Diane-Louise Jordan

Discover Christmas presents five heartfelt and educational stories about the meaning of Christmas. Children will learn about the community of Bethlehem, the history of nativity plays, the origin of the Christmas tree, the reasons behind gift-giving, and the story of Christ's birth.

Slice-of-life look at a sweet working-class couple in London, Shirley and Cyril, his mother, who's aging quickly and becoming forgetful, mum's ghastly upper-middle-class neighbors, and Cyril's pretentious sister and philandering husband. Shirley wants a baby, but Cyril, who reads Marx and wants the world to be perfect, is reluctant. Cyril's mum locks herself out and must ask her snooty neighbors for help. Then Cyril's sister Valerie stages a surprise party for mum's 70th birthday, a disaster from start to finish. Shirley holds things together, and she and Cyril may put aside her Dutch cap after all.

Elphida is 30. She has been married for 13 years and has 3 children. She plans to restart her education when her youngest child goes to nursery. Then the nursery is closed. On top of this, her parents are contemplating divorce and want her to act as a go between.

Songs of Praise is a BBC Television religious programme based around Christian hymns which began in October 1961. It is the most-watched British religious television programme. The first edition was broadcast from the Tabernacle Baptist Church in Cardiff, and the series is the longest-running of its kind on television anywhere in the world.