Movement 

   8.15pm  Cilla
                  The first of a new series starring Cilla Black
                  Among her guest stars, 
                  Michael Crawford, Shari Lewis
                  and special guest Scott Walker

  9.05pm   The News with Richard Baker and 
                  The Weather

   9.20pm  Play of the Month 
                  Waters of the Moon by
                  NC Hunter, with Margaret Leighton,
                  Athene Seyler, Kathleen Harrison,
                  Vivien Merchant, Roland Culver, 
                  Michael Gwynn

 10.50pm  Children Talking 
                  Gerald Harrison asks children from the
                  Bolton and Nelson areas of Lancashire
                  about going to the Moon

 11.00pm  Amahl and the Night Visitors 
                  An opera in one act 

 11.45pm  Midnight Eucharist 
                  from St George's Parish Church, Belfast


Christmas Day Wednesday 25th December 1968

 BBC1 

  8.45am  Carol Story
                 An entertainment for Christmas morning
                 Sung by the Choir of East Barnet Grammar
                 School 

  9.15am  The News and The Weather

  9.25am  Apollo Report

  9.30am  Jackanory
                 John Stride tells 
                 The Minstrel and the Mountain 

  9.45am  Professor in Toyland
                 Some enchanting questions for enquiring
                 minds asked by Professor Julius Sumner Miller
                 on walking toys, singing toys, swimming toys,
                 flying toys.
                 Do you own a toy? Did you ever own a toy?​

 10.15am  A Spoonful of Sugar

10.45am  Family Service 
                 from the Methodist Church, Solihull,
​                 Warwickshire

 11.30am  Meet the Kids 
                 in hospital at Christmas with Ray Allan, 
                 Tony Hart

 12.15pm  The Charlie Drake Show

  1.00pm  The Newcomers
                  Christmas Day in Angleton

   1.25pm  Top of the Pops '68 
                  with Pete Murray and Jimmy Savile

   2.10pm  The Black and White Minstrel 
                  Christmas Show

  3.00pm  The Queen
                  Her Majesty's Christmas Message to
                  the Commonwealth 

  3.05pm  Billy Smart's Circus

   4.10pm  Disney Time 
                  with Val Doonican

  5.00pm  Humpty Dumpty 
                  starring Leslie Crowther and Reg Varney

  6.30pm  The News and The Weather

  6.35pm   Christian Aid
                  Christmas appeal by Judi Dench

  6.40pm  Christmas Night with the Stars 
                 introduced by Eric Morecambe and Ernie Wise,
                 featuring Not in Front of the  Children,
                 Dad's Army, Harry Worth, Ice Cabaret,
                 Marty Feldman, Oh Brother!,
                 All Gas and Gaiters

  8.45pm  Doddy for Christmas
                 with Ken Dodd

  9.45pm  Film : Some Like It Hot (1959) 
                 starring Marilyn Monroe, Tony Curtis

11.40pm  The News Robert Langley 
                The Weather Man Bert Foord

11.50pm  Quiz of the Year
                 Ned Sherrin tests the wits and memories of
                 rival teams, who might be expected to know
                 what's been going on in 1968

 12.25am  Of the Nativite of Oure Lorde 
                  extracts from St Benaventura's  Life of Jesus


  Boxing Day Thursday 26th December 1968

 BBC1

   9.15am  Watch with Mother : The Pogles

  9.30am  The News and The Weather

   9.35am  Days of Thrills and Laughter
                  A pageant of comedy and cliff-hanging
                  from the golden age of the silent film 

  11.05am  Transworld Top Team
                  United Kingdom v. Canada 
                  Top of the Form competes with Canada's
                  Reach for the Top in this international series. 
                  Tonight's game : Match 9 - London v. Toronto 

  11.30am  A Thousand Miles a Day 
                  The London to Sydney Marathon covered
                  10,000 miles in ten days and there was a
                  prize of £ 10,000 for the winner. Most of the
                  world's top rally drivers set off from Crystal
                  Palace at the end of November​

 12.20pm  The Newcomers
                  Boxing Day brings a surprise visitor to the
                  Kerrs ; Turner makes plans to entertain the
                  Cooper family, Burroughs finds Mrs. Crabtree
                  too much under the influence of the Christmas
                  spirit​

 12.45pm   Boxing Day Grandstand 
                   (including, at 1.00,1.30,2.30 Racing from
                   Kempton Park,
                   Rugby League: Featherstone v Hunslet,
                   Motor Racing: Grandstand Trophy Race Final
                   for Saloon Cars)

   3.15pm  Film : North-West Mounted Police (1940)
                  with Gary Cooper, Madeleine Carroll

   5.15pm  Tom and Jerry
                  Mice Follies

  5.25pm  Today's Sport
                 A full round-up of the day's results

  5.35pm  The News and The Weatherman Bert Foord

 5.45pm   The Andy Williams Christmas Show 
                  on Ice

 6.35pm   Top of the Pops '68 
                  part 2 introduced by Alan Freeman and
                  Stuart Henry 

   7.15pm   The Benny Hill Show
                  starring Benny Hill with June Whitfield,
                  Henry McGee

  8.00pm  Film : The Bulldog Breed (1960)
                  starring Norman Wisdom, Ian Hunter

   9.35pm  The Good Old Days
                  A Boxing Day edition of Old-Time Music-Hall
                  from the stage of the Famous City Varieties
                  Theatre, Leeds

 10.25pm  The News  Robert Langley and
                  The Weather

 10.35pm  Frost Over Christmas
                  A 1968 look at the 1967 programme
                  starring David Frost with
                  Ronnie Barker, John Cleese,
                  Ronnie Corbett, Sheila Steafel , Julie Felix 

 11.15pm   Dean Martin Christmas Show
                 from Hollywood 

  Christmas Eve Tuesday 24th December 1968
 
  BBC2

11.00am  Play School
                Dressing-Up Day 

11.20am  Closedown

  1.15pm  Apollo report (b&w)

  2.00pm  Closedown

   2.50pm   Christmas is Coming 
                    featuring Brigitte Bardot, Harry Secombe,
                    Frank Sinatra, Gene Kelly, Herb Alpert and
                    his Tijuana Brass, Buddy Rich and his
                    Orchestra

   3.00pm  Film : Little Women (1949) 
                   with June Allyson, Elizabeth Taylor, 
                   Janet Leigh, Margaret O`Brien,
                   Mary Astor, Peter Lawford, Rossano Brazzi

   5.00pm  Herb Alpert and his Tijuana Brass
                   close-up of the world-famous trumpet
                   player at work and in carefree mood
                   from Malibu to Mexico

  5.50pm  The Christmas Visitor 
                  cartoon

  6.00pm  Film : Stowaway in the Sky (1960)
                  by Albert Lamorisse 
                  Pascal's grandfather invents a balloon and
                  the young boy stows away on a spectacular
                  voyage

   7.15pm  El Sombrero 
                 cartoon 

   7.25pm  Newsroom, Weather

   7.55pm  The Pistol Shot  
                  a play by Nicholas Bethell, with John Ronane,
                  Peter Jeffrey, Ann Bell and Ilona Rodgers

   9.05pm  Francis Albert Sinatra
                   invites you to the Frank Sinatra Show

   9.55pm  Phantasmagoria 
                  or the story of The Magic Lantern

  10.25pm  The Clerkes of Oxenford  
                   sing a programme of early Christmas carols

  10.50pm  Film : The Captain's Table (1959)  
                    starring John Gregson, Peggy Cummins,
                    Donald Sinden, Nadia Gray




































  Christmas Day Wednesday 25th December 1968

  BBC2

  9.15am  Apollo Report

  9.30am  Closedown

  11.20am  Play School 
                  The Christmas Story

  11.40am  Christmas Morning at Windsor Castle
                  The scene as Her Majesty The Queen and
                   other members of the Royal Family leave
                   St. George's Chapel after attending
                   Morning Service 

  11.55am  Apollo Report

  12.10pm  Closedown

   3.00pm  The Queen
                  Her Majesty's Christmas Message to the
​                  Commonwealth

   3.05pm  The Royal Ballet 
                   The Nutcracker and The Rat King with
                   Merle Park and Rudolph Nureyev

   4.45pm  Peace on Earth 
                  The Christmas story illustrated by the
                   famous alpine wood carvings 

  5.00pm   Film : Lords of the Forest : 
                   Masters of the Congo Jungle (1958)
                   narrated by William Warfield and
                   Orson Welles

   6.30pm  Dimensions 
                   An amusing and clownish exercise in
​                   perspective 

   6.40pm  Film : Lancelot and Guinevere (1963)
                   with Cornel Wilde and Jean Wallace

   8.35pm  The News, The Weather

   8.45pm  The Merry Widow 
                   operetta with Mary Costa and Jeremy Brett

 10.30pm  The Harry Secombe Show
                  Tonight Harry invites some of his friends
                   from the film production of Oliver!

  11.25pm  Mr Rossi on the Beach 
                  cartoon

  11.40pm  Film : Anchors Aweigh (1945) 
                   starring Frank Sinatra, Kathryn Grayson

























 


  Boxing Day Thursday 26th December 1968

  BBC2 

 11.00am  Play School
                  Ideas Day 

  11.20am  Closedown

  3.00pm  Christmas Play  
                  The Three Princes, by Rex Tucker,
                  with Timothy Dalton

  4.00pm  The Conquest of Everest
                  The dramatic story of the successful 1953
                  Everest Expedition led by Sir John Hunt 

   5.15pm   Film : The Black Shield of Falworth (1954) 
                   with Tony Curtis, Janet Leigh, David Farrar

   6.50pm  4472- Flying Scotsman
                   An epitaph for the age of steam 
                   Another chance to see this unique film
                   of the Flying Scotsman's dramatic non-stop
                   run from London to Edinburgh on May 1, 1968

   7.30pm  News Summary, Weather

   7.35pm  How the Grinch Stole Christmas 
                  cartoon film with music and song
                  Boris Karloff narrates this unusual
                   and amusing Christmas story

  8.00pm  Iolanthe  
                  an updated version by Alan Melville, 
                  with Patrick Cargill, Joan Sims

  9.35pm  Bardot special  
                  In which Brigette Bardot invites you to join
                  her in a variety of moods and settings with
                  her guests, Manitas De Plata and Sacha Distel

10.25pm  Film : The Red Shoes (1948)  
                 starring Michael Powell, Emeric Pressburger

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