Before The X-Factor, before Open Road and before Take That (mks I or II), there was this: Gary Barlow in an amazing jumper on Pebble Mill. Listen out for the modulations, which are not at all smug.
You kind of have to be a fan of 24 to really appreciate this one, but like the best mashups it's clever, funny and extremely well made. You can barely see the joins, even if Jack is wearing several different shirts.
Just over halfway through 'The Daleks' Master Plan', the Doctor and his companions (Steven and Sara, the latter of whom will sadly not come out of the story alive) retire to the TARDIS for a little seasonal bubbly - just before our favourite time traveller, in a rare moment, turns to the camera and adds "Incidentally, a Happy Christmas to all of you at home". The episode has been lost in the BBC archives, but audio still exists - in this extract, some bright spark has animated it, and rather successfully too.
On a visit to Harrods, Mr Bean re-enacts the nativity as only he knows how: with dinosaurs.
Later on in that same episode, our hapless hero gets over-excited on Christmas morning, gives new life to his teddy bear, and shows there's a right and a wrong way to stuff a turkey.
It wouldn't be Christmas without Cliff, and if you had to pick one, it would be this. The usual earnest posturing, the legendary jacket, and lots of swaying. The interesting thing is that this song - which is actually a really good song, whatever its tendency for corn - was originally intended by its creators to be an ironic gesture, delivered as a little matchgirl is thrown outside in the snow. Cliff got hold of it, delivered a sincere and captivating performance, and the rest is history.
Hailing originally from Oxford, Thea Gilmore's quirky brand of folk has enthralled critics and public alike ever since she first broke into the charts back into 2003. It wasn't until two years ago, however, that I discovered her late one winter's night on the Bob Harris show, singing the opening track from that year's Christmas album, Strange Communion. Said album is full of warm, reflective seasonal cheer - a notable highlight is her cover of 'The Stephen's Day Murders' (with Mark Radcliffe, of all people) but it's Strange Communion's hit single that I've chosen to include here - a song that is destined, I hope, to generate as much future airplay as the likes of the Pogues or Slade.
This is basically Marmite. It will either make you vomit or leave you with a warm, satisfied feeling inside. I know some people don't like sentimentality and I know this trends towards the mawkish side of things, but is perhaps for that reason that I like it so much.
Yes, this is one of mine, and that's basically cheating. But at least it's Christmassy.