Christmas Special Blue Peter

We've got a show as stuffed as a Christmas turkey. We skpwroin a big

switch-on street with more than 100,000 street lights. And I'll

take you behind the scenes on my first night at panto. And we'll

reveal the amazing secrets behind the Christmas decorations you'll

Jingle bell jingle bell jingle bell rock jingle bell swing and jingle

bells ring snowin' and blowin' up bushels of fun

Now the jingle hop has begun Jingle bell jingle bell jingle bell

rock Jingle bells chime in jingle bell

time What a bright time

It's the right time To rock the night away

Jingle bell time is a swell time To go glidin' in a one horse sleigh

That's the jingle bell rock I feel festive. Welcome to the Blue Peter

Christmas show. Thank you to members of the BBC

North Choir. And children from the primary school in Cheshire.

Back from panto and I'm here to show you what it's like behind the

scenes. Nervous but fun too. have been getting Christmas cards,

including this hand made one. Thank you very much. And Jake made this

himself, stuck on the snowman and flakes. We life that. Joshua thank

you for your Christmas card. this is the inside out card that we

made on the show a few weeks ago. We don't know who you are. If you

would like to give us a shout we'll mention you. And thank you to

Graham and Jay, saying to Barney, and the dogs and cat. There are

presents under the tree not for us or you, for our pets. It's too

early for presents. You're in the early stages of festivities. I you

have probably put up the tree and Christmas lights. We have

discovered loads of you have been being -- going crackers with the

lights. They have lights on the trees, and reindeers. Only a multi-

coloured snowman. Check out this. Christmas tree on the walls. On a

par, the same as the other one, but it has lights. The most lights

belong to a road on Somerset. 100,000 bulbs on that street. We

went to visit Hareve. Me and my family are crazy about Christmas.

This is what it's liking withing with -- being me. My family live in

a cul-de-sac. We are one of six in our street. In our street we like

to go mad. We cover our house with more than 30,000 bulbs. All use low

snerg LED. We do this every year to raise money for charity. We have

previously raised thousands of pounds. That's my dad. Hello.

These are my mum's famous mince pies. And shortbread. The

shortbread is lovely. I can never stop eating it. It takes a lot of

planning to make our winter wonder land. Here's questions from the

message board. Do you use different decorations every year? Most are

the same but sometimes we change them. We might put different

coloured lielgts in a tree. designs the plans? Me and my mum

and dad sit down and talk about it. We might put stars on the wall one

year, and snow flaibgsz the next. How long does it take? A week

usually to put them up. How do you put them up? My dad goes up a

ladder and clips them to the house. That's all the questions. So, thank

you. Time to get ready for the big

switch-on. A lot of last-minute preparations. We want this year to

be our best display ever. Tonight has been amazing. The lights have

been stunning. The lights look really pretty and they are getting

me ready for Christmas. It's been a great success. I've

never seen so many people down our street. Looks like the evening has

been a great success. I've really enjoyed myself and I think

everybody has done a great job making it happen. I hope you have

enjoyed seeing what it's like to be me. We have got Christmas

decorations and done singing. That means it must be time for a few

presents. This year I'm going to be away for Christmas. I'll take part

in a special trip for Blue Peter. All will be revealed tomorrow. That

means I've got to give Barney the doggie present now. Have you

wrapped this? I would like to say "yes". Please tell me it's not

squeaky! What about cats? This is for Socks. A necklace. A tunnel.

Christmas cracker tunnel. Barney is in there! This is like getting in

the box. I don't Noah how to get it off. You're wearing it well!

Cookie? Look at that. Cookie he likes things that jingle and

japbgle. Cookie! It is about the critics mass spirit. We have got

the tree, and the presents, and the lights. We'll find if the most

magical thing that can happen will happen -- is it going to be a White

Christmas. We can only ask Carol Kirkwood. We're excited about

Christmas. We would like to know is it going to be a white one?

early to say at the moment. We tend to give a good forecast five days

ahead for the following five days. Tune in next week. How much snow

does there need to be to qualify for a White Christmas. Not very

much. One snowflake falling in a specific place during the 24 hours

that are Christmas. It could be Old Trafford, or the Met Office. The

observers will say they have seen one, and they will verify, and say

yes it happened. It's not random. There are people looking out for a

superior snowflake. It's not an official location. It doesn't

count!. How often do we get a White Christmas? When you look at it as a

Christmas? When you look at it as a single snowflake. Not that often.

The last White Christmas 2010 which is great when all you have to do is

play in it. If you have to travel in it, it creates problems. A

single snowflake, we have had that 38 times. Most of us think of it as

lying snow. That's infrequent, in the last 51 years only had it four

the last 51 years only had it four times. I like a thick amount of

snow. Have a lovely Christmas. Thank you very much for joining us.

Happy Christmas to you and your viewers. He will have hours of fun

in there. Barney has not been with us, because he has been in panto,

playing Muddles? Oh no I haven't. Yes you have. Three million see

panto every year. Because I've been away I haven't been able to tell

you what it's like. We have filmed a little behind the scenes. You get

a sneak peak when it was like on the opening night. Christmas is

approaching. Panto is gearing up in the festive season. I'm starring in

snow white and the seven dwafrbzdwafrbz. We have to learn

over 1,000 lines, and dance moves, to entertain people who have parted

with hard-earned cash. For many families panto is the Christmas

highlight. We have to get the performances spot on. Tonight is

opening night. Will we be ready? I don't know, stay tuned.

tradition of pantomime has been around for 2000 years. Our journey

started two weeks ago. It's lucky I have a brilliant cast. Sarah Locke

is snow white. And pats si Kensit is the wicked Queen. I'm playing

Muddles, the court jester, and Snow White's best mate. In a couple of

weeks, we don't have these, we have to learn our times. I should be all

right at this! We're during the read through. Everyone has been

perfect. Muddles what are you doing I don't know, what am I doing?

Something while you're talking? the greatest start. At least I've

got 1 days left. After a week of rehearsing only seven days until

opening night. With deadline looming the whole cast crank up --

for the opening night. Today is an important day. It's a halfway point,

we try and run everything 6 -- we've learned so far. All the

dances and numbers. Today is the first day we put it together. And

the boss is coming to see how we're doing. We open in a week's time.

The pressure is mounting. The next thing is costumes, and we'll get

them working on the set. With the producer watching from the

sidelines. It's not just the cast's performance under scrutiny. Our

director is feeling the pressure. We're on the first run-through.

It's goodish. Quietly optimistic. Ask me in a few days! And And while

by day we rehearse as hard as possible, by night the cast hit the

streets to do their bit to promote the sno show by turning on the

Christmas lights. There are around 300 professional pant miepls in the

UK this Christmas. Tonight we need to attract the crowds to make sure

our show is the biggest and the best. -- pantomimes. After the buzz

of the fuss activities back to reality for the final dress

rehearsal. There's not a lot of time to rehearse. There's a paying

audience in tomorrow night. We're not quite ready. That's what this

is about. Fine-tuning. A few minutes in, and there's a massive

technical problem. You can probably hear, one of the audio tracks has

failed. It should be a backing track with brass and fanfare, but

the computer keeps crashing. At the moment we have three guys playing

music to cover us. All being well by tomorrow we'll fix the computer.

The show must go on. We have a show. A bit rough around the edges as far

as some of the technical sides. Scene changes are rough in act two

but I've seen an awful lot worse. This is it. Opening night. Everyone

has worked so hard over the last two weeks. Will it come together

when it matters the most? Behind the scenes final preparations are

under way. The nerves are starting to show. As the audience files in,

the anticipation is building. There's nothing more to do but go

out and deliver the best show you - Any worries we had, melted away

with our audit ens' laughter. love it. Everyone is smiling and

full of energy. All the long hours and hard work have paid off and I

reckon we have pa fantastic show. What do the critics think of

tonight's performance? Makes me feel jolly. Well done Barney!

done Barney you're great. Thank you very much, we had a great time. We

had fun, the audience had fun. Everyone is smiling. We did it.

Barney was brilliant. Here's to the next 25 million. We really do that

many shows. You look like you have so many laughs. Do you kiss snow

white? No the Prince does that. It's so much fun. We are in the

foyer of media city, it's the only room big enough for the tree. We'll

be inviting a lot of singers to join us in a special performance of

O' come all ye faithful. Look at this. The fa activity scene. Joseph

and Mary, and the Three Kings. And lots of animals. -- nativity scene.

Many believe over 2000 years ago we were given the best Christmas

present in the form of Jesus. have lots of things associated with

Christmas. The nativity scene. And Christmas lights and tinsel and

Holly, why? While you have been away we sent designer Michelle from

I Want My Own Room to a Stately Home to investigate further. I love

Christmas. As well as spending time with family and friends eating

delicious foods and sharing gifts, it's a chance for me to decorate

the house and turn everything sparkly. You might know me from

CBBC's Deadly Art and I Want My Own Room. There's no better time than

Christmas to get inspired. I've come to one of the biggest stately

homes in the UK. It takes 50 people five days to get it ready for

Christmas. If anyone knows how to do Christmas in style, these guys

do. Every decoration has a story behind it. I met up with the head

guide to find out more. A lot of us have Christmas trees, where does

the idea come from. The 17th century, St Boniface used to use

the trees as a symbol, the shape, to represent the holy trinity, the

father, and the son, and the Holy Spirit. Only in the 1840's Queen

Victoria was shown in a family they wanted a tree. How did the

decorations fit in, the fairy lights? A lot of the decorations

came with the tree from Germany, a lot German inventions, the fairy

lights used to be stuck on to the trees, candles with wax. It wasn't

until 1882 the first electric lights. This is a totally different

kind of tree. Tell me about it? This is our wishing tree at

Chatsworth. All our visitors can write their wish on the tag and

attach it to the tree. I'll make my own message. Absolutely! This is up

a beautiful room. So cosy, I feel like we should be sat down telling

Christmas stories. The red and the green you notice at Christmas time.

What is the manying? Holly and Ivy have developed over the years. It

started out pagans who worshipped the earth. They found Holly and Ivy

was beautiful in the winter, when other plants had died. They thought

2 must have a special meaning. The Christians took it on but it found

a new meaning, the red berries shared the blood of Jesus on the

cross, and the thorns, the Crown of thorns. Stphr and the wreath 1234

Came from Ancient Rome originally. The idea was it was a sign of

victory. And the pagans brought in wreath shapes. The Christians saw

it in a different light. They saw the circle meaning ever-lasting

life. I've seen so many wonderful decorations. I would like to get

stuck in myself. Is there anything I can help you with? We could do

with another wreath in the house. I wonder if you would like to join

Mick our gardener and make a new wreath? Definitely! I'm off to make

my own wreath. You're going to show me how to make a traditional

Chatsworth House wreath. Heavy. Chatsworth House wreath. Heavy.

has been soaked for about a minute before we started. The Flora works

better if you only put a thin puncture wound in it. How many do

you do for the estate? About 700. I try and use the bits I am doing to

blend the edges in. When I was a kid we used to make our own, out of

stuff to forage from our neighbours garden or our own garden. What is

next. I'm going to make a traditional with pine cones, and

I'll finish it with variegated Holly and Holly berry. The leaves

are beautiful. Is it looking all right? Really good. Putting me to

shame. That's a traditional Chatsworth wreath. I think with

mine I'll add a couple more things. I've been making Christmas

decorations. Stars Can I put them decorations. Stars Can I put them

in? Yeah, go ahead. A bit of a Michelle twist. I like it. I better

find somewhere to hang it. I'm told there's an empty door inside the

house! Perfect! I had no idea that wreaths came from Ancient Rome.

can come to my house and decorate. You learn something every year.

It's time for our Christmas sing-a- long. This is my favourite Blue

Peter tradition. I used to watch the show as a kid it gives me a

great pleasure to introduce the Salford Salvation Army, and schools

to sing O'Come All Ye Faithful. come all ye faithful

# Joyful and triumphant # O' come ye O' come ye MUSIC: To

Bethlehem MUSIC: Come and behold him MUSIC: Born the King of angels

MUSIC: O' come let us adore him # O' come let us adore hymn

Christ the Lord God of God, light of light

Lo he abhors not the voirg begin's womb

Very God begotten not created Oh in let us adore him

O' come, let us adore him O' come let us adore him clies the

local authority It's a beautiful sound. Now might

be a good time to look back on 2011. It has been a huge year. You joined

then. You have been in balance lay, and came up the quays on a jet sky.

You have walked on a small rope. Lots of you have been in touch

asking about my next challenge. I'll be away for the whole of

Christmas. It will be my toughest challenge yet. I'll need your

support. We can't say thank you enough for watching Blue Peter and