19/12/2012 The One Show

# Sleigh bells ring, are you listening

# In the lane, snow is glistening # A beautiful sight

# We're happy tonight # Walking in a winter wonderland

# Walking in a winter won deferred, oh, yeah

Hello welcome to the One Show with Alex Jones. And Matt Baker.

Tonight's guests are two of sapbtda's finest Christmas helpers.

-- Santa. One will help you in the kitchen. The other will entertain

you in the lounge. Welcome Mary Berry and Jenny Agutter!

APPLAUSE How good were the Kaos Kigning

Chior for Deaf and Hearing Children and the orchestra. A lovely start.

A double whammy. I'm not sure the children were signing. Some of them

were. Jennie, audience at home will be excited because we have an

exclusive clip of Call the Midwif later. You did do that? Yes,

Christmas Day, my son was due on January 28. I woke up feeling a

little uncomfortable on Christmas morning. I called the obstetrician.

He asked if I was in labour. I said, "I don't know. I don't feel right."

So call the midwife we did. That could have been your mum. I was

born on the 23 rd. I'm not sure when I was due. More from that

wonderful choir and the Paraorchestra later on. There they

are, look, yes! Making their presence felt. They're in reception

and we can hear them from here, which is marvellous. It's not just

that. Also, we have Mary Berry's Christmas Cake Clinic coming up. If

you have a question for Mary about your Christmas cake, don't be shy

and e-mail it to us. Jennie, you have a question already.

I do. Lots of questions. As we look forward to the holidays, very easy

to forget that just a few weeks ago vast swathes of the UK were under

water after a deluge of rain and apparently there's more on the rain.

Malmesbury in Wiltshire walgz one of the -- was one of the worst hit

towns. The community of Malmesbury holds

the title of the oldest borough in Britain, created in 880AD by Alfred

the great. Recently this town has become famous for a less desirable

reason. After days of rain, the river Avon burst its banks and

caused the worst flooding this area has seen in 70 years. I'm now off

to meet Jennie, whose house was the most affected by the floods. She's

going to show me around and show me what devastation happened to her

home. It actually reached the top of the big and. It started then

coming over the wall. It's ruined everything out here. This is the

line on the wall where the water got to, here. We come in this door

and we have our dining room here. This is where we all sit at

Christmas. We decorate this and my children like it decorated in the

same fashion, so we hang things from the beams. They always want it

the same. We put the tree in the same place and make it really

Christmasy. It's absolutely ruined. Yes, it is. It has caused chaos in

our lives. Jennie is not the only one who had Christmas plans

disrupted. The local amateur dramatic society had a battle to

save this year's panto, an important event in the community.

Tell me a bit about what happened. It came so quickly, that was the

thing. And in the mid. Night. could see it was a torrent. I held

onto the rails along the side here and came through. It came up to top

of my thigh level. You don't know what you're stepping in. We didn't

know whether the man hole out there was a man hole. You could have gone

down the hole. I knew we had to get everything out of here, the set,

costumes, everything. Other-wise we'd have lost it and we wouldn't

have done pantomime. How much impact would that have had on the

community? It's part of the run up to Christmas. It would have been, I

think it would have been devastating. Just next door, the

local football club have not been so lucky. Phill and Julie, who run

it voluntarily were already struggling to keep it afloat.

the worst stage it was virtually up to your waist in the middle of the

pitch. The club hasn't got a lot of finances behind it. We just

couldn't afford to be shut. Tell us a bit about the damage that was

caused here. The doors are damaged. The walls are damaged. Will the

insurance cover it? No, there's no insurance, not for flooding. We

have to find the money for it. I don't know how. What does that

imply? The first team playing has to have showers working or else you

can't play the game. So we will not be open then. That means no money

coming in. I'm really worried. While the football club are left

saving themselves, Tom and Carol, who run the nearest pub to the

flooding, were helping save others. It came up to our front door. It

was coming across the road and it was coming out in waves and going

into the houses. They waded through the water and it was freezing. It's

not surprising that people were a bit shocked. We gave people teas

and coffee and anything they wanted to warm people up, put the heating

on. Do you think the floods coming so close to Christmas has affected

the mood in the town? It hasn't helped the people because they had

to move out of their homes. It's probably not a very good Christmas

for them. They've lost some property. At least they've still

got their health, I suppose. Each other. And each other. That's

terrible isn't it. Jennie you were saying that you had problems in

Cornwall recently. Yes, I feel for them. There was water in a utility

room and started to move it up and I was thinking no it's getting more

and more. There was an open pipe had come into the room from outside,

which is a higher level. It was just pouring through. I looked at

it behind the boiler and then had to do like the little girl in the

dyke put the thumb in and stop it. When you're trying to fight nature

it's very scary. That's right. Fortunately it did stop the hole.

Then we found out where it was coming in the back of the house. If

we hadn't been there it would have been through the house, carpets,

everything. Poor people have been suffering a lot. As we saw there,

it has not been the best of build ups to Christmas in Malmesbury.

Angellica is there now. I'm here at Malmesbury Town Hall

where there's fun and excitement in the air, because through those

doors there, the good and great of Malmesbury community have come

together to get into the festive spirit. They've had three hard

weeks, but they felt it important that they come together. That's

correct. The community have been fantastic over the last three weeks.

The victims have been rehoused. Everybody has pulled together.

Through the help of the community, organisations and yourselves, we've

thrown a party for them this evening. Everybody is in great

festive cheer. Go and have a pince pie and save me one. Heather

Shepherd is here from the national flood forum. Some of the issues

that were faced here aren't unique. What can other communities do who

are at risk in the future? Best thing to do is form a flood action

group to work in partnership with agencies and authorities to reduce

your risk and the national flood forum can help support you do this.

If you're watching at home now and you think you live in an area at

high risk, what can you do? Look on the Environment Agency's website.

Check out if you have flood warnings directly available. Sign

up for them to get warnings on your mobile and your text. How can you

come up with a comprehensive flood plan? By the community getting

together. They can think about what volunteers there are in the

community, how sandbags could be stored... So there's lots of ways

that can be helped. Yes. Excellent. Thanks guys. Come back to us where

the party will be in full swing. We have a special guest who Mary might

recognise who has brought in a lovely cake.

Somebody Mary might recognise. exciting. Talking of lovely cakes,

Mary you've brought cake. I can't go anywhere without it. I had the

messages. It's lovely. What's this one? This is my mother's. It's a

treacle spiced sponge. It's a traybake, which is so easy to do.

It's easy to cut up and you're dying to taste. We are dying to

taste it. Shall I chop it. Mum used to make a lot of traybakes from

your book. Are you all right kneeling down there? I'm quite

happy. What other recipes that were your mother's are in the book?

slipped in her bread and butter pudding because I love it. It's not

one of the fancy chef ones you know lots of cream and brioche, it's as

it should be, just bread and enormous amount - don't mind my

fingers. This is like a Christmas party this. Perfect. And Matt has

actually been baking himself this morning. This is the thing, I got

lost in your baking Bible. That's where all these recipes are fro

from. I had a go this morning with my three-year-old daughter at

making the chocolate and vanilla making the chocolate and vanilla

marble cake. I wanted that moment on the Bake

Off when you cut it open. Doesn't that look professional. My wife

said to me, make sure you cut it into slices so Mary doesn't see how

much of a mess you've made of it. Shall I do a real Bake Off thing. I

must cut it across. I'm intrigued. It's cutting through. Will there be

a marble effect? Look at the top, the zig zagging. And he hasn't only

done it with milk chocolate, but plain chocolate. Then we look and...

I don't believe it. Is that ments to look like that? Skhactly. --

skhractly. APPLAUSE

-- exactly. You managed it very well. That's very good. It's

beautifully baked. Shall I look underneath? No soggy bottom. Look

at. That brilliant. Your mum must have been relieved that you went

into baking because you were a bit of a naughty girl at school.

think she was very relieved because you know, Latin and maths weren't

very good. In fact they were non- existent. So when it came to, at

school you were divided, you either did Latin and maths or the dimmest

did domestic science. Then when I went to class, we had this

wonderful teacher, a little, short lady Miss Date. Instead of people,

you know my teachers always saying "You can do better. That was no

good." She was saying, "That was good. "I -- you took the things

home. Dad, when I brought treacle pudding home, he said "This is as

good as mum's." It all started like. That it's all to do with the

teacher. It is. You started in -- starred in your first film at 11

years old. Did you ever think of doing anything else or was the

career path that you chose? then. I enjoyed it. By the time I

was 15, 16, I was having to make decisions because I couldn't really

study and do it, so I carried on with the career. Which is a stupid

move to make really. Because you don't know what's going to happen.

But it worked out. After school you did your exams and those

qualifications, but then you wents to people's houses and teached them

how to make Victoria sponges working for the electric board?

first job was with the electricity board. We were called home service

advisors. If you bought a cooker, you had the option of having

somebody like me come to your house in a little Ford Popular, that was

fun because I didn't have a car, you sat up and begged to drive. It

I would take the ingredients for the cake and I would make it in

front of them and tell them how to do it. It was a good thing.

long did you do that for? I was there three years. Then I made this,

I wasn't allowed to go to London until I was 21. I was dying to get

there. Then I moved on to a job in London.

That was good practice to do demos. We have to talk about the Bake Off.

It's a phenomenal success since it started in 2010. You and Paul have

distinctive styles when it comes to Just don't. Isn't he unkind.

That ginger cake is over baked. least there is no soggy bottoms. We

have lost the wine. Are you sure you didn't have a little tipple

before you started? I don't like that at all.

I think you have made something that looks wonderful and tempting

to eat... But taste disgusting. The taste is not very appealing.

APPLAUSE It seems you are never off the

telly. You have got a series of your own coming up next year I will

have. I am doing 2-1 off programmes on my life and then I am going to

do real cooking, the sort that I do for my family and that will be six

programmes and it will be Mary Berry Cooks so I can cook and bake.

And when can we expect to see that? I am not too sure. I think it will

be after the Bake Off, I hope. Indeed, something to look forward

to. You have to try my cake. Mary'sbible is out now.

Some people buy mince pies and party food. I mean I condition

believe it. I -- I can't believe it. I mean, I was shocked to hear the

news. Out of interest, if you did want to go out and try some of

those off-the-shelf Christmas goodies, how do you go about

knowing which ones to choose? Well, you could open the box in the

you could open the box in the supermarket and try one!

Ah, Christmas, all those delicious goodies waiting to be devoured. Of

course, Christmas can be expensive and times are tough, I want to find

out are the luxury ranges always best? I am setting out my own The

One Show stall with the help of the visitors here I am going to find

the best mince pie, the most glorious mulled wine and the

tastiest canape. There is a lot of mince pies here.

Only the best will make it on to my stall. So I have already

shortlisted what I think is the topic in three supermarket priced

categories, that's budget, mid- range and luxury.

I am not going to be giving the game away, we are going to be

asking people to judge things on taste and appearance. We We won't

tell them which is which and we will keep the score and by the end

of the za, we might have -- day we might have winners.

I prefer the first one. You chose the Morrison value range.

You are a cheap date, mate! You went for the Lidl. There we go.

And it is German. It is probably more authentic.

This one. I suspect it is the cheaper one, is it? No, it is the

most expensive. A party is not a party without a

canape, so we have got posh M&S, mid-range Sainsbury's, and our

cheapest, Morrisons smoked salmon bites. Would you like a canape?

Nice but not as nice as the other ones.

So you have gone for the ones in the middle? Yes.

The mid-range, Sainsbury's. Bring on the mince pies, Britain's

biggest supermarket, Tesco expects to sell 39 million of them over the

festive period. My top three are going down well in Winchester. The

upper upper cust option is M&S, from Waitrose it is the cheaper

Christmas all butter mince pies and the least expensive, Aldi's.

You have gone for the luxury M&S mince pies and you have gone for

the Aldi own brand. You went for the M&S luxury range.

Of course. I could see by your shopping bag,

you are that kind of woman. So to the moment of truth, which

will be crowned Winchester's favourites?

The winning mince pie was M&S's ultimate all butter. Winchester's

favourite mulled wine was Tesco Premium.

And our canape choice was M&S, Salmon and asparagus blanket. It

was close, but all three winners were from the premium ranges, so

for most people here today, you do get what you pay for. Merry

There we are, yes and we will pick up on that point that you finished

on Jake, because it was close almost disappointed that the

premium ranges did win out, but there was a strong showing for all

the products particularly for the value ranges and the med ranges,

more people chose the premium, but it was across-the-board.

And we have one more taste test. We are eat ago lot on this show, but

it is Christmas. Which Christmas cake is the best now. We have three

different Christmas cakes. We have three different Christmas

cakes from different price points. There is one at �6.99 and one at

�13.50 per per 2lbs. I don't want to say which is which. So we have

to pick the favourite? If you are shopping in cheaper places, does

that mean you will get a lower quality in ingredients? What you

are paying for is a range. When you go into one of the big supermarkets,

tell have 10 or 15 Christmas cakes and if you go go into the

discounters, there will be one. Less of the branding and the

marketing. A lot of what you pay for in supermarkets is branding and

marketing. Ladies, have you tried all three cakes.

I'm going for that one. Mary? going to agree with you.

That one. There will not be much left for me.

All four of you have gone for that one? I like the nuts.

As you cut through, there are proper big pieces of nut in there

which I enjoy and they will be be soft and big pieces of cherry. I am

interested in the hole in the middle. Perhaps it went down.

I think it is a design feature. We will get to which one that is.

You have got the sign nearest to you, Matt.

This is Aldi's holly veil, their own range, and it is �6.99 and

that's a good bit of cake. It is good value.

This is dear old Betty's and it is �13 for 2lbs. There is a lot of

marzipan and icing on that one. All of you went for the mid-range which

is Sainsbury's rich iced fruit cake. So what it has shown us, I tried

cakes from across the range, these were my favourites at all the price

points. You have gone for the the mid-range which shows what I know!

Jay, thank you. Have a very nice Christmas lunch. I am sure you will.

We have got Mary's Christmas Cake Clinic. The questions are coming in

thick and fast. The One Show has been behind the

scenes at one of the most important events taking place in year in the

build-up to Christmas. We are not talking about

preparation for the Queen's Christmas speech. This is even

bigger. We are talking - the school nativity play!

# It is beginning to look like Christmas #

We have selected a nativity play which is called It's A Baby. We are

excited to be doing that in Battlefield. Good afternoon, boys

and girls. Good afternoon.

Boys and girls, do you all know why we are here today? Yes.

We are here as the big first casting for our school nativity. I

wanted to be Mary when I was younger and never quite made the

part. I was too competitive. Which characters do we need to have

in our nativity play? The inn keeper.

We need an inn keeper. I could pick many of them to be Mary and Joseph

or the inn keeper King Herod.

Is he a nice man, Stella? No. he is not a nice man at all. It is

the first year that we have had the choir involved in it and I am

hoping they will get as much out of it being P6 and and P7 this year.

I want to show people that I can sing.

It will be brilliant to be able to be part of it. I would like to play

the nar rator. The last time I didn't get a good

role. I was a shepherd and I got to say, "Ba.". Most people know we are

brother and sister because we are talkative.

If I get to be a narrator, that would be cool.

The song choices are really, really hard.

All the children call me auntie, I'm Hazel's auntie and of course,

auntie has stuck ever since. When an angel came before, as she bowed

her head he said... I bring you good news. You are to have a baby

boy. In your job as a teacher, you are a character and often you have

to keep this character going within your teaching as well. We are going

to do the casting for the nativity. Ladies, who do we choose for the

inn keeper? We have decided on a few from each of the classes that

would be strong personalities and confident. I see Louis as the per

effect inn keeper. He is so confident and he would sing his

heart out for it and learn the lines. Absolutely.

Louis, would you like to stand up, please?

Louis, we would like you to be our inn keeper.

APPLAUSE Mary and Joseph, we have got Louis

who is from my class for inn keeper. Ella in your class is really

confident and she would remember her lines and things like that,

wouldn't she? Mary needs to know what to do and when to do it.

I think Ella would be good. My mum knows about things because

she goes around the world a lot. Ella, would you like to be Mary? Up

you stand then. APPLAUSE

Joseph, that's a big - well, I know Vicky can't be with us now, she

suggested from her class, Michael? I think I might be somebody that I

want to be. Joseph. Right, so the next thing we need to do is

organise our narrators and our soloists. The brother and sister, I

think there is a really nice bond and it would be really nice to see

them up there narrating. I just hope it is a huge success and the

children get up on stage and have a ball.

Ah, it is exciting stuff. It is a three parter this. We have

rehearsals tomorrow and the performance is Friday. I'm so

pleased. They are so excited.

I am chuffed for that lad with the long hair as he was the shepherd

last year and he got to say ba. Do you remember your first

nativity? We used to have the same nativity every year P. Did you have

to work your way up its roles? Everybody Wanted to be the angel

Gabriel. So you had to express through

movement. There was no speaking? Not too much flapping either, but

there was a lot of Allah lay lieuia. Now, if you were in a nativity play

back in the day, we want to see your photo and we would like to

though what your best line was or maybe your best dance or whatever.

My line was beguile, beguile, which means shepherd, shepherd.

Sen them in -- send them in. Millions Jenny, will be tuning in,

of course, Christmas night to see Call the Midwife the Christmas

Christmas Special and the birthing scenes are realistic so how then do

you go about filming them? How do you get babies that look brand-new?

It takes a day and you have lots of rehearsals before and for the

babies they have to book them in advance because you want them days

old... There is a booking service for mums Yes. Then they don't

arrive on time so you have got to book more than one and they might

arrive early and the baby is a month old.

I am guessing they are second babies. First time mums would they

be up for a day's filming? Some are first time mums, they must have

some association with the show or people on it so they feel relaxed

and twins, it is good if you can find twins because, of course, they

are smaller and plus the fact that you can actually exchange the

twins... LAUGHTER

Yeah, yeah. Exactly. Of course, you work with Miranda. She was saying

how nice it is for her to do something serious, I bet she is a

bit joky on the set set? You know what she is like. She is great fun

to be around. She has a nativity play in the special.

We showed that clip last week. There is some wonderful photographs

from it in the book that we have got as well which are really

terrific. There is lots of Christmas Christmas stuff in it.

We have got an early Christmas present for all the Call the

Midwife fans out there, this is a clip that hasn't been seen ever

before. Here it is. It is a hard time of year to spend

too much time alone. Can you tell me where you live? We can send

someone to look in on you to make sure you are you are being properly

taken care of. Shoe doesn't look well. Old age,

poverty. APPLAUSE

Many people are really excited about the episode on Christmas Day.

There was a familiar face there. Yes, Sheila Reid.

I am sure she loves that line. "she doesn't look well. She is very

old." She looks cleaner in Benidorm!

The new series is back in the New Year. Does it start in January?

Towards the end of January and there is eight of them this time

and there will be all sorts of issues.

Well, if you haven't already made a note, Call the Midwife is on BBC

One at 7.30pm on Christmas Day. Alex, you know what we need to do

now - Call the Midwife! In you come. It is the Big welcome

to Rebecca and Alice who are dressed in 50s midwifery gear. You

look modern even though it was 1950s. We don't usually dress like

this. We are both student midwives. You would see us in a set of scrubs

or our own clothes. Why are you are you dressed in

this? This is the second time we got to wore this. We organised a

big bike ride through Central London which was part of the RCM's

protect maternity services campaign. Midwifery has become a popular

subject for applicants to apply for at university and since Call the

Midwife aired we have seen a 17% increase in the number of

applicants to midwifery places. It is wonderful. We were told that

midwives weren't celebrated. Aalso, you were inspired by the series,

weren't you? It was so magical reading the book and really nice

seeing it brought to life on the screen. How does real life

midwifery compare? Less cycling, but just as magical. It has been

really, really good. Have you had the chance... Each

birth is very important. Sud Suddenly it happens to you and you

never had the experience. I really remembered that. I got to

see a breach birth a few months ago and watching the breach birth on

Call the Midwife really was very present in my head as I was

watching it. Wow, that's incredible.

So there is a shortage of midwives? It is around relationship between

the two. There is a baby boom happening at the moment. More

babies were born last year than in any year since 1971, but the

trouble is that is not the number of babies being born reason being

matched by the number of midwives who need to really safely deliver

them and provide the support and really care and advice that mothers

need during pregnancy and childbirth. We had a loss -- we

have a loss of 5,000 pid wid mifs. -- midwives.

When When will you qualify? Not until September 2014.

It is a wonderful career. Jenny, you will know this, going in and

out of maternity wards, the place is littered with thank you cards

and people are appreciative of the work that you do. You can see that

from the programme what a fantastic celebration of a profession that

has an important role in UK society and services that are provided for

women in the NHS. It is brilliant. Are you a fan, Mary of Call the

Midwife? I am. I know what I will be doing at 7.30pm on Christmas Day.

After the washing up! I'm del delegating it!

Thank you. Now it had a long glittering

history and at this time of year we go mad for it.

No, it is not Cliff Richard, it is tinsel!

There are six days left until Christmas, but if you are anything

like me there are a few things left on your festive to do list, not

least decorating your home with a little bit of seasonal bling.

From the Nordic style to 50s retro and winter wonderland. No scheme is

complete without this stuff. I am going to be taking you inside

a secret world of tinsel, revealing everything you ever wanted to know

about this glittering industry, but hadn't thought to ask!

Let's start at the beginning, tinsel has been around since the

17th century and that means to sparkle.

Fast forward a few hundred years and I am in Tinseltown, UK, also

known as South Wales at an unlikely looking Christmas grottoe. Festive

Productions limited is Britain's only only tinsel factory. They made

enough of the stuff in 2012 to wrap First off, a lot of tinsel here.

Only a few days left to sell it. No-one's going to buy this stuff,

mate. We're manufacturing for 2013. We have gone into production.

You're living next Christmas. You are going to tell me, how does

it work, how do you make tinsel? You take the shiny material and

pass it through. It shreds the material, through the rollers,

where we add wires. We pass it down into the bin. The way I would

describe it then, if you think of a Kandy Floss machine, then it mixed

prot duct which gives you the -- the product which gives you the end

result. What colours go well together? Red and gold. Red and

green. A lot of colours don't work well, if you mix black-and-blue

together on a tree, it looks drab. I've gone for the most garish I can

think of. This is not bad. That is actually nicer than I thought.

That's quite tasteful. I've got enough tinsel now to last me a life

time. So the question is - how to hang it.

I've come to meet Maxine, a woman who has dedicated the last decade

of her life to making our Christmas windows sparkle. What are your top

tips for tinselling? Try and steer clear of more than two colours on

your tree. Always start at the back. Then you just lovely swags that you

can get. Swags? Get this lovely effect if you go up and down.

much would be too much tinsel? would say you wouldn't want more

than three layers. You'd want to finish around about this level.

last question - should tinsel stay on the tree? What about over the

picture frames, window frames, that kind of thing? You get the best

effect when you have it with lights. Wherever you have lights you could

put sin tell and I would say that should always be the tree.

We have a few picture frames with tinsel frame. You can do sin tell

overkill you know. Last time Justin was here, he was talking about the

Leveson Inquiry. Tonight welcome Justin Tinsel Rowlatt. We have made

lovely tinsel broaches leaving the very fashionable ginghamment --

gang ham. I like that. Put it on the table if you like. That's

lovely. I made this myself. This is The One Show tinsel. Have a look.

You made this in couple Brawn. can't buy this in the shops. What

do you mean you make it sni, you choose the colours and you weave

them together. You can produce 25 metres every six minutes. I can't

wait to get home and get swagging. What did you find out then, are we

still a nation of tinsel lovers? put a crack investigative team on

this, spent two days. I'm not joking. He's trying too make it

serious. I'm serious. We looked at all the statistics we could find.

They reckon we spend �2 billion on decorations. We couldn't break it

down to tinsel. There's still a big market for it. There's a lot of

mystery surrounding it. You want the cliter. That's the origins of -

- Glitter. That's the origins of tinsel. Apparently, it was Germany

in about the 17th century they started hanging glittering metal to

reflect the candle light. There's speculation, we spoke to an expert

on 17th century, and she imagined it would come over then. Britain

was interested in German traditions. No evidence of it. We spoke to a

guy who knew about the Victorian Christmas at Windsor Castle. No

tinsel on the tree. I'm pleased we did this item. I know it's

fascinating. An expert on a 19th century home, he looked at hundreds

of Christmas cards. Speculation amongst scholars is that German

immigrants to America brought the tradition of hanging twinkling

stuff. Americans made it into ice kulz around the turn of the last

century and we imported that in 1930. So tinsel is very new.

intrigued. Mary is an expert at decorating a cake, but what is your

tree like? My tree is a real tree. We have them in the bottom field

and cut our own. It is, I'm afraid, in red and silver and my tinsel is

just silver. Just the thin strands? You'd love a bit of this wouldn't

you? No, I wouldn't. I hate it. you want to take it home? It will

go on the mantelpiece and with the cards. My husband is Swedish and we

celebrate a Swedish Christmas. We have the straw decorations and they

do have little gingham dresses on, angels and made of straw. Tip is,

gingham for 2013 actually. That's the inside tip. The only concrete

faggot you've brought with you. fact you've brought with you.

Fashion forward. We'll see you the next time next year. With more

answers. For the people of Malmesbury, 2012 will be remembered

for the worst floods in 70 years, tonight, hopefully there's reason

to be a bit more cheerful. There's loads of reasons to be happy

tonight. Welcome back to the Town Hall. For the past month this has

been the headquarters of the flood rescue operation. Give us a kiss.

Right now, this is where the community Christmas party is being

held. We love party poppers. Now Jennie,

your home was worst hit and worst flooded here. Has this been good

for you tonight? It's been nice for everybody to get together and talk

about everything and see each other and see how we're getting on.

haven't had a chance to think about Christmas, have you? Not really.

We've only thought about sorting ourselves out, finding somewhere to

live and sortding things out in our new homes. Phill and Julie from the

football club, take a deep breath. You've been very stressed. It's

been good tonight. It's been great and it's nice to see the community

together. We've had the news that the mayor is going to give us

something from the flood appeal to help with the damages. That's great.

The football club lives on. Then Tom and Carol, it must be great to

be here. So many people have said you have been amazing. It's good to

hear. We open the doors early in the morning, tea and coffee and a

place to keep people warm. might recognise this fellow here,

it's Ryan from the Great British Bake Off. You've made a cake.

Mary. Today I made fruit berry genoise for the good people of

Malmesbury. Excellent. We have got the Fire & Rescue Service here who

did Stirling work. The Atherstone players too. The panto will go on.

And also, the Malmesbury school choir have said they will sing us

out tonight. That's all from us. Take care.

# Hark, the herald angels sing # Glory to the newborn king

# Peace on earth and mercy mild # God and sinners reconciled

# Joyful all ye nations rise... # They're having a great time. Ryan

from the break off was there - break off? It's bake off. Mary

people want tips because people are pickled with Christmas cake

dilemmas. One thing we have always loved is

your consistence with good quality, fresh ingredients. For chilli, you

need a can of minced beef with onion. All the gravy is here. And a

can of beans. This will go down very well with young people. They

seem to like beans. So good grown up fathers, if he's my husband.

What was going on there, do you remember that? I do. It was when

there was a crisis and you had to do cheap meals. I was asked to use

canned things. That was a bean pot. I've never use aid can of mince

since. My dad uses those ingredients and the same saucepan

even today. I remember that saucepan with all the brown and the

stripes. I loved Judith's outfit, wasn't it nice. She's still lovely.

Lots of people have E-mailed in asking for advice. It's time for...

Mary's Christmas Cake Clinic. Surgery's open. Casualty music is

slightly sin cull. First question from Jennie. I know a lot of people

pick off the icing and marzipan because they don't like it. How

else can you decorate a cake. don't like too dark a cake. Instead

of the Marsy pan and royal icing, just brush over the top with a

little apricot jam and you can little apricot jam and you can

sieve it if you want to. That makes fruit stick. I will put all sorts

of glace fruits. It's a quick finish. If you wanted a marzipan

layer you could have one there. Then you put fruit across the top.

While you're talking, let's have some questions. This is Denise from

Derbyshire. They say, "Our cake is dry and I've been feeding it since

October with brandy, how can I rescue it." How does she know it's

dry if she hasn't eaten it? That's a good point. If it's going to be

dry, you'll just have to go on feeding it. You can't start again.

It might be fine then. Don't worry Denise and Matthew. Saina would

like to know - how can you make a Christmas cake without alcohol, can

you replace it with anything? soak my fruit normally with alcohol

because everybody knows I do like a tipple. You can soak the fruit in

orange juice. Particularly if the fruit is dry. Soak it for 24 hours

in the same quantity as the recipe says for brandy or something and

that will plump up the fruit and it will be delicious. This one might

led on from that. It's from 13- year-old Ash. "I'm planning on

making my first Christmas cake ever, is there enough time to start

soaking my fruit? Absolutely. If you want to soak the fruit, if you

warm the alcohol and just put it over a low heat it will absorb it.

How late can do you it then? When is the last possible? I suppose two

days before Christmas. Remember, when you actually cut it, it is

going to crumble. The reason why we make it ahead is because it firms

disaster, "I forgot to put my eggs in until it had been in the often

for 20 minutes. I beat the eggs and the cake has not risen. Mary, shall

I put it in the bin?" I wouldn't put it in the bin. It isn't the end

of the world. Once it is cooked, pour a little bit of alcohol over

the top, some brandy. Nobody will ever know!

This one comes from Dawn from Bristol. Her fruit in her cake

always sinks to the bottom every year, what can she do? The reason

for the fruit going to the bottom is that the mixture is too slack so

she needs a little more flour in it. You need the fruit to be supported

and if it is the mixture is runny, it will not be so good.

Look at that, Mary, you have done that incredibly well and then you

just put a glaze over the top and it is delicious and it is different.

You have one you made earlier under the kosh.

-- cloth. I didn't know it was under there.

You have finished it. This reminds me of the Bake Off.

APPLAUSE That's perfect. Thank you very much,

Mary. People at home will be grit. Home grateful.

And Jenny, the next cake you eat is your birthday cake. We have a

your birthday cake. We have a special message for your birthday.

Happy birthday, Jenny Agutter, it is Chummy here.

# Happy birthday to you high pressure psh happy birthday to you,

Jenny Agutter # you don't look a day over 59.

Oh, cheeky! That's where we will leave it.

Anyway, many happy returns. Thank you Miranda. Wait until I see

you! The body language and everything.

We have sorted out Christmas cakes, now all we need is holly.

Luckily Ruth know as place where they have been growing it for

hundreds and hundreds of years. At Christmas we do love to bring

the outside idoors, a bit of hanging mistletoe, a tree for

decorating and there is one thing that really transforms a Christmas

pudding into a real Christmas pudding, a sprig of holly on top.

Traditionally used to symbolise the crown of thorns worn by Jesus.

Before the 18th century, holly trees were found in abundance

throughout Britain, but as agriculture changed, they started

to disappear. The one place that is truly the hollywood hills of

Britain is here at in in Shropshire. On these hills, there are around

500 ancient holly trees and most are thought to be three or four

centuries old. For hundreds of years, these trees served a vital

purpose for the people who worked and lived around the hills. John

Hughes is from the Shropshire Wildlife Trust. If you grab a holly

leave, it prickles you. The reason holly is prickly is it is trying to

protect itself from being eaten because it is so tasty and

nutritious. You look at a holly tree and what you you find is the

prickles start to disappear from about seven or eight feet up

because they don't need them up there because we don't have

giraffes to reach up and eat the leaves.

It was the tasty top leaves that were used to feed livestock during

the winter, but not all holly trees are the same. There is lovely red

berries on this one and some of the trees are covered in berries and

some don't seem to have any at all? That's one of the peculiar facts

about holly trees, you have male and female trees. Here we are by a

lady tree, a female tree, she has berries. If there aren't berries,

it is a male. Although bleak and wind swept, this

area had a hidden treasure in the 1800s that attracted people from

far and wide. 24 place was a hive of industrial

activity and people were drawn here for the led mining.

It was said this area had one of the richest sources of Lead ore in

Europe and a number of dwellings appeared. In the early 19th century,

miners were moving into this air ya a trying -- area and trying to fin

somewhere to -- find somewhere to live and little cottages started

springing up all over the place. The cottages were occupied as late

as the 1950s and over the past few years Simon from Natural England

has been leading the way to restore some of them. This is a fantastic

view, I should imagine it was bleak in the winter? It is it is bleak.

There are memories of the snow here on some of the bad winters being up

to the tor to the top floor windows. Yeah, people lived here because of

the mines. It was the largest mine in Europe at one time so they

spread up the hill where they could till a bit of land as well as

working the mines. And that involves a few animals

that you are trying to keep on next to nothing? Yes, it would have been

a few cows and sheep on the hill. And all of these you have got to

keep fed over the winter and and hence the need for the hollies?

it was part of using halfs around you -- what was around you.

Once other types of fodder were introduced the need for holly trees

to feed animals started to diminish, but these holly trees have survived,

thanks to being well looked after. A typical holly tree will live for

100 years and if you carry on cutting them, that might carry on

for 1,000 years and cutting the holly for Christmas is a way of

keeping it healthy. Locals still benefit from the holly

as it is sent to a nearby market to make wreaths and garlands and it

provides the perfect finishing touch for our traditional Christmas

Oh, it started snowing already. We asked you to send in photos if you

were in your school nativity play. Louise Roberts proudly being an

angle aged four back in 1975. Ah, cute. Jenny, would you like to

go next? This is Richard as Joseph. It is over 20 years ago. He was

thrilled to get the part, but it was a non-speaking role.

Ah, you know how that feels. Mary? This is a junior school in

Norwich and it has been sent by Anthony Watson, he is in the centre

at the back. This is Claire as Mary and that was

This is Claire as Mary and that was 30 years ago. Shall we finish off

with Philippa? 1967. There she is in the school nativity and she is

the one next to Gabriil. Well, it is the Kaos Signing Choir for Deaf

and Hearing Children and the British Paraorchestra. Well, things

have changed since we saw you last? They have. I was trying to get the

idea going. Now I have I have got a wonderful orchestra.

So you have played at the closing ceremony at the Paralympics? It was

beyond belief. Then this large audience around the world.

How did the collaboration with Coldplay come about? All credit to

Chris martening, he saw some YouTube footage of the orchestra

playing and he said, "We are playing in the choosing ceremony

and -- closing ceremony and you should be with us.". You left

Coldplay and you moved on to the choir. Hello. So you were in the

opening ceremony of the Olympics. How did all all 84 of your members

manage to keep that a surprise? Well, they did really, really well,

didn't you? Yes. They told their mums and grandmas,

but they kept it to themselves. You didn't realise that you were

going to be featured artists? when we opened the programme, we

were like wow, here we are in between Paul McCartney.

And singing for The Queen? We sang and sign the National Anthem.

Well, listen, you get yourself into position because you are about to

sing True Colours for us. You can download it now.

Thank you to our guests. Thanks to Mary. Thanks to Jenny. Mary's

Baking Bible is out soon. Call the Midwife is on Christmas Day.

# You with the sad face # Don't be discouraged

# The darkness inside you makes you feel so small

# Your colours and that's why I love you

# # So don't be afraid # To let that show

# Your true colours # True colours

# Are are beautiful # I see your true colours shining

through # I see your true colours and

that's why I love you # So don't be afraid to let them

show # Your true colours