Magic Grandad "Entertainment" or billed "The Pier" on 31 January 2001 which starred Miriam Margolyes as Grandmama. Magic Grandad Magic Grandad was an educational programme which originally aired on the BBC Two Schools section Watch during 1995. The show saw Magic Grandad, played by Geoffrey Bayldon, take his young grandchildren, played by Kristy Bruce and James Moreno, back in time to see historical events and people such as the Great Fire of London or Florence Nightingale. Cheryl Hall also starred in the show as the children's mother. The programme was said to make learning about history "fun for youngsters" and was aimed
Christmas by medium film tax benefits). Before 1962, when "Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol" premiered, true Christmas specials made for TV were either adaptations of stories such as "A Christmas Carol" (with live actors), or the Nativity Story, or episodes of variety shows highlighting Christmas music. They were often hosted by such celebrities as Perry Como, Jane Wyatt, or Florence Henderson. (A notable exception was "The Spirit of Christmas" in 1950, which, although featuring an appearance by Alexander Scourby, who also narrated, starred the Mabel Beaton Marionettes.) This all changed once variety shows began dying out in the late 1980s and Rankin-Bass began producing