Christmas Night with the Stars

Introduced by David Nixon and starring Charlie Chester with Eric 'Jeeves' Grier, The George Mitchell Singers and The Television Toppers, The Beverley Sisters, Charlie Drake with Dave Freeman, Perry Como, Ted Ray with Kenneth Connor, David Nixon with Sheila Holt, Tony Hancock with Totti Truman Taylor, Alec Bregonzi and Percy Edwards, Vera Lynn with The Lynnettes, Jimmy Edwards with Arthur Howard, John Stirling, David Langford and Jeremy Roughton, Billy Cotton and his Band with Alan Breeze and The Leslie Roberts Silhouettes, Jack Warner with Arthur Rigby, Jeannette Hutchinson, Peter Byrne, Anthony Parker, Moira Mannion and Graham Ashley.

Jack Warner introduces The Barron Knights, The Black and White Minstrels, Roy Castle, Billy Cotton, Dick Emery, Benny Hill, Kathy Kirby, The Likely Lads with Rodney Bewes and James Bolam, Marriage Lines (as 1963), Meet the Wife with Freddie Frinton and Thora Hird, Terry Scott and Hugh Lloyd and Andy Stewart, with the Harry Rabinowitz orchestra.

Seasonal sketches from the casts of "Dads Army", "Look - Mike Yarwood", "The Goodies" and "The Liver Birds", linked by The Two Ronnies and guests.

In December 1994, Hugh and Stephen were tapped to revive an old variety show, A Christmas Night With the Stars, which had not been seen for about twenty years. Their guests included many top comedy acts such as Rab C. Nesbitt, Reeves and Mortimer, Alan Partridge and Alexei Sayle. Footage of old Christmas Night broadcasts was interspersed with the new material. The critical consensus was that the old-fashioned format was really unsuited to the postmodern, ironic tone set by the producers and carried through by hosts and performers, resulting in an uneven program at best.

Michael Parkinson is joined by stars from the music world including Ozzy and Kelly Osbourne, Victoria Beckham, Emma Bunton, Will Young and Busted, while comedians including Jon Culshaw, the Kumars and Ricky Tomlinson provide the laughs - and there are plenty of surprises along the way