Original subtitles

Oh, Christmas. Favourite time of the year!

I've got to ask, what are you

putting in the kids' stockings this year?

Because it's chocolate coins,

- oranges... - Lovely. - ..a lump of coal. - What a treat! - Yes.

How about a little bit of gingerbread?

Wow, what a coincidence!

Because we are in Market Drayton, the home of gingerbread.

It's like it was planned.

- Merry Christmas. - Merry Christmas. - Come on.

- You paid for them? - No.

What a treat!

It's said they've been making gingerbread

in the Shropshire town of Market Drayton for hundreds of years.

Everywhere you go, you're reminded of their most famous exports.

And here we are at a gingerbread factory

that churns out tons of the sweet stuff.

In fact, they make four million biscuits every year.

Let's find out how they do it.

Is that all right for sound?

This is a factory full of festive cheer.

- Can I have a cuddle? - Absolutely.

That's the best part for me.

And tonight, we're joining these busy elves

in a grotto of gingerbread gems.

I'm actually sweating.

A magical place of sugar and spice and all things nice.

That looks like raspberry sauce on ice cream.

Yeah, it's called Christmas red.

And for a guaranteed white Christmas...

Oh, wow!

..I'm learning how to make snow indoors.

That is one powerful machine.

And Ruth settles in for a special message from history

for peace on Earth.

This is what Christmas in space looks like.

This factory makes over 100,000 gingerbread biscuits

every week on the run up to Christmas.

And today we're going to help them.

Welcome to Inside the Christmas Factory!

# It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

# Everywhere you go

# Take a look at the five and ten

# It's glistening once again

# With candy canes and silver lanes that glow... #

Oh, look at that!

Oh, that smells like Christmas joy.

- Can you smell that? - Lovely bit of ginger. - Mm.

- Oh, our names on the board. - Oh, look!

Oh, now, look at this.

Those are cute, aren't they?

These are a little work of art, these. These are snowflakes.

# It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas... #

Right. Well, we could spend all day

doing this - just looking at ginger biscuits -

but we've got things to do.

I'm going to go that way. Which way are you going?

- I'm going to go that way... - What? To that wall?

- Yeah. - Right. Go on, then.

Just film Cherry just walking...

Oh, look. Oh, hey! You know, don't worry about that.

We're just trying to make a Christmas TV show here.

You nearly took me out!

This is the Original Biscuit Bakers factory,

and it is busy in here.

It's like Santa's workshop.

Go on, carry on.

They're on the final push to meet the Christmas rush,

producing 20,000 iced gingerbread biscuits every day,

ready to fill stockings across the country.

And I'm going to be following these today,

their bestseller, the Santas.

And don't forget the reindeer.

Oh, I'm not forgetting the reindeer.

Merry Christmas.

Merry Christmas, everyone.

Merry Christmas!

You were too late.

You can't get the staff these days.

Merry Christmas!

I'm kicking things off by heading outside

to ingredients intake

with managing director Gemma Williams.

- Hello. - Nice to meet you. - Merry Christmas!

- Merry Christmas to you, too. - Look at this.

Santa has come early...

And he's bringing one of our most crucial ingredients,

the ground ginger.

Come on and get this unloaded.

Oh, I like that. Assertive.

GEMMA LAUGHS

- Why do you use ground ginger? - Ground ginger,

it packs a real punch.

It leaves a lovely warming taste in the mouth.

So is that the same ground ginger

that I'd have in the cupboard at home?

Yes. And let me show you.

I've got some right here for you.

- Oh, yeah. - There you go. And that's what we use.

Oh, yeah.

That smells like Christmas.

And as the ginger is loaded into the factory,

by the miracle of Christmas telly...

Here we go.

..we've got our hairnets on.

- This is where the start of the magic happens. - Yeah.

The very first stage is making the gingerbread dough.

So in the bowl, at the moment,

you've got a demerara sugar and you've got a granulated sugar.

Why two different ones?

- So the granulated sugar is more of a neutral, sweet flavour. - Right.

The demerara sugar brings the slightly more caramelised taste.

- Yeah. - It's got that extra depth, and the colour there as well.

Once we've got the sugars in, we need to add a fat to it.

- Right. - So we use a shortening,

which we've got, to pop into it, here.

- Shortening. - Yes. - Right. OK.

So this is a mix of vegetable oils.

If you're at home, you were making them with the kids or whatever,

it'd be butter or marge.

We tend to tend away from butter.

We find a lot of people have dairy allergies now.

And so if you'd like to do the honours and tip it in,

that'd be fantastic.

I'd love to. I'd love to.

Look at that.

What this basically does is

when the biscuit's been baked and cooled,

it does make it a bit more of a softer texture for it.

So what we need to do at this stage is then blend these together.

OK.

Lovely. That's what we're paying our licence fee for.

This is what we want -

mixing on the telly.

Don't worry. Everything's better with a bit of Christmas music.

SLEIGH BELL MUSIC

In go the rest of the ingredients.

Bicarb of soda...

That helps the biscuit rise.

And it also gives it that nice sort of texture.

..a secret spice...

Can you smell it?

Woo!

Oh, I don't know what it is, but that

definitely gets the nostrils going.

- Definitely. - Love that. That can go in.

..and finally, there'd be no gingerbread Santas

without the ground ginger.

Can't get enough of that.

It comes from India and contains a compound called gingerol

that activates heat receptors on our tongues,

literally tickling our taste buds.

Already I want to get a finger in there and just give it...

- Oh, love that. - Wait. Wait till it's baked.

- Right. OK. - It'll be a lot nicer. - All right, then.

Go on, I'll do that one.

Blimey! You made that look like it were light!

Right, on there like that?

Oh, yes.

Gingerbread has been a treat since medieval times.

It's even mentioned in Shakespeare

and was often bought at fairs and eaten for good luck.

Let's hope it brings me some today.

I'm baking, I'm cooking, I'm making.

Next in, a mix of water

and mouthwatering golden syrup.

- Gorgeous! Absolutely gorgeous! - Yep.

What does the golden syrup add?

It's that luxury sort of taste you get from it.

It's like those childhood memories. You know at school,

- you used to make, like, flapjacks... - Yeah. - ..and gingerbread men.

- And you had the golden syrup there. - Yeah. Love that.

Gemma's got special childhood memories of gingerbread.

Her mum and dad started the company when she was just a kid.

- Yeah. - So my parents had a bakery to begin with.

So back in those days, as well as gingerbread, we made cakes,

we made bread, we made pasties and all those things.

Can see some pictures over here.

- Who's this little rapscallion? - Look at that.

- Oh, my days! Is that you? - Back in the days.

Oh! Are they ginger?

They are large gingerbread sheep.

I was used as a lovely marketing prop there.

Oh, I love that.

And what started as a small family business,

now employs over 70 people.

Right. That's all mixed up now, Gemma.

What we need to do now is actually store it

in the chiller for 24 hours,

because if you try and use it straight away,

- it's too soft and crumbly. - Right.

It also helps bring out the flavour

of the spices, it infuses more deeply in it.

Send them off. Speaking of chiller,

- you met Cherry earlier, didn't you? - I met Cherry.

She's gone to the biggest ever chill room you've ever seen.

Let's go and get a cup of tea.

For some lucky people,

Christmas means a getaway to snowy Alpine slopes.

But this is Inside The Factory. So, no, I'm not in San Moritz,

I'm in a giant snow factory in Milton Keynes.

This is the Snozone, one of Europe's largest indoor ski centres.

It's a winter paradise all year round.

But how did they create the Alps

slap-bang in the middle of Milton Keynes?

How do you think they make the snow for that slope?

I think they're little bits of plastic.

How would you describe it?

It's not like the snow that you'd get when it actually snows.

What do you think it's made of?

Ice, I guess. I don't know.

It feels icy.

- But then to look at and to ski down... - It feels like snow.

- It feels like snow. - Yeah.

To unlock the mystery of making snow indoors is

the centre's head of snow...

Matt! ..refrigeration engineer, Matt Mackenzie.

- Nice to meet you. - And you.

How do you make an Alpine mountain in the middle of Milton Keynes?

So we've got massive metal plates that run 170 metres

from top to bottom.

Then on top of that, we have an eight centimetre block of ice.

- Wow! - Underneath the slab of ice,

to keep it nice and cold, we've got pipes with glycol,

- which is an antifreeze. - Oh, I see.

So it keeps it really cold all the way through the block of ice.

Then on top of that, we have six centimetres of snow.

So you've got the opposite of underfloor heating.

- You've got underfloor cooling. - Correct.

When the centre was constructed in 2000,

pipes were laid through which the antifreeze

glycol runs, chilled at -10 degrees Celsius

to prevent the ice and snow above from melting.

And thick, insulated walls keep

this giant room at a chilly -4 degrees.

And then two to three times a week, we make snow.

So we're continuously getting rid of old, new, old, new.

And then we've got a lovely new snow for the slope.

But how do they make the snow?

All is revealed when the centre closes

and Matt and his team get ready for a night of snowfall.

First job - smoothing the slope with a snowplough called a piste basher,

which pushes dirty snow into heated pits

where it melts away into the drainage system.

Then, it's time for Matt and me to take a look at his pride and joy.

It's quite a hike, isn't it? This better be worth it.

The snow cannon.

How does this machine produce snow?

So we push water through the hose at a high pressure.

We chill this water to zero degrees.

It comes out of these little nozzles, just like an aerosol.

And they're little tiny balls. And as they travel through

the air, just before they hit the ground,

they turn into little crystals. And that's what makes our snow.

I assumed that this snow would have

- lots of chemicals in it... - No. - ..but it's just water.

- Completely natural. - Can I turn her on?

Let's do it. Press this one.

She's gone green, but we better step away.

OK, fine. Run away.

For the cannon to create a snowy landscape,

the air temperature is lowered to a chilly -10 degrees Celsius.

I mean, look at it.

That is one powerful machine.

As the water meets the freezing air,

it creates a man-made blizzard.

So it's only been on for a few minutes,

and already it's like a winter wonderland.

- It's so beautiful. - I know. It's fantastic, isn't it?

How is it different to the snow on the mountains outside?

Because outside droplets come from the clouds,

they turn into a beautiful snowflake

which looks similar to this.

Beautiful. Look at it up close.

Isn't that gorgeous?

And then, inside here, the snow we make,

it comes out like this.

So it's little droplets.

So instead of being a snowflake, it's like a little snowball.

When it snows outside,

ice crystals fall through the freezing air,

gathering more water droplets,

which freeze to form the snowflakes'

beautiful hexagonal structure.

But here, the cannon creates snow almost instantly,

producing frozen droplets that are more solid than

a natural flake, giving the piste

a denser surface for skiing.

You're actually starting to look a bit like a snowman.

- I am. - Shall we give that a chance to do its thing?

- Yeah. - Let's go and warm up.

# Oh, the weather outside is frightful... #

The snow cannon works away throughout the night...

..taking six hours to produce three tonnes of snow.

# ..snow, snow

# Let it snow, let it snow...

Then, the piste basher comes out again

to smooth it all over.

# Snow, snow. #

And, hey presto!

Our ski slope has been transformed.

Oh, wow!

It's like Christmas morning.

It looks great, doesn't it?

It's perfect.

Isn't that stunning?

Is that it now or is it finished? Is it ready?

Yeah. Really happy with that.

Can I be the first person to ski on this slope?

- Yeah. - No way. Will you come with me?

Well, I can't actually ski.

- What? You don't ski? - I don't ski. No.

My job is to make the snow for you skiers and snowboarders.

We're lucky to have you.

You're a Christmas gift.

Thank you!

I may not make it to the Swiss slopes this Christmas...

..but skiing on brand-new snow

is a fabulous first for me.

Weeee!

There she goes. Always on the piste.

# One sleep to go I'm getting that buzz

# This candy coated Christmas feels like it should

# And bah-bah-bah Bing sings love... #

- Morning. - Morning.

Morning.

Back in Market Drayton,

I'm having a lovely, chilled-out time, too...

Do I put that on here?

- Who's it to, love? - Tracey.

..with my new factory friends.

We can do this on Christmas episodes, you see.

It's a bit more relaxed.

- Merry Christmas as well, because... - Can I have a cuddle?

Absolutely. That's the best part for me.

Oh, yeah, doing the...

- Can you do another one for Tina? - I'm not a machine!

Tell you what,

you don't get this with Ant and Dec. They wouldn't do this.

# Have yourself a merry Christmas... #

While I'm distracting the ladies in the decorating room,

Gemma's grafting.

Feeding the gingerbread paste into a machine called a sheeter.

The dough passes between two rollers,

forming sheets 1 centimetres thick,

that are cut ready to make the gingerbread shapes.

I better catch her up.

- You're all right, Gemma? - You all right? - Yeah. All good.

- You've come to see the next stage? - Yes, I am.

- Yeah. - So, the gingerbread dough

- has been cut into sheets, which gives a nice, flat surface. - Yeah.

And now we're going to create them into Santas.

- OK. - So are you ready to work?

- Yes, I am. - I'm going to pass you some trays in a minute.

- Yes, I am. - OK. Wonderful.

Let's get started.

Here they come.

Oh, yes. Merry Christmas, everybody.

Ey-up. Get on there, you.

This is where I feel pressure here, Gemma,

because as soon as they start, that's it.

- They're not stopping. - They're not stopping.

This is the first time I've seen

the actual Santas coming out.

Weirdly, I know it's because they're not baked yet,

they look quite rough, Gemma.

Yeah, when they come through,

they will start looking a bit like that.

But as it bakes, they create a smooth shape.

Fun festive fact for you, in Elizabethan times,

gingerbread was believed to cure flatulence.

Could come in handy after the sprouts on Christmas Day!

So, they're going in, sheet on top.

They're coming out magic little Santas.

How's that actually happening?

Just lift this up.

Oh.

So, as you can see, we've got

a roller there that's going into the machine.

So the paste is coming through,

travelling on the rollers underneath it.

So it's turning round.

You've got the imprint of the Santa

which then cuts out the Santa shape.

And that can just be taken in and out

- depending on the time of year? - Yeah, absolutely.

You're doing anything else, round

- Halloween, Christmas, whatever. - Yeah.

We've got some different rollers here.

- So these are the reindeers. - Oh, yeah.

Here's his little antlers,

ears, face.

# You better watch out

# You better not cry You better not... #

All right, off to the oven.

# Santa Claus is coming to town... #

240 Santas are loaded onto baking trays

and wheeled to one of two special ovens.

# He's making a list He's checking it twice... #

Inside, the racks rotate to give the gingerbread an even bake.

So there's Santa. Where's his reindeers?

Those are in that oven over there.

Ah! Reindeers are in that oven,

Santa is in there.

For anyone just joining us,

especially the kids,

we're not slow roasting Santa and his reindeers.

Just putting that out there.

Don't want anyone having nightmares.

Ater 25 minutes at 163 degrees Celsius...

..the baked Santas are ready to come out into the cold.

Here they are.

- Now, I've been here a while. - Yeah. - I've been thinking it,

I've not said it out loud.

Can I have a taste?

Absolutely. Go for it.

Merry Christmas.

Oh, I love that.

Oh, they're nice and soft, cos they've just come out of t'oven.

Get on that.

Oh!

Soft with a little bit of a crunch round the edge.

Oh! That's good.

And you get, like, a smooth sort of velvetiness.

- Oh, yeah. - That's coming from the golden syrup.

And you've just the right amount of eating, that.

Are you still here?

Go and film summat.

Do you want one?

Here, go on.

That's your wages for today.

Every day, 20,000 gingerbread figures

are wheeled through here to cool,

and Gemma and I...

There we go.

Perfect.

..have the latest batch.

So the next thing we need to do is take

the biscuits off the baking trays

and put them onto a decorating tray.

Gemma, I've got to be honest.

You were talking, then, I was

totally distracted by that poster with them hands on.

I've never been in a factory where we have to do hand stretches.

Why's that?

- Well, when you're piping on icing all day... - Yeah.

..it can be quite tough on your hands.

So it's good to stretch your fingers out a little bit

so that it's not too much pressure on your hands.

What a job that is being a hand-stretching model.

Well, actually, it's one of our

employees here that did it for us.

- It's Bevs. - Are they hers?

Bev? Bev!

- I'm here. - Get your... Get your hands down here.

Get your hands down here!

- Not just a pretty face. - Right.

Talk us through these, then.

Right. This one's really good.

- Do you want to pray with me? - Yes, I do.

- Spread your fingers. - Yeah.

And then go like that.

- And that's a really good stretch. - Oh!

# When you first took my hand on a cold Christmas Eve

# You promised me Broadway was waiting for me

- # You were handsome - You were pretty, queen of New York City

# When the band finished playing They howled out for more... #

And they do this with the wrist.

- That with the wrist. - That way.

So, you don't realise it,

when you pick your gingerbreads up off the shelves, what goes into it.

- Look at all this. - And it does help.

It really does help.

Right. Let's go.

While I'm limbering up, let's check in on Ruth

who's enjoying a 1960s Christmas.

Lovely this.

Come on, Gem. Off we go.

And for some reason,

she appears to be in a space museum.

For as long as humans have gazed up at the sky,

we have been fascinated by space exploration.

And in December 1968, there was one very special mission

that gave three astronauts a Christmas never to forget.

Who better to reveal this incredible

festive story than Helen Sharman?

- Hello, Ruth. - Hello! - Nice to see you. - Nice to see you, too.

In 1991, she became Britain's first astronaut,

and the first woman ever to visit the Mir space station.

We're meeting at the Science Museum in London.

- You actually have been in space? - Yeah.

So I was in low Earth orbit,

where the International Space Station is now,

actually, about 250 miles above the Earth's surface.

But when you think about going further away

from Earth's orbit, I mean, that is just something else.

In the mid 1950s, the race began to do just that.

The USA and the Soviet Union were engaged in a bitter Cold War,

and both superpowers had set their sights on space superiority.

Still, by 1968, no humans

had gone higher than low Earth orbit.

There was this big race.

America wanted to go to the moon before the Soviets,

and Apollo 8 was the spacecraft that was ready to do that.

Three astronauts were chosen -

Jim Lovell, Bill Anders, and Frank Borman.

Their mission - to be the first

space crew to reach the moon's orbit.

- Ten. Nine. - We have ignition sequence start...

And on the 21st of December, 1968...

..two, one, zero.

We have lift-off.

..Apollo 8 launched.

Apollo 8, you're looking good.

Roger.

Well, this is a command module. Now, this actual one is Apollo 10's.

But for their entire mission,

the Apollo 8 crew spent their time

in this type of a spacecraft.

What? Just this one small little piece.

Yeah. Can you imagine?

Just a few days before Christmas,

they were living, they were sleeping,

going to the toilet, eating.

I mean, everything had to happen

inside this spacecraft.

Back on Earth, people were preparing for a very special Christmas.

As Apollo 8 approached the moon's orbit,

armed with TV cameras, the crew

were tasked with documenting this historic moment.

Oh, my goodness.

So, what? This is inside the module.

Quite fun, isn't it?

So you sort of get an idea of how cramped they were.

Wow!

This is what Christmas in space looks like.

It's taken almost three days to get there,

but they've travelled 240,000 miles to the moon.

And they were getting into the moon's orbit

on Christmas Eve itself.

Then, at 2:34 on Christmas morning,

the astronauts broadcast live to the world.

We are now approaching lunar sunrise,

and for all the people back on Earth,

the crew of Apollo 8

have a message that we would like to send to you.

In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth.

And darkness was upon the face of the deep.

And God said, "Let there be light".

A lot of thought went into what they were going to say.

They knew people all around the world would be tuning in.

We think now it's estimated that about a billion,

one billion people, watched this broadcast.

So about a quarter of all people alive...

- No! - ..in 1968.

Good gracious!

So everybody's getting ready for Christmas,

they're hanging up their stockings, they're doing their thing,

and they're watching the moon from close-up.

What a Christmas!

And Nasa had even provided the astronauts

with their very own Christmas dinner.

Santa Claus brought us some turkey and gravy,

cranberry sauce, grape punch.

Outstanding!

I'm glad to hear it.

Yeah, we're down here eating cold coffee and Bologna sandwiches.

Having gathered vital information for future Apollo voyages,

the mission proved a huge success

while delivering one final Christmas miracle.

As they came around the moon,

there was this most amazing Earth

rising above the surface of the moon.

Like the moon rise, you've got the Earth rise.

Get a colour film, Jim. Oh, that's a beautiful shot.

And it became this iconic photograph.

Bill Anders described it later on

as being like a fragile Christmas tree bauble.

The only part of colour in the whole of this black space.

Wow!

It is such an iconic image that, isn't it?

And I suppose also,

it's not just Earth rise,

it's Earth at Christmas.

And from the crew of Apollo 8, we close with goodnight,

good luck, a merry Christmas,

and God bless all of you,

all of you on the good Earth.

That's the Christmas spirit right there.

Bless us, one and all.

# You better watch out

# You better not cry You better not pout

- # I'm telling you why - Why?

# Santa Claus is comin' to town

# Gather round... #

Do you know what I love about Christmas?

Those unexpected yet thoughtful Christmas presents.

One year, my aunt got me a pink bath-mat,

and I was ten.

A pink... That was my worst present I've ever had.

When I was younger,

- midi hifis had just come out... - Oh. - ..and I was like, "I'd love that."

And I thought, no chance.

Anyway, Christmas Day I was up first thing

straight in the front room, so excited.

Rip the box open,

and it was a Clairol foot spa so...

- # You better not pout - I'm telling you why...

Hoping for better luck this year...

# Santa Claus is coming to town. #

..at this family-run factory,

I've mixed, baked, and cooled Santas and reindeer,

but the gingerbread is only half the story.

Ah!

Naked, these ones.

Nothing on 'em yet.

Yeah. All ready for decorating.

# The kids in girls and boy land

# Will have a jubilee

# They're gonna build a toyland town

# All around the Christmas tree... #

This is where the magic of the factory happens.

The heart of Santa's grotto,

where plain and simple gingerbread shapes

are transformed into colourful Christmas creations.

And to adorn their biscuits,

the factory gets through 30 kilos of icing a day.

Well, that just makes you smile.

The gingerbread is decorated

with two types of icing -

runny royal icing for intricate details

and sugarpaste shapes for larger areas.

# He sees you when you're sleeping

Cherry's off to make the next batch

for our Santa.

It's like Christmas magic in here.

How good do those look?

He needs it for his lovely red waistcoat.

# He's coming to town. #

Her guide to sugarpaste perfection

is baking operative Steph.

Hey, Steph. Lovely to meet you.

So, what's in here?

What are the ingredients?

So we've got icing sugar,

xanthan gum and sugar gum in there.

I know what icing sugar is, but what is xantham gum?

Xanthan gum,

it helps with the consistency and the shelf life.

Xantham gum is a plant-based thickener,

and sugar gum is made from glucose syrup,

sugar, oil, and another syrup called glycerine.

They bind the icing together,

giving it a firm, flexible texture,

perfect to mould into shapes.

We've got a red colouring to add in now.

- And that's just that one over there. - Woo! Can I do the honours?

Absolutely.

- Ready? - Yep. - Red-y? Get it? Red-y!

That is so beautiful.

That looks like raspberry sauce on ice cream.

Yeah, it's called Christmas red

the colour we actually put in.

- Is that done? - That's it none now.

Hey presto!

- Can I touch it? - Absolutely.

That's so thick.

- It is just like modelling clay. - Yes.

So, without this,

Santa would be naked.

So this is a really important element to the biscuit.

It really is.

Fabulous job.

Nice one, Cherry.

My turn to load your icing into this sheeter machine,

where it's rolled out to just three millimetres thick.

Then a stamper cuts out

the waistcoat shapes.

# Santa, baby, just slip a sable under the tree for me

# So hurry down the chimney tonight. #

Santa's waistcoat is ready for some detail,

and for that, the clever factory elves

use the runny royal icing.

It's a mix of icing sugar,

egg white, glucose syrup,

xantham gum

and cornflour, with glycerine

so it doesn't set rock hard.

And if you think royal icing sounds posh,

get this - in the Middle Ages,

gingerbread would sometimes be

decorated with gold leaf.

Not on our budget.

Got to be honest, this is the first

time I've filled a piping bag, Gemma.

Oh, there... Get that in here.

Look at that.

- There we are. - That's it.

You don't want to dribble too much.

Well, story of my life, Gemma.

Gemma herself comes up with the designs,

and the ladies here are wizards

at reproducing them.

They are icing artists.

How long have you been doing that?

I've been here ten years now.

They're quick.

Who's the fastest icer?

Bev. Yeah.

How many gingerbreads

do you think you've iced?

- Millions? - Or billions.

Billions!

Flipping heck!

They're accurate...

Don't know how you get it spot-on every time.

..with the concentration of ninjas.

And today there's a nervous

new apprentice in the house.

Now, we're on to the main stage.

We're going to decorate these

to look exactly like Father Christmas.

Are you ready to give it a go?

Let's give it a go.

Absolutely. And I've got

two experts with me today.

I've got Rachel and Charlie...

- Beautiful. - ..and they are going to show you everything

you need to be able to decorate a Santa.

Right. Let's do it.

OK. So your first part is his face.

Two round, then a little squiggle

- in the middle. - Yeah.

THEY LAUGH

God, that is so much more difficult

than you make it look.

Right. OK.

I tell you what,

I'm feeling it already in me hands.

- You're feeling it? - Yeah, yeah.

Have you done your stretches?

Oh! Oh!

So it's his hands next.

I reckon this is going to be

the trickiest part.

It is a bit tricky.

OK, so squeeze and drag.

Right.

- Squeeze... - And drag.

Squeeze and drag.

Oh, I think I've put ears

where his hands should be.

We've got the hard bit to go yet.

I'm going to do the hat now.

That's it. And then...

Oh, my...

And it doesn't help that I can feel

all the eyes are on me.

I'm actually sweating.

I've never known stress like it.

Mine's got all lumps.

Yours is dead smooth.

- Hello! - Can I have a look?

Which one did you....?

Well, take a guess.

Yeah, I know.

Oh, it's so good. You're a natural.

I don't think she means that.

Well done.

God, you're working hard on that.

Er, there's reindeers be frosted, or whatever.

- Um... - Good luck. - Have a good 'un.

Thank you.

Lovely to see you.

Merry Christmas.

Gemma's family have been in business for nearly 40 years.

Surely one man can't bring it down in a day?

Right. While I get to grips with this masterpiece,

Cherry's down in Cornwall

looking at scented candles.

I'm actually still here.

It's on t'telly, innit?

It's all right. Don't worry about it.

# Dee dee dee da dee-dee. #

This is the St Eval factory near Newquay...

..where they've been making festive candles

for over 30 years...

..using traditional techniques

and cutting-edge technology.

Like the gingerbread factory,

they're in full swing for Christmas.

I'm meeting chief exec Ian Greaves...

- Hi, Ian! - Hi!

..who's overseeing a Yuletide treat.

Can I just thank you so much

for having the best-smelling factory of all time?

- Thank you. And you always go home smelling so nice as well. - Do you?

- Yes. - What are we making today?

Today, we're making an advent calendar.

- An advent calendar. - But not with chocolate, with candles.

The advent calendar contains 24 scented tealights.

So each window has a different scent.

Oh, wow!

These small candles were originally used

to keep teapots warm in Japanese tea ceremonies.

Today, I'm making the scented tealight behind door 20.

- Orange and cinnamon. - Orange and cinnamon.

Warm and tangy, with a hint of spice.

- It's lovely. - Oh, yeah,

that is Christmas Day in a candle.

It is exactly that.

But before we make our festive tealights,

I want to understand the science of scent.

What different things are you looking for

when it comes to scenting a candle?

Well, there's two types of throw in a candle.

What is the throw?

It's how far you can get that fragrance to throw.

So can you smell it close up? Can you smell it far away?

That's the throw.

We talk about a hot throw and a cold throw.

When you walk into the room

and the candle's not lit, you can often smell a candle.

And that's called the cold throw, because it's not alight.

Even before it's lit,

fragrance molecules are released

from the surface of a candle.

When these molecules hit scent receptors in our noses,

we smell the aroma...

..and that effect is enhanced when the candle is lit.

Why does lighting it encourage the fragrance to leave the candle?

When the wax becomes a liquid,

the fragrance can then evaporate much quicker.

We can then smell it from a distance

because it's releasing much more fragrance.

So once you've got that throw nailed,

that scent is all over the place...

- Yes. - ..and it's really gorgeous.

What do you do next?

Down to production, mix some wax and fragrance.

Let's make some candles.

Production manager Jo Shalders is in charge of the wax.

What is this wax made of?

So this is a vegetable mineral blend.

And what is mineral wax?

So, that element of it is paraffin.

It gives us a really good scent throw,

and it's a really clean burn.

The slabs of wax are melted overnight at 80 degrees Celsius,

then cooled to 61 degrees,

ready to add the all-important scent.

Each of our candles has got its own recipe.

This is what we need to make the orange and cinnamon candle.

- Right. Can I? - You can.

The scent is a mix of essential oils extracted

from plants and spices,

plus synthetic fragrance.

Oh, the smell that's coming off that, Jo,

is absolutely Christmassy heaven.

The small tealights contain a high

proportion of scent to achieve

that all-important hot throw.

And after a good mix,

the fragranced wax is sent to the high-tech part of the factory.

This is the pouring line

where all the elements of the tealight come together.

The aluminium cases are loaded onto a computer controlled conveyor belt.

The cotton tealight wick is fed in from a wick reel

along with the metal holders,

which keep the wicks upright.

- The cases come down through here. - OK.

And then this fancy piece of kit

- cuts the wick to the right length... - Yep.

..and then glues it into the case.

Hidden inside this machine,

called a wicking head,

a little dot of glue fixes the wicks in place.

And when they're all lined up and standing to attention,

we're ready to pour our scented liquid wax.

- Please tell me there's a button. - There is a button.

Just this one here.

Oh, how easy! Off she goes.

Gosh, look at this!

It's so beautiful.

The fragranced wax gets released

down into the cups, filling them.

I can see it. Look at that.

22 in a row, all in one go.

That smells absolutely delicious!

The pouring machine dispenses 18 grams

of scented wax into each case.

Over six hours,

a full tank of 250 litres of wax

can fill 14,000 tealights.

So can you now tick December 20th off your list?

- Yes, I can. - Woo!

Only 23 more to go!

All 24 candles of various scents

are hand-packed into the advent calendar...

Winter time.

..ready for dispatch around the country.

Quite satisfying to know that someone's going to open

all these little doors on the run-up to Christmas

and enjoy their Christmas candles.

Happy Christmas, guys. Thank you.

I hope you've got one of those for me, Cherry.

It may surprise you,

but I love a hot soak in the tub

with a scented candle.

Back in Market Drayton,

there's no time to relax

when there are Santas to decorate.

And Cherry's back from Cornwall already.

That was quick.

Gingerbread coming through. Make way!

Thank you so much.

It's her job to decorate our second Christmas biscuit.

Come on, my little reindeer friends,

let's make you fancy.

And, luckily, she's got some expert help from operative Danny.

- Hi, Danny. - Hi. - Lovely to meet you. - Lovely to meet you.

Um, it's very quiet here.

Have you scared everyone off?

Well, unlike the Santas,

we don't decorate these by hand.

We decorate it with a robot.

Oh, my God, you've gone high-tech!

The robot floods the face of the reindeer with royal icing.

Their little ears and antlers

would be too fiddly

to cut from sugar paste sheets.

How quickly can it ice a biscuit?

There's 21 pieces on a tray,

and it takes nine minutes a tray.

- The whole tray? - The whole tray.

So it's really speedy.

Oh, yeah, much quicker than us.

And it doesn't complain about arm ache.

No. Definitely not.

How does it know where the biscuit

is to get the icing exact?

So when it takes the tray in,

it takes a picture with a camera,

and it maps where the biscuits are on the tray,

and it's pre-programmed the design.

So then it will just see where

the biscuit is and trace it on top.

But just when I thought I'd got the easy icing job,

turns out these little fellas also

get their finishing touches by hand.

Serves me right for laughing at Paddy.

Like, twisty round?

Oh. That's weird.

Oh, it looks like a croissant.

OK, OK, this one's going to be great.

This one's good.

Oh, no!

It was because I was talking to you!

He's basically got a nose bleed.

Yes.

Not so easy, is it?

Mine looks like it's been in

some kind of accident.

Oh. She's struggling.

He looks like he's sticking his tongue out now.

These experts can ice a gingerbread in 105 seconds.

I've taken...

..a bit longer than that.

Right, Paddy. Just the last thing to do now.

Create his face for us.

Lovely. Here we go.

I think you're coming into your own now, Paddy.

I'm happy with that one.

He's got his own charm about him there, you see.

He's saying, "I'm not a perfect Santa,

"but, you know, I'll still taste nice!"

Right. So I'm going to take mine two to Cherry

and see how it compares with her reindeers.

- Thanks very much for that. - No worries.

See you in a bit. See you in a bit. Come on, you two.

So it's the ultimate Christmas competition -

Santa versus his reindeer.

But which of us has won the icing crown?

- Ooh! - Let's see yours.

- Can I just say... - Don't you think!

Lovely glazing. Yes.

That was actually... That bit was done by a robot.

We're never going to agree on this, are we?

So let's get the expert eye in.

Gem!

Where are you? Here we are.

- Right, Gemma. - How are you getting on?

- Well, let's have a look. - Whose do you think is the best?

Wow! I think there's some good efforts there.

That is a very good reindeer. It's very close.

- Thank you so much. - Oh, it's a reindeer!

Right. OK.

Unfortunately, I don't think either of them are going to pass

our quality standards.

But you are more than welcome to have them and take them away.

- Oh! - Perfect.

Can I have one of your garden gnomes?

Yes. You can, yes. Yes. Can I have one of your,

- uh, bullmastiffs? - Yeah. There we go. - Thank you.

- How about that? - One each. - Wonderful.

- Happy Christmas. - See you in a bit.

Garden gnomes!

The cheek of it.

Once the icing's dried, the gingerbread is ready to be piped.

We're placing the Santas individually down the flow wrapper.

So each one goes in its own little section.

- Love this. - And it's pushed along.

And it's taking it down to the flow wrapping section there.

The Santas are sealed in their see-through packages

at the rate of 50 a minute.

As we go round,

you'll see them coming out of the other side

- all individually packed. - Yes.

All them little Santas

- off to make someone's Christmas very special. - Absolutely.

Off to stockings around the country.

Beautiful.

- Then it's into the boxes... - Eight in each.

Goodnight, everyone.

..where Santa is united with his reindeers.

Well, Cherry's all right at packing boxes.

But how does she go on with wrapping presents?

Let's find out.

Now, I adore giving gifts...

..but wrapping them is a whole world of pain.

Please tell me that I am not the only one

that leaves my wrapping to the last minute.

You can never find the scissors. You can't find the end of the tape.

There's never enough paper.

And then it looks like this.

There's got to be a better way to do this.

Here to grant my Christmas wish

is expert mathematician Bobby Seagull...

- Bobby! - Happy Christmas.

Happy Christmas.

Ooh. Come in.

..who uses maths to achieve present-wrapping perfection.

Bobby. Welcome to the annual Christmas wrapping disaster.

This is ineffective. There's far too much wrapping paper.

It's wasted.

On this one here, the corners aren't covered

because the paper's too weak.

You're not covering the surface area.

This is a mathematical Christmas disaster.

Can maths save Christmas?

Maths will have to save Christmas.

Definitely this Christmas.

Luckily, I have a whole raft of rolls to choose from.

Think about the paper you're using.

It shouldn't have glitter or that shiny foil

because these are non-paper additives that can't be recycled.

Don't be on the naughty list because of your wrapping paper.

- No, Santa is not going to be pleased with you. - No, OK.

In the UK, it's estimated

we throw away around 200,000 miles

of wrapping paper a year.

So if you can, it's important

to choose fully recyclable paper.

To avoid waste, I'm hoping Bobby's maths

can help me achieve perfectly-wrapped presents.

Let's start with this - a box of chocolates.

Well, maths can definitely help. So if you look at this,

it's a square prism.

It's got a square on one side

and it's the same dimensions all the way through.

Before we begin wrapping,

we calculate how much paper we need to cover our square prism.

So x represents the sides

- of this square... - Yes. - ..and l represents the length.

- Good. - I'm not at one with maths, but I'm following you.

Now it's time to measure.

OK.

The width of the square...

- Yes. - ..is 6cms.

- OK. - Good.

The length is 19cm.

Plus, we have a third measurement

to allow for a 0.5cm paper overlap when wrapping.

OK, so y equals 0.5.

Time to calculate the total area of paper needed.

First, the width.

- All the way round... - Right. - ..there's how many lots of x?

- Four. - So the width of the wrapping we need is 4x plus y.

So 4 X 6 is 24.

Plus the 0.5cm paper overlap.

24.5.

Yes. 24.5.

To work out the length of paper, it's the length of the box

plus one side of the square end.

19 plus 6,

which is 25.

Spot on!

Calculations complete, next, measure and cut.

- That is not enough wrapping paper. - Trust the maths.

We're using paper-based sticky tape

that can be recycled along with the wrapping paper.

Thanks to that 0.5cm overlap, our paper joins up perfectly.

Ta-da!

- I told you. - Look at that! - Nothing is wasted.

Everything is used.

And the same principle even applies

to wrapping a bottle of festive fizz.

Instead of the square at the base,

it's now a circle.

To work out the width of paper,

measure the diameter of the bottle

and times it by a figure known as pi.

And pi is roughly 3.14.

Plus, 0.5cm overlap.

The length of the wrapping is the diameter of the bottle

plus the height.

The classic bottle wrapped and it's beautiful.

Bobby's halfway to saving Christmas,

but can he pass my final fiendish challenge?

Can you deal with the big boss of wrapping?

Which is...?

A ball.

It's difficult to wrap spheres perfectly,

but there is a way around this.

We can actually create a petal-like structure

to wrap around the football.

- Oh, wow! - So you can... So you can have four, five or six petals.

It might take a bit of time to cut out the petals,

but once that's done,

it takes seconds to wrap it.

Look at that!

Santa's smiling all the way to the North Pole.

I can hear the elves singing their favourite Christmas song.

And they're not the only ones humming a happy tune.

With Bobby's help, my Christmas wish

has been fulfilled.

Look how beautiful they look!

I think it's fair to say that you are the saviour of Christmaths.

- Ah! - Look at you! Like a Christmas elf.

Merry Christmas!

That is officially a wrap.

# Merry Christmas everyone. #

I've got to say, that box looked great!

The ball? Not so much.

PADDY HUMS TO THE TUNE OF GOOD KING WENCESLAS

Our boxed-up gingerbread has been loaded onto pallets...

..and it's taken outside where I'm headed,

jacket on, hair net off, to see it on its way.

Oh, loading 'em up! You all right, Gemma?

- Hi, Paddy. - Hello, there. I'm Paddy.

This is my mum, Sarah, Paddy.

Oh, nice to meet you, Sarah!

So you set this business up all those years ago.

Did you imagine it were going to grow into something as big as this?

Because it's very impressive.

Thank you. No, not at all. Absolutely not.

No. We had a little bread shop and, you know,

it's a dream come true. You start a business

and you never expect it to go to where it is today.

And very proud.

And a lot of hard work and a great team behind us.

Hard work pays off. How many gingerbreads are on there?

Well, it was 26 pallets on there, which is just shy of 100,000 pieces.

100,000 gingerbreads waiting to go out

to keep everyone happy around the nation, right?

That's loaded up. We'll close the doors.

Send them on their way.

I'm going to get my colleague out of there, Cherry.

Because no doubt she'll be snaffling up all the gingerbreads.

Merry Christmas.

- Merry Christmas. - Merry Christmas. - Take care.

From Market Drayton, the British home of gingerbread...

..our Santas and reindeers

travel across the country,

ready to drop down the chimneys

of well-behaved biscuit lovers everywhere.

Oh, look at us in the boss's office!

Living the life.

- Nice cup of tea. - Thank you. Mm. - Look at these beauties!

- Do you want one? - I'd love one.

Cheers.

Merry Christmas, everyone. Have a lovely time.

Ah!

# Well, I wish it could be Christmas every day

# When the kids start singing and the band begins to play

# Oh, I wish it could be Christmas every day

# So let the bells ring out for Christmas. #