I'm sure we must be the only people still coding the Advent Calendar in HTML, but that's how it started in 2003 and it's too late to change it now. Sorry for the weekend delays, ironically the more time we have the harder it is to fit in the daily post. Some people fondly image we have it planned months in advance, but honestly it's whatever pops up on the day.
And today it's all about The Box Of Delights, which we watch every year (and post about every year). There's a new Blu-Ray of it, though they thankfully haven't tried to do a Doctor Who and upgrade the special effects from the classic 1980s Quantel Paintbox and clunky phoenix animation.
If you haven't seen it, it's on iPlayer again at https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episodes/p00tjpwk/the-box-of-delights
Kay Harker is a little posh boy going back to his guardian's house for the holidays, but mysterious strangers on a train, and a Punch and Judy man with a dog called Toby, set him off on a quest that sees him miniaturised, befriending a mouse and a talking bronze head, transported to a Greek island, and eventually saving Christmas (spoiler alert).
The standout characters are the local police inspector, with his recipe for a hot posset, and the amazing Robert Stephens and his wife (fourth wife) Patricia Quinn (from Rocky Horror Show) as Kay's evil antagonists.
There's also an introduction by Rennie Rye, the dircector, with reminisces about the filming in snowy Scotland, on iPlayer which can be seen at https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m0025xl7/renny-rye-remembers-the-box-of-delights
Do try to catch up with this classic this Christmas!
Bonus link: an article from 2022 about the making of the show:
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