Her Majesty's Christmas Message.
(See BBC-1)

The incredible world of the famous French underwater explorer and inventor - 55 fathoms beneath the Mediterranean.
Produced by the National Geographic Society and David L. Wolper
Written by James Dugan and Irwin Rosten.
See page 11

The comedy film classic starring Will Hay as William Porter, Moore Marriott as Jeremiah Harbottle, Graham Moffatt as Albert.

Fraud and blustering incompetence, but a trainload of laughter is the order of the day when William Porter takes over as Stationmaster.

Three pieces from the programme danced by the oldest ballet company in the world during their recent visit to The Royal Opera House Covent Garden.

Swan Lake: Act 2
with Natalia Makarova Odette, Sergei Vikulov as Prince Siegfried.

The Corsair
Classical duet
Kaleriya Fedicheva and Yuri Soloviev

Taras Bulba
Zaporozhtse Dance
Vsevolod Uchov, Oleg Sokolov and Alexander Pavlovsky

Orchestra of the Royal Opera House Covent Garden
Leader, Charles Taylor
Conducted by Victor Fedotov and Victor Shirokov
Introduced by James Monahan.
Televised by arrangement with Victor Hochhauser Ltd. and The Royal Opera House Covent Garden

News Review presents the story of the year as filmed by cameramen all over the world.

Home: The Queen and Parliament, Politicians, Seaman, and Car-Workers, The Aberfan Disaster, The Hunt for Roberts and Blake, Radio Pirates and North Sea Gas, Chi-Chi and the Longleat Lions, Miss World and the World Cup

Abroad: The War in Vietnam, The Quarrel between Russia and China, Rhodesia's Year of U.D.I., More Wind of Change in Africa, The New Commonwealth Leaders, The Gibraltar Issue, America's Lost H-Bomb, The Dutch Royal Wedding, The Floods in Italy

Space: The Earth, The Moon, and The Astronauts

With the pictures is a commentary designed to be seen and not heard.

by Richard Wade.
with Dudley Foster and Prunella Scales

It is Christmas Day in the house of Hastings. The time (the 1830s), the place (a suburban Victorian home), and the atmosphere (after the pudding with the children waiting to be entertained) are ripe for father to stun his audience with his knowledge of the world of natural philosophy. It is a world of exploding biscuit tins, unpredictable hard-boiled eggs, singing drainpipes, and enough amateur science to make young enthusiasts reach for their bunsen burners, and mothers for their smelling salts.

The new Sadler's Wells production.

[Box-out]
Die Fledermaus
The new Sadler's Wells production of the ever-popular operetta by Johann Strauss
Cast in order of appearance: [see below]

This is probably the greatest of all operettas for Johann Strauss's music bubbles over with boisterous jollity, like the King Champagne that flows so freely in the finale of the second act. This new Sadler's Wells production was an instant success and BBC-tv outside-broadcast cameras recorded it, complete, at the theatre earlier this year. The romantic waltzes and lively gallops capture the laughing Vienna of the 1870s, and the flirtatious Masked Ball is symptomatic of the moral attitude prevailing at the time. Ava June appears as Rosalinda, Jenifer Eddy as her maid Adele. and Emile Belcourt as Eisenstein her husband.

Tonight at 8.0

in a programme of eighteenth-century music arranged by Ward Swingle.
"With their great joy in making music, they perform Bach with an authentic respect for phrasing and tempo... I find the Swingles excellent". (Yehudi Menuhin)
A shortened version of the programme originally shown on April 23, 1965

and Plunder present a special Christmas night programme
Reminiscences of Childhood with poetry, prose, and film drawn from the BBC Archives.

A film comedy.
Starring Bob Hope
with Joan Caulfield, Patric Knowles