Lucy Worsley's Christmas Carol Odyssey

This exciting video explores the history of many traditions surrounding the Christmas holiday and examines their connections to paganism. Viewers will discover the real story of Christmas and be challenged to take advantage of "the holiday season" to proclaim the truth. Find out the truth about: why we decorate the Christmas tree, put up lights around the house, Santa Claus and his magical reindeer Was December 25th really Jesus's birthday? Discover answers to these and much, much more...

Could there ever really be a Christmas without Norman Rockwell? For three generations, America's most beloved and popular artist treated us with his inspiring, fun-loving and wonderfully optimistic portraits of American life. To Rockwell, people were at their best during holidays and Christmas was certainly his favorite. Join Eddie Albert and Ross Malinger (TV's Good Advice) as they host this nostalgic, heartwarming look at the illustrious world of Norman Rockwell. With the help of the magnificent 170 voices of the world famous Pacific Chorale, you'll experience these Christmas scenes springing to life with all the magic and wonder Rockwell originally envisioned. Lift your spirits with this Christmas adventure you'll watch again and again!

A look behind the scenes as the world's most profitable toy maker opens its biggest ever Lego store, in London. Designer Justin's first ever kit finally hits the shelves, and Lego pro Duncan prepares to make the largest model ever - a replica of Tower Bridge.

Taping at the iconic Joe’s Pub inside the historic Public Theater in downtown Manhattan, Joe’s Pub Presents: A Holiday Special will feature a variety of holiday themed performances from acclaimed comics, singers and actors including Bridget Everett, Jo Firestone, Jen Kirkman, Nick Thune and many more. Funk and soul group THE DAP-KINGS will serve as the house band for the evening.

Surrounded by his children, his wife Ethel, and Sammy Davis, Jr., RFK visits schoolchildren around the city, and is every bit the good patriarch and dutiful public servant. But it’s the films’ fleeting, in-between, moments where Pennebaker most precisely hits the mark, offering reflection on the possibilities that Robert Kennedy’s all too brief life foreclosed. Set against the pageantry of a long ago Christmas, the film speaks to tragic contingencies of history lying far beyond the ken of politics that continue to circumscribe the tortured destiny of our country.

On Dec. 5, 1944, American soldiers, led by Harry Stuts, put their guns down for one day and organized a party celebrating the town's centuries-old Saint Nick tradition. Soldiers made hot chocolate from their D-rations, company cooks made donuts and cookies for the children, and 22-year-old corporal Richard Brookins from Rochester, NY played the role of Saint Nick. An emotional and heartfelt story, THE AMERICAN SAINT NICK illustrates how American soldiers and residents of the hamlet were able to bond over a moment in time, creating a tradition that continues to this day.

France, 1914, during World War I. On Christmas Eve, an extraordinary event takes place in the bloody no man's land that the French and the Scots dispute with the Germans…

This Christmas, step into the magical world of The Nutcracker. For the first time in many years, the Royal Ballet has given full access behind the scenes for a landmark 90-minute documentary as they prepare for this season's yuletide production.

Henry II and his estranged queen battle over the choice of an heir.

In 1843, despite the fact that Dickens is a successful writer, the failure of his latest book puts his career at a crossroads, until the moment when, struggling with inspiration and confronting reality with his childhood memories, a new character is born in the depths of his troubled mind; an old, lonely, embittered man, so vivid, so human, that a whole world grows around him, a story so inspiring that changed the meaning of Christmas forever.

Leipzig, December 1734: Christmas brings the Bach family together. The first snow has fallen and the children Gottfried and Elisabeth are delighted about the arrival of their older brothers Friedemann and Emanuel. The Thomaskantor has retired to his music room. Anna Magdalena supports her husband, as there are only a few days left and his latest work, the six-part "Christmas Oratorio", must be finished on time. It is awaited with suspicion by the city council and the gentlemen of the consistory, who have long found Bach's waywardness a thorn in their side and fear that, after the premiere of the St. Matthew Passion a few years earlier, the St. Thomas Church will once again be filled with "operatic" music. With the oratorio, Johann Sebastian Bach hopes that he will finally become court composer in Dresden. And, as always, he demands that all members of the family join forces to help him. But differences of opinion are increasingly delaying the completion of Bach's most famous work.

Everyone thinks of Santa Claus as a magical figure without flaws, but the men who keep his legend alive, real-bearded professional Santas, are nothing like the jolly ol' Saint Nick we've all grown up knowing. In reality, the mall Santa in your cherished children's photo has problems just like the rest of us. Even the jolliest of men fall victim to divorce, job loss, insecurity and even the occasional hangover. 'I Am Santa Claus' is a documentary that follows the lives of five real-bearded professional Santa Clauses as they anticipate and prepare the coming holiday season while showing them for who they actually are flawed, flesh and blood men who feel an overbearing responsibility to protect the integrity of the spotless, untarnished reputation of the "Red Suit."

This short documentary depicts Christmastime in Montreal. The milling crowds, department store Santas, Brink's messengers, kindergarten angels and boisterous nightclubs all combine to make a vivid portrait of the holidays.

In County Durham, England, 1984, a talented young dancer, Billy Elliot, stumbles out of the boxing ring and onto the ballet floor. He faces many trials and triumphs as he strives to conquer his family’s set ways, inner conflict, and standing on his toes in a musical that questions masculinity, gender norms and conformity.

Recreating festivities from Henry VIII's era, Lucy Worsley dresses, eats, drinks, sings and parties like it is 500 years ago - discovering long-lost traditions as well as familiar customs.

This documentary visits cities and towns and captures stunning landscapes along Europe's majestic Danube at Christmastime. Locations covered include Passau, Germany; Salzburg, Oberndorf, the Wachau Valley, and Vienna in Austria; Bratislava, Slovakia; and Budapest, Hungary. Along the way the viewer learns relevant history.

Does the supermarket offer the cheapest Christmas cheer? The Wynne family put the store through its paces, to find out whether it offers the cheapest turkey and trimmings.

A special one-off programme going behind the scenes of preparations for Christmas at the palace. Shows what it takes to bring the magnificent palace to life over the festive season, from cooking traditional Tudor recipes to harvesting mistletoe from the gardens. Joint Chief Curator Tracy Borman also explores royal Christmas traditions through the ages, including gifts from the past.

In 1944 France, an American Intelligence Squad locates a German Platoon wishing to surrender rather than die in Germany's final war offensive. The two groups of men, isolated from the war at present, put aside their differences and spend Christmas together before the surrender plan turns bad and both sides are forced to fight the other.

Every year, tens of thousands don the Red Suit for families, parties and parades, but only a handful of men have reclaimed the connection to childhood magic by turning the portrayal of Santa into a full-time career. They Wore the Red Suit is a documentary featuring the rare individuals who have devoted their lives to keeping that magic alive in the world by actually being Santa Claus 365 days a year.