Whether you call it Christmas, Winterval or just ‘the holidays’, the period between late December and early January is cocoon time: a cessation of work and routine activities. It begins with tradition

Securing a Christmas Number One and performing on Top of the Pops was an achievement for any musician. With old Christmas favourites battling out newer hits, the British public have a history of choos

Angela was in a far-from-festive fix – but her luck changed after an encounter with someone special

A SCROOGE MYSTERY By Andreina Cordani. Zaffre, HN, £16.99 Nearly a year after his life-changing Christmas Eve, Ebenezer Scrooge is still striving to be a better man. He throws himself into festive che

From blow-up snowmen to silly family games – these familiar faces have their rituals, just like the rest of us

This year, as with last, we will be getting not one, but two Call the Midwife specials. And while they are both set in 1971, they will be in very different locations, flipping between the familiar Eas