Christmas Special 12 Again

Our 12 Again celebs are visited by the Spirit of Christmas Past.

We'd hear my mum come to the bottom of the stairs and go, "He's been!"

Nothing else matters in December. It's Christmas.

We found out exactly what yuletide memories are made of.

I feel like an adult now. I've bought my mum a Christmas present.

Sausage wrapped in bacon, why's that so good?

It just is.

Feeling festive?

IT'S CHRISSSSSSTMAAAAAAS!

I know HE is!

Have you ever wondered what Christmas is like

for your favourite celebs when they were your age?

What presents did they get?

What Christmas Day telly did they watch?

And what festive music made them move?

Because despite the glamorous lifestyles they now lead,

once they were an excited kid on Christmas Eve, just like you.

This show revisits Christmas for our celebs

and asks them to become 12 at Christmas again.

They're some of the most mega-famous stars in the world of showbiz.

Yes, I like it here.

From popstars to presenters...

I'm Hayley, he's Ricky.

..actors...

SHE SCREAMS

..and DJs, all are hugely successful.

Thank you, fans.

Brilliant!

But when they were kids,

they had the same kind of Christmas as me and you.

..your download for the week ahead.

So let's find out how our celebs felt when they opened that last door

on their Advent calendar.

I know Sam gets excited.

Whoo-hoo!

Christmas when I was 12... Magic.

For any 12-year-old, Christmas is like a dream come true.

Your birthday and Christmas is what I used to live for.

It's like your birthday,

but it's everyone's birthday, cos everyone's sharing it.

It's the most exciting thing in the history of the world.

There's no other way to say it,

you absolutely adore it. You count down to it.

Christmas for me in my household,

has just always been just amazing.

I'm so... He'll tell you.

Still to this day I get so excited about Christmas.

I love the excitement around it. I love going shopping beforehand.

I love putting the tree up. It was a real family thing in our house.

The great thing about Christmas was

you could have a breakfast of chocolate. How wrong is that?

But before that special breakfast

there's the biggest night of the year.

Christmas Eve is my favourite night of the year.

I love that night. It's so magic.

I can't sleep on Christmas Eve. I just sort of lie there,

"Right, Christmas is tomorrow. Just a few hours.

"Couple of hours." It's the one night of the year

where I'm guaranteed to not get a single wink.

It was just magic. Most importantly, Santa Claus, you know?

You just want that to last forever.

Don't worry, Ronan, the magic is just beginning.

Now we know how excited our celebs used to be about Christmas,

but what exactly did they get up to?

Christmas was quite embarrassing for me because

my dad always loved to give out Christmas cards to our friends

and our teachers, but they weren't just regular Christmas cards.

These were cards that had been made from our family holidays.

They were, like, this big.

Strewn across it were all our faces going, "Merry Christmas!"

Teachers loved it. "Oh, that's brilliant! That's so lovely."

"Merry Christmas from the Odubas." "Isn't that nice?" Yeah, whatever.

Me and my brother went Christmas carolling and we raised £60, £70.

And we thought, we're quids in here. Split it 50-50.

We got back and my dad's like, "Put it in the collection tomorrow."

And we were, "Pardon"? "Put it in the Mass collection tomorrow."

And we're like, "Yeah..."

So we ended up having to give it in to the Mass collection next day.

But me and my brother just wanted to cry.

It least it went to a good cause, Cel.

Shame, though. You could have spent it on those all-important presents.

I remember going to my local shopping centre in Bromley.

I was given some money and bought my mum a Christmas present,

and I was like, "I feel like an adult now. I've gone and bought my mum a Christmas present."

I got all my family's presents from the ironmongers.

I remember once I did the whole lot for £3.50.

I got my sister a makeup brush for 49p,

used.

Um...my other sister I got a shoe polishing kit, used.

And I got my mum and dad a set of six tumblers.

All from the ironmongers.

Top shop! What more do you want?

Yeah, Christmas sounds like a blast at your house, Dan(!)

For some it's the anticipation of what lies under the wrapping paper

which is the best thing.

The thing that ruined Christmas for me when I was 12 years old

was my mum, for some reason,

decided that we weren't going to open our presents

until after Christmas dinner. We were going for a lovely walk.

Sometimes it was seven in the evening before I opened my presents.

My friends were phoning up and telling me stuff they'd got

and I wouldn't know what I'd got!

It's still like that. I think she just likes watching me squirm.

For many, though, Christmas is all about inviting their relatives over.

Lots of them.

I've got a pretty big family,

so Christmases are quite big.

I remember once my mum couldn't fit everyone round the table.

We had to get a tennis table

and put everyone round it and my dad had to sit in the corridor

because we've got such a big family.

On Christmas night all my family would be together,

so I took it upon myself - I was always a bit loud -

to start doing impressions and singing

and different things. I put on a whole evening's entertainment and went round with the hat

and everyone put money in the hat, so I ended up with, like, £40

on Christmas night just for making everyone laugh.

And it wouldn't be a proper Christmas

without a serious amount of food.

Christmas dinner as well. Ohh! Glorified Sunday dinner.

The smell of turkey because it used to go on the night before.

That kind of Christmassy smell filled the whole house

and it was just fantastic.

Pigs in blankets.

Whoever first came up with wrapping, essentially, pig in pig,

is brilliant!

Sausage wrapped in bacon, why is that so good? It just is.

Why can't food be like that all the time?

-You wouldn't appreciate it.

-I would.

-You wouldn't appreciate it!

-I really would.

Our Christmas dinner might be turkey with all the trimmings,

but away from home things are often a bit different.

SPEAKS JAPANESE

In Japan, they prefer to celebrate the big day

with fast food-style fried chicken.

Another unusual festive tradition can be found in Iceland.

Instead of Santa Claus, Christmas there coincides with the arrival

of the Yule Lads. They're trolls with names like Pot-Scraper,

Door-Slammer and Window-Peeper.

Sounds a bit odd, doesn't it?

But it's not a joke, honest.

THEY SPEAK ICELANDIC

What's that? 12 Again's the best programme of all time? Cheers, lads!

The Yule Lads enjoy causing mischief for the locals during the countdown to Christmas,

but they also leave presents for the kids,

so they're not all bad.

INTERVIEW IN ICELANDIC

He loves it!

Away from the snow of Iceland,

some parts of the world enjoy hot sunshine at Christmas.

This may sound great, but it's not without its drawbacks,

as one of our celebs discovered when he was a kid.

Christmas, of course, in Australia,

is really, really hot, and I remember getting some chocolates

from Santa and they'd all melted

under the Christmas tree.

They were completely and absolutely melted.

Just all runny and gooey. It was grotesque!

Wow! So our celebs' festive memories are pretty unforgettable.

But what music had them rocking around the Christmas tree?

For some reason the charts at Christmas were always so important.

I used to stay up listening to the radio

wanting to know what was Christmas number one.

I think the Christmas number one needed some jingle bells,

a chorus from a school choir and definitely some fake snow.

Just put sleigh bells in it, you've got a Christmas song.

Apply the winning festive formula,

you're left with a selection box of songs

that provide the perfect Christmas soundtrack.

Last Christmas, by Wham,

must have been around the time I was 12.

I loved that song.

# Last Christmas I gave you my heart

# But the very next day you gave it away #

I think it was, for me, the school disco

and the idea that one Christmas somebody could love me.

# Give it to someone special #

My favourite Christmas song of all time

would definitely have to be The Pogues, Fairytale of New York.

# The boys of the NYPD choir

# Still singing Galway Bay... #

It's just such a good song.

# And the bells are ringing out for Christmas Day. #

Music-wise, the ultimate Christmas tune...

# Christmas time

# Mistletoe and wine... #

Cliff! He's on the money.

There's nothing wrong with Mistletoe and Wine.

# ..Singing Christian rhyme... #

"Logs on the fire, gifts on the tree...

"Time to rejoice in the good that we see."

He's nailed it there.

The big man's nailed it.

# ..The good that we see #

The only song I remember as a 12-year-old

was White Christmas with Bing Crosby.

# I'm dreaming of a white Christmas... #

White Christmas was first heard by the public on Christmas Day in 1941,

when Bing Crosby performed the song on the radio.

It's been a massive Yuletide hit ever since,

selling a whopping 50 million copies.

That makes it the biggest selling single of all time.

I used to do it in school for Christmas carols

and I loved that. I remember singing it all the time, thinking,

"Maybe we'll have a white Christmas this year." We never did.

# I'm dreaming of a white... #

I don't know how he got away with going...

MIMICS BING'S CROONING

Can't stand him!

OH, come on, Chris, where's your festive spirit?

# ..Be white. #

Now, you couldn't talk Yuletide songs

without paying tribute to biggest Christmas cracker of them all.

The only song that comes into my head is Slade.

# Are you hanging up a stocking on your wall...? #

It is the best song. It encapsulates the whole mood of Christmas.

# ..Santa has a ball... #

Merry Christmas Everybody was released in 1973

by glam rock legends, Slade.

It hit the top spot in December

and stayed in the charts well into the new year.

It came straight in at number one,

which was quite rare in those days in the charts.

# So here it is Merry Christmas... #

Every time you hear it, even now, it makes you feel happy.

You know that Christmas is there.

As soon as that song is played it's time to celebrate Christmas.

# It's only just begun... #

It might be a Yuletide classic now,

but Slade actually recorded the song in the middle of summer,

in New York, in the baking heat. How festive!

# Does your granny always tell you... #

Since first charting nearly 40 years ago,

the song is now as much a part of Christmas as the Queen's Speech,

and there's one line that everybody knows.

The most famous part of it, of course, is when Noddy Holder goes,

"IT'S CHRIIIIISSSSSSTMAAAAAS!"

IT'S CHRIIIIISSSSSSTMAAAAAS!

As a kid, that's all you want to hear.

That's what you want to scream to the rooftops.

-That's what you shout when you leave school.

-Absolutely.

-IT'S CHRISTMAS!

-Yes! Come on!

Spot-on, lads. If that's not got you feeling festive, just wait.

Our celebs will be revealing what TV made them put down their presents

and gather round the box at Christmas time.

Christmas TV is great. I still love Christmas TV now.

Even as a young kid I remember laughing my head off.

-The moral of the story?

-# I'm walking in the air... #

Don't make snowmen.

THEY LAUGH

But first we find out who was naughty or nice

by peeking underneath our celebs' Christmas trees

to check on the best and worst presents they ever received.

Being 12 at Christmas,

the thing that's on your mind more than anything at that point,

is the presents.

You wind yourself up and you count down - it's two sleeps,

it's one sleep, and then Christmas morning,

because you've got yourself so carried away,

you can't help but wake up at four in the morning.

You'd hear my mum come to the bottom of the stairs and go, "He's been!"

Meaning Santa.

And we'd run downstairs and there'd be loads of presents

and it was... Ohhh... We still do that.

And what exactly did our celebs get if they were lucky enough

to find that Father Christmas had stopped by?

The best toy,

um, it was probably my electric scooter.

Inline skates had just come out.

I remember that Christmas came and I got them and I was so happy.

It was just like magical, Christmas morning.

The best Christmas present I ever got was a puppy.

We never thought we'd get one, and there in the middle of the lounge

was this tiny golden retriever puppy.

It looked like Simba in The Lion King

as my dad held him up for us to see.

One year I got ALL the Batman toys.

My mum and dad said, "Why don't you take them behind the sofa

"and pretend it's the Bat Cave?" And I went, "Yeah, all right."

So I picked 'em all up in my little hands,

went round the back of the sofa, and what do you know?

The actual Bat Cave right there.

-I screamed the house down.

-Did you?

-Oh, it was amazing.

It was only last year. HE LAUGHS

And of course there's always one particular present

that goes down very well at Christmas.

Nightmare to wrap, though.

The best present I got was my bike.

It was a purple Raleigh bike,

which my dad helped teach me to ride. The weird thing of

you could feel they're holding the seat underneath

and then they let you go and you think they're still holding on

and you're like, "Aaagh!"

Turn the handlebars one way and... Hey, hey!

I hope he kept the receipt.

You cannot beat a brand new bike on Christmas Day,

but they haven't half changed over the years.

Back in the 1950s they were quite serious-looking things.

One Christmas, when I got my first two-wheeler bike,

I remember getting on the bike and falling off

and really hurting my knee badly

and howling my head off.

But by the time we hit the 1970s,

kids were freewheeling around town on the legendary Chopper.

VALERIE SINGLETON: They really are very modern bikes indeed.

I think they're just about the most modern-designed bikes

I've seen for ages.

And when we moved into the 1980s it was all about the BMX.

When I was 12 I got my first BMX, which was a massive deal for me.

And the first day I went out, Christmas Day, I went down the road

and I pulled the front brakes and I went straight over the handlebars,

landed on my head. I'll never forget it.

Since Ronan went head over heels for his BMX, the biggest development

in the world of two wheels has been the off-road mountain bike.

I'm just not entirely convinced by the outfits.

I think of a mountain bike,

like the proper ones that change gears and whatnot,

and I was like, I love this!

Another present that's always a joy to unwrap

is a brand new computer console.

But if you think bikes have gone through a lot of changes,

wait until you see what some of these monsters used to look like.

One Christmas I got a really good present. It was a games console.

Now you'd look at it and go, how did that even work?

And you got these games on cassette

and it took about half an hour to load

-and it made this noise.

-MIMICS MODEM

MODEM SCREECHES

-And when it stopped you knew it had loaded.

-Brilliant.

OK, 1980s computers might not have looked much

but they changed family playtime forever.

Video games were now part of our home entertainment

and in the early 1990s things got even slicker.

Best present I ever got when I was 12 years old

would probably be my Super Nintendo.

I remember opening that box, seeing the logo and thinking,

this is the best thing ever!

The arcade-quality graphics of home consoles just got better and better.

in the mid-'90s.

1994 saw the PlayStation emerge, a console that was such a big hit

over a 100 million of them were sold around the world.

The PlayStation was the best thing ever.

I kissed goodbye to any social interaction for at least a month

because I was constantly playing games.

While consoles improved with every new release,

the other big development was the rise of handheld gaming.

And there was one must-have on everyone's Christmas list in 1990.

That was a good present, though, Game Boy.

I wanted a Game Boy. How come I never got one? I never got one.

-Even now I... I never owned a Game Boy.

-Game Boy in colour.

-It was purple, that.

-Yeah. I had one of them. Broke it.

HE LAUGHS

Threw it at the wall.

Everybody step away from Brazen.

OK, new bikes and computer consoles are always winners at Christmas,

but let's be honest, that's only half the story.

What about things that might've have been better off staying in the shops?

But remember, kids, it's the thought that counts.

One year I got a tea towel

wrapped around a first aid kit.

What?!

Yep. If you're watching, Gran, I love you.

I remember one year getting a book

and it was a bit big.

I started this thank-you letter with "Dear Auntie Betty,

"thank you for my book you gave me for Christmas.

"It's a bit too big so I probably won't be reading it."

The worst ever Christmas present I got was a packet of Scamps crisps

which, bless, she shall remain anonymous, but a great aunt of mine.

One year I got a bottle of ketchup.

Um, that was it.

Not even a big one, a medium-sized bottle of ketchup.

The whole family was bought a tin of tuna.

True.

It wasn't wrapped and we were bought it because the person

who bought it for us thought it would be nice for us all to sit down

and have a meal together.

Someone get Barney a turkey.

Our celebs remember what made Christmas magical for them.

The best thing about Christmas when you're a kid is sitting in bed

with the covers like this, really excited.

You can't really explain that feeling when you open the door

and he has been.

The best thing about Christmas is being with your family.

But first we found out what festive TV they were watching

back when they were kids.

Christmas TV is great. I still love Christmas TV now.

Something about it feels really special.

Gathering round the TV at Christmas is of course

a really significant part of what you do

with your family at Christmas.

Christmas Day in our house

usually followed the same routine.

We'd get up quite late,

we'd have Christmas dinner and, when we were all full,

and feeling like the stuffed turkey itself,

we'd plonk ourselves on the sofa to watch the Christmas telly.

And back in the day,

most of us would have been watching two comedy legends.

Christmas TV - Morecambe and Wise.

Ladies and gentlemen, Grieg's Piano Concerto, soloist Eric Morecambe,

conductor, Mr Andrew Preview.

LAUGHTER

It's like turkey and stuffing.

Right!

TOTALLY OFF-KEY

To do a huge, fantastic, glitzy, glossy Christmas special

with all the celebs!

You're playing all the wrong notes.

In the 1970s, Christmas wouldn't have been Christmas

without Britain being entertained by Morecambe and Wise.

I'm playing all the RIGHT notes...

LAUGHTER

..but not necessarily in the right order.

LAUGHTER

Angela Rippon did a Morecambe and Wise special, of course.

There may be trouble ahead,

but while there's moonlight and music...

When the newsreader got out from behind the desk

and did her high kicking,

she kind of like broke the mould.

I was the BBC's newsreader at that time.

Very serious. That's what you did.

News is a serious business.

And demonstrated that I could dance

and it was a bit of a sensation.

Each year, Eric and Ernie's Christmas Special

was a massive national event.

In 1976, more than 28 million viewers tuned in.

That's around half our entire population.

And they saw a sketch which became a comedy classic.

They were in the kitchen,

and all to do with toast popping out of the toaster,

and them catching it and buttering it and things like that.

It was one of the cleverest routines ever.

My dad never watched that much telly,

but he loved Morecambe and Wise.

He liked proper barrel laughter.

And every year the Christmas Special would be on.

LAUGHTER

I mean, they were brilliant.

Just so... Even as a young kid I remember laughing my head off.

Morecambe and Wise might be the kings

of spreading that festive feeling,

but there's one square in London that not even they can cheer up.

In my house, EastEnders was always the show that used to come on.

It would stop. Everyone would stop what they were doing

and have a watch at what misery was going on in Albert Square.

Are you deaf?! I said no!

I don't care what you said. You've got no right to do this!

Since 1985, EastEnders has done a great job in reminding the nation

that not everyone's happy at Christmas time.

I've had enough of your mouth. Get out of my pub!

EastEnders Christmas episodes are always really, really miserable.

Give it a rest, will you, Kath?

I've had about enough...

'I guess they have to be'

so you can realise how good your life is and how fortunate you are.

Tiffany's Grant's wife, right? Why was he kissing my mum?

Christmas wouldn't be Christmas without a big EastEnders storyline.

-I don't believe this!

-That's my grandchild you're carrying!

-Mum!

-He's right.

-Don't you start!

Do you mind? That's my wife you're talking to!

SHUT UP!

All of ya!

And then in come the drums.

Phil! Get Ricky!

DRUMS

There's your Christmas episode.

Fortunately, for those who wanted something a little bit cosier

than the happenings in Albert Square,

there was always this kid's Christmas classic.

Probably my favourite Christmas film

that gets me in the mood is The Snowman.

The Snowman was first seen on British television in 1982.

It tells the story of a boy called James,

who builds a snowman which magically comes to life.

It has everything you want in a Christmas film, I think.

I don't think we got that much snow,

so having that much snow to make a snowman

and then it coming to life was a nice idea.

And then when he flies, that's the best bit of the film. He's off.

# We're walking in the air... #

I'd watch The Snowman on TV

and sing - # We're walking in the air... #

I was an Aled Jones fan.

Songs of Praise presenter Aled Jones did become famous for singing...

# Walking in the air... # ..when he was much younger.

# We're walking in the air... #

But Aled's version didn't appear in the film.

The song in the film was performed by a choirboy called Peter Auty.

# Far across the world... #

# I'm walking in the air

# A do-da do-da do... do de... #

Who needs words when you've got a brilliant tune

well sung by moi?

Yeah, you're all right, thanks, Ore.

I think we'll stick to Peter's version.

# Children gaze open-mouthed... #

Not only was The Snowman memorable for its music,

it also had a bit of a weepy ending,

which everyone remembers.

It used to make me cry.

-The Snowman did, because at the end he melted.

-Ahh!

And I thought it was horrible.

James goes to bed and wakes up the next morning, snowman melted.

-It's sad, but the moral of the story?

-# We're walking in the air... #

Don't make snowmen.

LAUGHTER

So those were our celebs' best of TV hits,

but what are their best-loved Christmas memories

from when they were 12?

The best thing about Christmas when you're a kid is sitting in bed

with the covers like this, really excited,

and I'd just peer round the door if he'd been to bring me any presents.

You can't really explain that feeling when you open the door

and he has been. All the presents are there.

The best thing about Christmas is being with your family.

As a kid I loved having people round.

Our house was always busy and filled with people.

You get to see all your cousins and everyone your age

and play with all their games and it seemed to last for days.

That was the best thing about Christmas - constant playtime.

Christmas is the same. You've always got your family around.

It's that time where everyone comes together.

It's perfect, because you've got your family and friends there

and you sort of surround yourself

in this world of Santa and flying reindeer.

It's just a really warm feeling.

And when you're young it's a really special time of year.

It's just magical. Nothing else matters in December. It's Christmas.

The best thing about Christmas as a kid, and today, for me,

is the anticipation of it all, the build-up.

For me, Christmas is all about family, isn't it?

Getting all the family together,

playing games, eating far too much food and watching a lot of telly.

It's the magic of it, it's the excitement,

it's the fact that it's al new.

You're learning the traditions, getting the music in your head.

But I'm 32 now and I still love Christmas.

So, what Christmas lessons have we learnt?

Bikes in the 1970s were seriously cool.

They really are very modern bikes indeed.

I think they're just about the most modern-design bikes

that I've seen for ages.

Christmas in Walford is far from merry.

-That's my wife you're talking to!

-SHUT UP! All of ya!

And all you need in Iceland to spread cheer

is a man with a fake beard.

Isn't that right, pal?

-Yes.

-Brilliant.

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd