Christmas Crackers

Barbie dolls in pink battle khaki killing machines in a Christmas animation that cocks a snook at the “Disney Doctrine”.

Santa's on strike! This charming animation for the GPO advises early posting to keep Father Christmas onside.

Nannies and nippers compete with seasoned skaters on a frozen pond near London in this charming wintery newsreel.

An incredibly joyous TV musical about a young woman's search for her long-lost cousin.

The Happy (Christmas) way to save! Santa plugs Premium Bonds in a 'prize-winning' 1950s TV ad.

An animated xmas with paper dog Snap

Meet the animated sci-fi fixer from a strange atomic race who knows the value of Christmas.

Richard Whiteley joins children on the Worth Valley Railway Santa’s Special, while the Haworth Town Band sing On Ilkla Moor Baht 'at.

These Victorian children's Christmas wishes come true in a very special early British film

A classic Christmas carol brought joyously to life in this engaging and colourful Sheila Graber animation, with help from her school class.

Ernie tells Eric to ‘be wise’ and not drive home after their Christmas party

All Richie wants for Christmas is a toy farm – simple. But the world is complicated, disturbing. Happily, he gets more than he bargained for!

WWI recruits apply their training - to a friendly snowball fight

Round Table members parade a giant Christmas pudding in Kingsbridge South Devon and raise money for charity.

A well-acted early version of Charles Dickens' much loved Christmas story, featuring some impressive ghost sequences.

Dorothy Sleightholme, Yorkshire's answer to Fanny Cradock, makes a meal of turkey leftovers in this seasonal offering from the Farmhouse Kitchen.

Dashing through the snow; on a six-horse open plough... The streets are ready for sledging in 1920s Buxton.

A dreamy Christmas advert for Cadbury’s Dairy Milk.

There's no business like snow business for a Hertfordshire health resort, though this swim-suited snowball fight may be taking things too far.

Cartoon advert for BT that will have you walking in the air.

Tommy's Christmas parcels are despatched to the Front in a fleet of trucks.

Can a freshly made snowman survive a hail of icy artillery in this epic Victorian snowball fight?

A glittering assortment of screen stars brings some extra Yuletide sparkle to a charming festive greeting to 1930s cinemagoers.

Christmas is coming and the Norfolk turkey's getting fat...

Chomping alligators, a boomerang throwing kangaroo, a turkey in Turkey, and an angry lion, all mollified by a world touring, bumbling Santa.

Taking the lid off the creative process - of a group of theatrically-minded 11-year-olds as they stage the nativity.

Ho ho ho! The children and staff of St Giles School Croydon enjoy a special visit from Father Christmas himself

A quirky festive message courtesy of a pair of courting camels.

Theatrical shenanigans in London's West End as thespians celebrate a Twelfth Night tradition.

London's famous shopping street is captured just before Christmas in 1971 in this montage with an impressionistic view of all the action.

Britain's first full-length science fiction feature has been restored by the BFI National Archive and given a new score by composer Matthew Herbert, commissioned by the BFI and the BBC.

Ever wondered how your Christmas Stilton is made? All is revealed in this delectable short produced by pioneer Charles Urban.

Heavy snowfall makes Christmas dreams come true for residents across Britain.

Young scamps launch a snowball attack on a hapless bobby.

Treat your kiddies to the latest mechanical wonders, promoted in this festive newsreel item

An eccentric parade of mechanical toys to tantalise 1920s kids - and to remind us that Christmas consumerism is nothing new.

Feathered friends prepare to meet their fate in this seasonal newsreel outing to a Norfolk turkey farm.

A great example of an integrated family of immigrants from different religious backgrounds showing just how Christmas can be enjoyed the traditional way in post-war Britain.

A crew of not-so-lonely lightshipmen enjoy a festive knees-up - 40 miles out at sea - in this heart-warming newsreel.

A lucky schoolboy gets a brand new bike for Christmas in this charming wartime promotional film.

Discover a haunted gem, the earliest film of the Christmas ghost story The Mistletoe Bough. Guaranteed to spook a whole new generation over a hundred years after its creation. With new music by Pete Wiggs of Saint Etienne, commissioned by the BFI.

An animated tale with a Lutheran message that's equal parts Christmas spirit and good old-fashioned guilt

The Royal Marines Band hold a Christmas Parade with Gus Honeybun in Weymouth.

It's the season to eat, drink and be merry in the Tigg household, with feasting and jollity captured in this vivid amateur film.

A thoughtful Christmas message in hope of peace from early in WWII - the absence of loved ones hit hardest at holiday times.

Christmas decorations jostle for attention among thousands of street signs in this amateur exploration of Hong Kong Island’s busy streets.

Moving theatre-set Christmas tale of a former dancer and her child

A heart-tugging moral melodrama with echoes of Dickens' A Christmas Carol.

This family film by eccentric and gifted filmmaker Alan Sidi could well have been made as a demonstration for other families on how to have a relaxed and enjoyable Christmas.

Live music and dancing, party games and more are enjoyed by members of the cine club. For one fellow a cheeky kiss under the mistletoe!

Pedestrians hustle briskly through a snowy George Square in Glasgow, while others stop to gawk at a stricken carthorse.

A rich spinster aunt, the last post before Christmas, and an expectant nephew with a fondness for port spell trouble in this short comic cinema ad.

A decade before the BBC's version of M R James supernatural classic came this chilling version from the North Downs Cinematograph Society

Richly detailed evocation of Hans Christian Andersen's heart-breaking parable.

Poignant scenes of Allied troops enjoying their Yuletide rations at the first Christmas of WWI.

Recruits of Lord Kitchener's 'New Army' parade on Christmas morning.

Sweet and touching wartime cinema appeal for 300,000 London children spending Christmas far from home.

Quirky photo-montage film warning of the perils of drink driving.

"Wise people are hastening to Walton-On-Thames". This inventive ad promotes the Surrey town as the ultimate Christmas shopping destination.

Christmas with a budgie and a Dalek keeps three generations of the family happy.

A teddy bear, a toy telephone, and lots more for baby Gary's first Christmas.

A cautionary tale adds some chill to a drunk’s festive Christmas Eve.

From Santa Cruz to Santa Claus? I feel a song coming on...

It's Christmas 1952 and after the presents, the decorations and the cake are made ready, all generations of the family gather for the big party

Merry Christmas! Anyone up for a game of table tennis to work off the turkey?

A not-so-little variety star shows off his appetite

Women factory workers go full steam to make sure troops on the Western Front have a little tradition at Christmas.

Join at the Yeatman family's Yuletide celebrations with this delightful home movie of their 1937 Christmas dinner.

Oh, you really shouldn't have, but thank you - presents and party hats for everyone at a family Christmas.

A toy banjo and Groucho Marx novelty glasses-and-moustache supply all the fun for the youngest member of the Geck family at Christmastime.

Baby boomers celebrate Christmas with a party at a prefab in post-war Wallsend.

The war rages elsewhere, but the festive season offers a brief escape

It's Christmas in Sidcup in 1963 and the Diamond family - including dancing Nan - open presents, tuck into the turkey and raise a glass – or three

Topical Budget infiltrates a yuletide Aladdin’s Cave.

A stunning record of life in Craig-cefn-parc, Swansea, showing the local mine, the chapel (Pantycrwys), the school and the community.

Debut film outing for Dickens' Yuletide classic

A scene from Bleak House is the first ever screen adaptation of Charles Dickens

Wintry fun as a gang of Victorian boys launch a boisterous snowball assault

Happy festive hockey - just what the doctor ordered for seasonal over-indulgence?

People are interviewed about that perennial question - the cost of Christmas.

As picture-postcard snowfall blankets the world outside, a decorated East London home hosts a festive family Christmas get-together.

Snowploughs are readied to rescue a snowbound train - in one of the most popular of all British Transport Films.

With Beacon Hill, the highest point in Norfolk, just three kilometres away the steep hillside down to the beach at Cromer offered excellent sledging in the 1930s.

John Clague's colourful film captures those last exciting days before Christmas – with Christmas trees and Christmas lights all ready for the big switch-on

A new home and a crisp, dewy Christmas morning marks a fresh start for the Spurr family.

Crowds descend on this temporary skating rink and prove there's plenty of icy fun to be had even if you don't own a pair of fancy skates

Angela Rippon reports on the Women's Institute's pantomime

Free accommodation and festive fun in this period recruitment advert.

Christmas planning on a grand scale in a Lancashire workplace.

A medieval Lord Mayor of London and his famous cat are remembered in rural Gloucestershire.

Chock-full of 60s advert nostalgia, here is the ideal Christmas gift for every lantern-jawed Dad - the Remington Four-Most electric shaver

A little girl’s joy at Xmas in post-war rationing Britain, with the empty pillow case delivering a dolls house, and sledging at the seaside.

Two young children skip school to do their Christmas shopping on Oxford Street.

The once popular sport of Fen Skating, gracefully demonstrated on the frozen expanse of Oulton Broad near Lowestoft.