“We are not makers of history.
We are made by history.”

One essential element to a Christmas programme, however clichéd the writing, and despite the fact it was probably taped in July, still conveyed a sense of occasion – one where a familiar figure would ‘put on a turn’.

Such shows were typically aimed at an audience gathered around the rented set in the corner of the living room, with no means of recording the show for a later date. The advent of early home VCRs and the flowering of the local “video library” – typically found in the village electrical shop – seemed to mark the beginning of the end to this era of television...

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