A Very British Christmas - Season 1 Episode 03- Kensington Palace
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00:00Light, fancy baubles, tinsel and fairy lights. Job done.
00:06Unless you're decorating this, or this, or this.
00:14There are three things that hold Christmas up at Castle Howard.
00:16Chicken wire, glue gun sticks, and cable ties.
00:20One crack team of Christmas crafters are responsible for bringing the festive season
00:26into some of Britain's best-loved buildings.
00:31The logistics is a little bit more than moving boxes of baubles around.
00:36For Dave. Safety first.
00:39Laura. Ta-da!
00:41Brian and the rest.
00:43Juliana, Eve, Theodora, your end down.
00:46Christmas is a full-time job.
00:48Always get there in the end, through panic or coffee or gin.
00:52This is the bit that no-one ever sees backstage.
00:55Top of the tree.
00:56Cute.
00:57Designer and ex-theatre producer, Charlotte.
01:00How do we feel about buying a kilometre of green lights?
01:03And business partner, former costume designer, Adrian.
01:07If they'd been purchased at full price, it was over £7,000.
01:10Right. OK.
01:11Eight years of Christmas installations just keep getting bigger.
01:15Well, it totally looks like it's not going to fit.
01:18Balder.
01:18I'm just worried about that statue.
01:20And riskier.
01:21Good job! Good job!
01:23Sidestepping priceless antiques and cautious clients.
01:30How can they make an armoury Christmas-y, yeah?
01:34The clock is ticking.
01:35Three, two, one.
01:37To doors opening.
01:39God, it's fabulous.
01:41For Christmas.
01:43Next year's ambition is...
01:46Not to break the team.
01:47On the edge of Hyde Park in London, this is Kensington Palace.
02:05Home to royalty for more than three centuries,
02:08it has over 500 rooms, hosts state ceremonies and is a major public attraction.
02:19This year, it's decided to go big for Christmas and has called in the experts.
02:25We're really excited because this is our, like, first actual royal palace.
02:32And it's going to be very different and, to a certain extent, a bit daunting.
02:36There are many grand apartments at the palace, but this one is particularly special.
02:46It's the birthplace and childhood home of none other than Queen Victoria.
02:51Mantle, arrangement, tree.
02:54A place for living in, rather than a royal showpiece.
02:58Historic royal palaces want it filled with memories of Victoria's treasured winter trips to the seaside.
03:05This is the room where we're imagining departure from the palace.
03:09Central luggage structure.
03:11As if it's sort of getting ready to be loaded onto a carriage.
03:15Adrian and Charlotte have to sprinkle festive magic over ten rooms,
03:20including Victoria's nursery and the Red Saloon.
03:24Grand finale.
03:26Grand finale.
03:28We're making peg dolls in the style of Victoria's own peg dolls.
03:33She had an extensive collection, over 300.
03:35So we imagine that she imagined her seaside pier Christmas scene as little peg dolls.
03:45Christmas in 1800s Britain was beginning to look a lot like, well, Christmas.
03:51The now familiar tree was introduced by Victoria's German grandmother.
03:56Christmas in 1880s Britain was introduced by Victoria's New York City.
03:59This is where we want to present Victoria's tree.
04:03I think for us this is about telling quite an exciting but relatively unknown story that Christmas as we know it today in many ways was born here at Kensington Palace.
04:19Christmas trees were placed on tables.
04:21They weren't left on the floor as we might display them today.
04:24Presents were displayed around the tree, but they were not wrapped.
04:28So it's still relatively vintage in look and feel and I think what's really important is trying to evoke a sense of period authenticity, a real kind of look and feel that is complementary to the historic interiors here.
04:43So the rooms in which Victoria was born, grew up and enjoyed Christmas.
04:47So that's a full arch.
04:49Adrian's checking the plans with Laura from the palace.
04:52On this side of it, there's a floristry archway.
04:55She's got a long list of house rules.
04:58It's quite a small room.
04:59We want to make sure that it is safe.
05:01So the painting here won't need to move.
05:03There'll be enough width here for wheelchair users to come through.
05:07Yeah, I mean, we're probably losing about 10 centimetres total.
05:11Working in historic buildings is nothing new for Team Christmas.
05:18For seven years, they've been installing festive displays in castles and stately homes across Britain.
05:31What is new is the theme.
05:33Previous Christmases have been pure flights of fancy, from Mad Hatter's Tea Parties, the Land of Oz, fairy tales and pirates.
05:45But Kensington Palace has asked for something grounded in historical fact.
05:57And a seaside holiday is hardly the usual Christmas fair.
06:03Charlotte and Adrian have come to Ramsgate to work out what links it with the young Princess Victoria.
06:13I would love to show you where Queen Victoria slept.
06:18Fabulous.
06:18Local historian Clive has brought them to Albion House, where she stayed not long before she became Queen.
06:25Oh, yeah, look at that. It's amazing.
06:33Amazing outlook.
06:34Don't you really get the feel of it?
06:36Yeah.
06:37And I think they might have had, well, they would have had donkey rides on the sands,
06:41and they would have had bathing machines so that people could dip in the sea.
06:46So the Royal Pavilion would not have been here at that time?
06:50That was later.
06:51But she could have looked out and she would have seen the obelisk that was built to her uncle, George IV.
06:58Victoria visited Ramsgate several times in her youth.
07:02As heir to the throne, it offered an escape from the formalities of life at court.
07:07So Ramsgate was more casual in feel to her main childhood in Kensington Palace?
07:16Yes, and she loved it.
07:17She'd had a very difficult childhood, really, because she was going to become Queen,
07:22but that meant that there were factions trying to control her, including her mother.
07:28The Princess's diaries reveal she led a claustrophobic childhood.
07:33She was under permanent adult supervision, had to sleep in the same room as her mother,
07:39and hold hands going up and down stairs, even as a teenager.
07:43Everything was regulated.
07:46It was sort of quite stressful, really, but Ramsgate was relaxed and happy, as it is today.
07:53And Queen Victoria absolutely loved it.
07:55And I think there was a whole, you know, there were all the things which used to happen.
07:58I mean, there were donkeys and Punch and Judy and all these things.
08:02So it was, within the Victorian context, it was fun, you know.
08:09In terms of research, this is not a bad gig.
08:14Your treat for being a good girl by the seaside.
08:17A good girl by the seaside.
08:20But trips here were clearly more than a brief jolly for Victoria.
08:25Her diaries record conversations with fishermen and other local sights and sounds.
08:30They were memories she could conjure up back at the palace.
08:36I think we could go even further with that feeling of her, like, really just wandering the seashore,
08:41enjoying it, picking up pebbles and shells and, like, watching the characters and then rushing back to paint them
08:48and get all the details down about the way they looked.
08:51Like, a real informality of the setting of that room.
08:53Yeah, and it's kind of like a lovely kind of artistic chaos of all the different things and the things she was reading.
08:58Contrast to how the other rooms are feeling.
09:01Yeah, yeah, yeah.
09:01And the contrast of what her room would have been like at Kensington and everything in its place
09:05and everything older and everything, just a bit dull.
09:13It's July.
09:16On an old farm in Yorkshire, Charlotte and Adrian's Team Christmas are gearing up for Kensington Palace's trip to the seaside.
09:24Model maker Mark is starting a miniature of Albion House for the drawing room.
09:32Laura's in charge of a series of grand floral arches
09:36and Dave's welding a support for a suitcase Christmas tree to go in the schoolroom.
09:43This is the kind of dirty steel part that will eventually end up being a beautiful display.
09:50Juliana's helping sort over 60,000 baubles to try to find any that fit the theme.
09:58Anything antiquey.
09:59It's kind of Victoria, but in Regency period.
10:03But I think we're allowed a little bit of artistic licence.
10:06It is Christmas after all.
10:08But the full list of rules has come in from the palace.
10:12It's not good news.
10:14Kensington, zero glitter.
10:16Glitter.
10:19So we've been stock planning decorations for eight years and nothing says Christmas, like a bit of sparkle.
10:26But glitter is not acceptable in these environments because it can get into the carpets, into the collection pieces.
10:33So we have to go for a completely no glitter.
10:36I mean, we can't use these ones, obviously, because of the glitter.
10:38You know, there are some things that are more embellished.
10:43I'm hoping that we might get away with a few of these.
10:46The rules are strict.
10:48No glitter anywhere or on anything.
10:51So, yes, it is the first week of July.
10:58And, yes, I will be going to Marks and Spencer's food shopping tonight.
11:01And, yes, everyone will be looking at me because I'm covered in glitter.
11:06It's just part and parcel of the job.
11:08In fact, I'll probably have to have a full, like, detox several days of showering before I even am allowed to walk into Kensington.
11:17Because it won't just be the decorations, it will be me just giving off glitter everywhere.
11:33Kensington Palace opens its festive display in two months' time.
11:38But Team Christmas is struggling to find baubles that comply with the strict no glitter policy.
11:44We'll start you off with making clear icicles, like so.
11:52Adrian and Juliana have come to one of Britain's last glassblowers to try to make their own.
11:58They're perfect for a scheme for that tree in Kensington.
12:01I'll get the first bubble in for you because that's the most difficult.
12:07And you'll put a pattern in and arrange it.
12:10Tim Simon has been making bespoke glassware for over 40 years.
12:17Right, are we ready?
12:18Yeah, I'm going to go first.
12:20OK.
12:22First, he fetches a gather from the furnace.
12:26A blob of molten glass to dip in fritz.
12:29Powdered colours made of oxidised metals such as cobalt and tin.
12:33Right, now pick it up on the shiny.
12:38Yeah.
12:38Keep it turning and level.
12:41And then plonk.
12:43Like that?
12:44Come on.
12:44No, no, give it some welling.
12:46OK, give it some welling.
12:47Yeah, and again.
12:49There.
12:50And the same in the blue.
12:52In that one?
12:52Yeah.
12:53And over and there.
12:56And then into the glory hole.
12:58Adrian has to heat the gather to over 1,000 degrees,
13:05melting the fritz into the glass.
13:08Right, I'll take over now.
13:09You go and sit down and get the tweezers ready.
13:12Where's my tweezers?
13:13To do the icicle.
13:16Oh, this is exciting.
13:20This is aqua and gold.
13:26Right over, that's there.
13:28Am I right?
13:32Right.
13:34Have I made it difficult for us?
13:36No, no.
13:38Just different.
13:42Go on, keep pulling.
13:46A unique icicle.
13:49And down.
13:51A little bit of tension there.
13:53Keep it straight.
13:54And rattling out.
13:56Yep.
13:59I like that one.
14:00Yeah?
14:00Yeah.
14:01Very unique.
14:03Yeah.
14:05Wobbles became big news in Britain
14:08after Victoria's marriage to Prince Albert,
14:11who introduced them from his native Germany.
14:15Quick.
14:16Well, it's still hot.
14:18Go.
14:19Give it some welly.
14:20At the time, they were all made this way.
14:24Whoa, whoa, whoa.
14:25Not too big.
14:27There you are.
14:28Just a little puff now.
14:29That's fine.
14:30Modern baubles,
14:31a machine blown by the million
14:33and spray painted,
14:35usually with a dreaded dose of glitter.
14:37A little bit more.
14:39Come on, blow, blow, blow, blow.
14:43That's fine.
14:44Adrian and Julianas are going into a kiln
14:47to cool slowly.
14:49Yeah.
14:50It'll be at least six hours
14:51before they're tough enough to handle.
14:53I don't think you could equip an entire tree
15:00in the way that we decorate trees,
15:02which are loaded.
15:03You know, our standard eight-foot trees
15:04have got about 2,000 decorations on it.
15:06Nice.
15:07I think I'd be here for weeks
15:08if I had to create enough baubles
15:13to do the coverage that we would normally do.
15:18This year, Charlotte and Adrian
15:20have their sights set on London.
15:23And they've decided to go big or go home.
15:26As well as the palace,
15:28they're taking a massive gamble
15:29on a second British landmark.
15:34Chiswick House is overseen by English Heritage,
15:37but they're not hiring Team Christmas.
15:40Team Christmas are hiring Chiswick House,
15:43installing a theme of their own
15:45and hoping to make it pay
15:46by selling tickets directly to the public.
15:50It's lovely at Chiswick.
16:05You know, we don't have a client brief.
16:07It's kind of up to us at what we do.
16:09The tricky thing is,
16:11therefore, if people don't like it,
16:13it's all on us.
16:13It's all on us.
16:15Yeah.
16:18They've plumped for the 12 days of Christmas.
16:20This is incredible, this room.
16:22And 12 drummers drumming.
16:23But Chiswick House is small,
16:25as these places go.
16:27So cramming in all the days
16:29will be a challenge.
16:31How are the geese represented then?
16:32One in the hearth,
16:33one off the hearth,
16:36then maybe one under a chair.
16:38What's more,
16:39their hire only covers installation
16:41and Christmas opening.
16:42Measuring tape at the ready.
16:44They won't see it again until November.
16:461, 0, 6, 0, 8.
16:48And another venue
16:49means events manager Joy
16:51has another set of rules.
16:53The tricky thing for us, Joy,
16:56is that because of the intense,
17:00beautiful compactness of the house,
17:03we're really reliant on people
17:05being able to get quite close to things.
17:07Yeah, of course.
17:08And to look at the detail
17:09because we don't want anyone to go away
17:11feeling like they haven't had their money's worth
17:12for their ticket price.
17:14So we would be generally,
17:16apart from the areas
17:17that you traditionally rope and pole
17:19due to valuable furniture pieces,
17:21inviting people to get as close
17:23to things as possible.
17:25My biggest concern
17:26is going to be about wet shoes
17:27coming in
17:28and the extra traffic that comes through
17:30because the house is normally only open
17:31from April to September.
17:34And whilst we do have
17:34the additional things in place
17:36by the front
17:37where, you know,
17:38we'll have matting
17:39and things like that
17:39for people to wipe their shoes off
17:40as they come in
17:41and people explaining that.
17:42But if we do want them to interact
17:43and be able to have free movement around,
17:46is it a case of flooring wall to wall?
17:49But then added costs
17:51As well as nine lavish rooms,
17:57higher includes the outside.
17:59One, two, three...
18:02Four, five.
18:03Four, five.
18:04Yeah.
18:04A giant queen of Christmas
18:05will greet the punters.
18:07But even out here,
18:09there's restrictions.
18:10She'll be about 15 feet tall
18:12and she'll be dressed in foraged greenery.
18:14We would need to run up past the garden
18:16because of bringing in alien species
18:17into the garden.
18:18Right, I see.
18:19Yeah.
18:19OK.
18:26August.
18:27There's now two historic properties
18:29and two sets of rules.
18:34At Christmas HQ,
18:35the team's been briefed.
18:39Silk.
18:41Velvet.
18:41Juliana's steering clear of glitter
18:44by making clothing
18:45for Kensington's pegged dolls.
18:48It's a good drab, really.
18:50That might be nice.
18:52That's what you want.
18:53Oh, yes.
18:54That's perfect.
18:56Dave's avoiding anything organic
18:58with a steel pear tree
18:59for Chiswick's main hall.
19:01I'm marking out where these branches
19:04are going to come off.
19:06Just spacing them fairly evenly.
19:09I'm in danger of overthinking this now.
19:12And Laura's taking no risks either
19:15with her Queen of Christmas.
19:17We're doing a base of faux greenery
19:23and then we will be covering it
19:26with foraged greenery
19:29from the grounds in Chiswick.
19:32The reason why we can't just forage here
19:35and install it
19:36is because the trees are sort of protected there.
19:39So you have to use their greenery
19:42on their grounds
19:42so that we don't cross-contaminate.
19:48London's heritage properties
19:50are proving complicated.
19:52The team needs new ideas.
19:5815 miles south
19:59in the historic city of York,
20:01this is Fairfax House.
20:04A grade one listed building
20:06from the same period
20:07as Kensington and Chiswick.
20:09It's an award-winning museum.
20:11At Chiswick,
20:12they have three rooms,
20:13the red, the green
20:14and the blue velvet rooms.
20:17Charlotte's come to quiz curator Sarah
20:18about what makes it so special.
20:21This is one of my favourite things.
20:22So if you talk to my team,
20:23they're like,
20:24Charlotte does tables.
20:25Oh, really?
20:25I don't do Christmas trees.
20:27I do not go near Christmas trees
20:28or fairy lights,
20:29but I love to do tables.
20:31So that's my thing.
20:31So I'm always looking for ideas
20:33of how you can create a piece
20:34that's, it's that balance, isn't it,
20:36between it not being a mess,
20:38but at the same time
20:39it has to feel
20:40like the energy of the people
20:41that are using it, right?
20:43You do really do it
20:44exquisitely here.
20:47We have to kind of balance as well.
20:48So lots of these
20:49are collection items.
20:50Yeah.
20:51We have to kind of
20:52do a mixture of kind of
20:53displaying these pieces
20:54so they're kind of showcased
20:55because they're part
20:55of our collection,
20:56but also making them feel
20:57like they're objects in a house
20:58that are being kind of used
21:00by the imaginary people.
21:01As they would have been being used.
21:02Yeah, absolutely.
21:04Injecting the Georgian grandeur
21:06with a sense of life
21:07is Sarah's speciality.
21:10Who made these mice for you?
21:11Our volunteers make them.
21:13Oh, do they?
21:13That's amazing.
21:14It's funny because
21:14we're doing it this year
21:15but with peg dolls.
21:17She relies heavily on food.
21:19Even worse than glitter,
21:21it's banned from
21:22most heritage properties.
21:24But you can't eat
21:26any of this.
21:27Getting good replica food,
21:29right?
21:29It's hard.
21:30It's hard,
21:31but you've got some
21:31amazing pieces here.
21:32So where do you source
21:33your replica food?
21:34So some of it
21:35we buy from specialist makers.
21:37Other bits
21:37we dry out ourselves.
21:39You might notice
21:39the bread rolls.
21:40They're kind of
21:40really slowly dried
21:41in our ovens.
21:42Fruit cakes upstairs.
21:43Also, visitors love
21:44the smell of fruits
21:45and vegetables.
21:46It's kind of really
21:47powerful on, you know,
21:48kind of how you
21:48experience the space
21:49when the smell's included.
21:51So we get creative
21:52with how we display things.
21:53Wouldn't be completely
21:54without the pineapple.
21:56At Chiswick,
21:57we are doing
21:58the 12th night party.
22:01You haven't got any
22:01rope and pole
22:02or anything in here,
22:03have you?
22:03A couple of years ago,
22:04we made a decision
22:05to kind of remove
22:06all the ropes
22:06and barriers
22:07so visitors can
22:08kind of navigate
22:08around the spaces
22:09quite organically.
22:10So you do feel
22:11like you're sneaking
22:11around somebody's house.
22:13We love the idea
22:14that the Fairfaxes
22:15have just left the room
22:16and you're kind of
22:16sneaking in
22:17to experience it.
22:18That is something
22:19that we want to achieve
22:21at Chiswick
22:21with a party in motion.
22:23This is just
22:24an exquisitely done example
22:26of what we're
22:26trying to achieve.
22:28With Christmas installation
22:29fast approaching,
22:31Charlotte's found
22:32plenty of food
22:33for thought.
22:34These jellies,
22:35they even wobble.
22:36So if you kind of
22:36wobble the plate,
22:37they've got a good
22:38kind of jelly wobble
22:39to them.
22:40Oh, they look amazing.
22:41It's September.
22:52In eight weeks' time,
22:53the team in Yorkshire
22:54have to take Christmas
22:56to two high-profile
22:58London venues.
22:59As it gets closer
23:00to install time,
23:01it can get a bit manic.
23:03Always get there, though,
23:04through panic
23:05or coffee or gin.
23:07Kensington Palace
23:08is being filled
23:09with the seaside memories
23:10of a young
23:11Queen Victoria.
23:12Her mother
23:13and her governess
23:15and the worst,
23:17most difficult bit
23:18was to make
23:19an organ grinder
23:20and his monkey.
23:23Chiswick House
23:24will be home
23:25to the 12 days
23:25of Christmas,
23:26from partridges
23:27in pear trees
23:28to drummer's drumming.
23:30I am currently
23:31pinning in
23:32one of the
23:33nine ladies dancing
23:34that is going
23:35to Chiswick House.
23:37There's about
23:3716 costumes
23:39we're making
23:40in total for Chiswick.
23:42They'll be
23:42all in different colours,
23:44gorgeous
23:45Baroque-style fabric.
23:46So I just had a chat
23:47with Adrian
23:48and we'll have to
23:48trim off
23:49all the glitter
23:50from these
23:51because it's going
23:52to shed too much.
23:53But strict regulations
23:55at both properties
23:56are making life difficult
23:57and time
23:59is running out.
24:04Adrian's back
24:05in London
24:05on the hunt
24:06for guilt-free
24:07decorations.
24:09So,
24:10ideally,
24:12we're looking
24:13prop-wise
24:14for primarily
24:16anything that can
24:17do the seaside theme.
24:18Yeah, okay.
24:19So anything
24:19that's existing
24:20in this fabulous
24:22secret store
24:23of props.
24:25This is an official
24:28prop store
24:28for places
24:29like the Tower
24:30of London
24:30and Hampton Court
24:32Palace.
24:32There must be
24:33something they can
24:34fish out for Kensington.
24:37What have we got?
24:38I have no idea.
24:40Oh.
24:41Okay.
24:43Glitter.
24:44Glitter finish.
24:45Absolutely not.
24:45Absolutely not.
24:47Back in the bag.
24:48In it goes.
24:50It's just very hard
24:51because there's
24:51so much product.
24:52Even if it's
24:53like a tiny
24:53little detail
24:54you've really
24:55got to stand
24:56and look at
24:57each piece
24:57and just make
24:58sure that it's
24:58passing the
24:59no-bitter test.
25:00A lack of glitter
25:01isn't his only
25:03constraint.
25:04Because it's not
25:04even Victorian.
25:05No.
25:06It's Princess
25:06Victoria's Regency
25:081835 Christmas.
25:10Yes.
25:10Beside the
25:11sea in Ramsgate.
25:12So you couldn't
25:12be in a more
25:13specific.
25:14Now don't ask me
25:15when we've used
25:16this in the past
25:17because I have
25:17no idea.
25:18These I love.
25:20Yeah.
25:20It's got that
25:20kind of nice
25:21vintage-y feel.
25:23These look fun.
25:24And I think
25:25these were used
25:25for the display
25:26around King George
25:27and the Force
25:28Coronation.
25:29Nothing screams
25:29a seaside
25:30than a gold-coated
25:32lobster.
25:34It's a good haul
25:35but there's a catch.
25:39I know that
25:39anything new
25:40that I'm purchasing
25:41prop-wise
25:42we've said
25:42anything in
25:43leather,
25:44wood,
25:44textiles,
25:45paper
25:46has to go
25:47through the
25:47freezing process.
25:48Yes,
25:49yes.
25:49So we have
25:50to have
25:50things frozen
25:51before it
25:51comes into
25:52an interior
25:53site like
25:54Kensington Palace.
25:55And what
25:56does it do?
25:57So it basically
25:57removes any
25:58pests,
25:59anything that
26:00could have
26:00gotten into
26:01the material
26:02or the fabric
26:03that could
26:04then spread.
26:05How cold
26:05is the freezer?
26:06So we would
26:07have things
26:08in the freezer
26:09for two weeks
26:10at minus
26:1121 degrees.
26:12And it's
26:13not just
26:13the new stuff,
26:15it's everything.
26:16So that
26:17would include
26:17any props
26:18that are
26:19here along
26:19with all
26:20the new
26:20stuff?
26:21Exactly,
26:21yeah,
26:21because it's
26:22been taken
26:22out of the
26:22palace.
26:25That's just
26:25knocked two
26:26weeks off
26:27prep time.
26:28It's a bit
26:29of a maze,
26:29isn't it?
26:31The least
26:31the palace
26:32can do
26:32is provide
26:33a tree or
26:34two.
26:35So this
26:36is our
26:36Christmas tree
26:37room.
26:38Our
26:38floristry,
26:39our Christmas
26:39trees,
26:40this is music
26:41to your ears,
26:41I think.
26:44Kensington
26:45Palace needs
26:46at least
26:46eight trees,
26:47all artificial.
26:50Hang on a
26:50second.
26:51I think our
26:51wires have
26:52crossed.
26:53The earliest
26:54artificial trees
26:55were made
26:56using dyed
26:57goose feathers.
26:58But by the
26:59late Victorian
27:00period, there
27:01was a surprising
27:02new development.
27:03I would hate
27:03to think how
27:04many trees I
27:06have decorated
27:07in the last
27:08five years.
27:09Toilet brush
27:10manufacturers
27:11realised their
27:12bristles on a
27:13stick were the
27:14ideal way to
27:15eradicate
27:15dropped pine
27:16needles and
27:17the modern
27:18fake tree
27:18was born.
27:20A general
27:20all-over
27:21fluff is
27:22essential to
27:23get it looking
27:23good once it's
27:24in place.
27:25Who knew
27:26they'd end up
27:26in a royal
27:27palace?
27:29How do you
27:29feel about
27:30faux trees
27:31versus real?
27:32Well, in my
27:33house at
27:33Christmas, we
27:33always have a
27:34real one.
27:34I think my
27:35family wouldn't
27:35let us get
27:36away with a
27:36faux one.
27:37But for a
27:38palace like
27:38Kensington,
27:39there's just too
27:40much risk that
27:40comes with having
27:41real trees in
27:42there, so lots
27:43of bugs, pests
27:44that are in
27:45there, and real
27:47Christmas trees
27:47are so flammable
27:48as well, so it's
27:50just a no to have
27:51them inside our
27:51historic spaces.
27:53Seeing it out, and
27:53actually out in a
27:54bigger space, Laura,
27:55I think this is
27:55actually quite good
27:56for room one.
27:57It's quite a good size.
27:58The height's good,
27:59but what I'm happy
27:59about, it's
28:00purposefully slim.
28:01November.
28:09Only two weeks
28:10until pretty much
28:11everything has to
28:12go into quarantine.
28:15Juliana, I'm
28:16almost finished, do
28:17you want to come
28:17up and have a
28:18look?
28:19Including a
28:20replica of young
28:21Victoria's Christmas
28:22dress.
28:23Oh gosh, it's
28:23beautiful.
28:25She has to go in
28:25the freezer as
28:26well, because it's
28:27silk and cotton.
28:28And all the
28:29wooden peg dolls.
28:30My only thing
28:31about this is it's
28:32quite summery, so
28:33it'd be quite nice
28:34to sort of, if we
28:34could allude to the
28:35winteriness of it
28:36via a natural
28:38element, like a
28:38little bit of
28:39snow dusting or
28:40ice, then we'd
28:41have that sort of
28:42Christmassy feel
28:43without it being
28:44about decoration.
28:46Decorations
28:47considered risk-free
28:48have to be kept
28:49separate until the
28:50transport arrives.
28:51So we've been
28:52really busy with
28:53Kensington.
28:54The arches have
28:55all been made, so
28:56we're storing them
28:57in these tents, but
28:58it's always a bit
28:59nerve-wracking
29:01putting them on
29:01the lorry after
29:02all your hard
29:03work.
29:04Fingers crossed
29:05it'll stay in
29:06one piece when
29:07we take it over
29:08to Kensington.
29:10Both properties
29:11are due to open
29:12their Christmases
29:13within days of
29:14each other.
29:15I am about to
29:17lose this land.
29:18First thing
29:18you've carried
29:19all year?
29:20Yeah, exactly.
29:21Thank God
29:22there's somebody
29:23that knows what
29:23they're doing.
29:24Right, thank you.
29:24Next stop, London.
29:37Chiswick House.
29:41The first of two
29:43trucks has arrived
29:44from Yorkshire.
29:45An installation is
29:47meant to be well
29:48underway.
29:48But it's not.
29:54We had planned
29:55to do work
29:56outside, but the
29:58weather is very
29:59inclement, so we've
30:00put a bit of a stop
30:01to that, and I'm
30:02just getting a huge
30:03team effort in to
30:05get ourselves
30:06organised with our
30:07retail offer.
30:08And then the next
30:10big thing that's
30:10going to happen
30:11today is that we've
30:12got our second
30:12vehicle arriving, and
30:13that's got some of
30:14the big set pieces
30:15on it, and all
30:16of the costume,
30:17and all of the
30:17floristry.
30:19Adrian and Charlotte
30:20have taken a gamble
30:21hiring Chiswick House
30:22for their own
30:23Christmas display.
30:25To help cover
30:26costs, they'll be
30:27running an on-site
30:28gift shop.
30:29But it's created a
30:31job that no-one
30:32bargained with.
30:38We are currently
30:40just bagging up
30:41all of the
30:42decorations that
30:43have glitter on
30:44for the retail
30:45space in Chiswick
30:46House.
30:47They're absolutely
30:48beautiful, but some
30:49of them do have
30:50traces of glitter, and
30:50we can't have any
30:51glitter in the house,
30:52so we're just
30:54containing that at
30:54the moment.
30:56How many boxes
30:57have we got here
30:57to do?
30:58Probably about
30:59a hundred.
31:00It's probably about
31:01a quarter of the
31:02retail product.
31:04My first horror
31:05when I realised how
31:06stringent their
31:08stipulations were
31:09was that I was just
31:10going to have to
31:11lose all this
31:12product and find
31:13other elements, but
31:15we've come to a good
31:17solution.
31:19Individually wrapping
31:20each bauble is slow
31:22going.
31:24They'll just have to
31:25make up time when
31:26everything else arrives.
31:31It's late afternoon.
31:33Already half a day
31:34behind schedule, there's
31:36still no sign of the
31:37second truck.
31:38They've just told me
31:39that the driver's not
31:41going to be here until
31:424.30, and Chiswick
31:47House and Grounds
31:47lock down at 5pm.
31:50So I'm just going to go
31:52and talk to the Chiswick
31:53team and alert them and
31:55see if there's a problem
31:57solve in case anything in
31:58Friday night London
32:00traffic makes things any
32:02worse.
32:02still missing, the
32:05materials to protect the
32:07house from accidental
32:08damage during install.
32:13Without it, they're
32:15relegated to the basement,
32:17Santa's Grotto.
32:18But even here, they've got
32:20to be careful.
32:21You can't put anything
32:23against the wall, so we're
32:24having to leave quite a bit
32:25of a gap.
32:26And then I have to be
32:28careful myself to not hit
32:30or knock anything, which
32:32is, again, sometimes a
32:34little difficult when you're
32:35just trying to get things
32:37done.
32:42It's 8pm.
32:45It's what I love on a wet
32:47Friday night in West London.
32:50Waiting for a lorry.
32:51And the fear of being
32:55locked in the park.
33:07At Kensington Palace, the
33:09team have just two days to
33:11install Princess Victoria's
33:13Seaside Christmas.
33:17It's a very simple
33:18decorative scheme on these
33:20trees.
33:20The stuff on the top of
33:21this box is for the
33:22mantle, so we're going a
33:24bit harborside is the
33:25idea.
33:2750 boxes of decorations,
33:298 Christmas trees and
33:30much more have to be
33:31carefully carried to their
33:33designated rooms.
33:35But that's easier said
33:37than done for the large
33:38welded archways.
33:42Yeah.
33:43Lift that leg up.
33:44Somebody lift the bottom
33:45over there.
33:47Right, that's it.
33:48And then we'll just
33:49hold it together and we'll get
33:50it through.
33:52It's quite narrow.
33:54It's quite narrow.
33:55It's quite narrow.
33:58While floristry avoids
33:59trashing one building,
34:01master model maker Marks
34:06checking for damage on
34:08another.
34:08We thought we might have a pile
34:19of matchwood, but we've by
34:21and large survived the
34:23journey.
34:25Unfortunately, we have had
34:26some damage to the railings.
34:31The downpipe for the
34:32drainage has come away.
34:34And it's just generally been
34:36marked by transit, so the
34:38paintwork looks a little bit
34:40less than pristine.
34:42So not a disaster, but a bit
34:45of a pain.
34:46In Victoria's schoolroom,
34:49Adrian's struggling with his
34:50Christmas tree made of
34:52suitcases.
34:52You kind of want to get it more
34:55triangular.
34:56More triangular.
34:57But that might just be a case of
34:58us doing a little something
35:00small at the bottom.
35:01Yeah.
35:03This is all a bit precarious,
35:04isn't it?
35:05Yeah.
35:06Just slot in.
35:09That's good, because look at that.
35:10It's perfect.
35:11Perfect.
35:14Yeah.
35:15It's on a walk.
35:16With thousands of visitors
35:18expected over Christmas,
35:20safety is key.
35:23All design changes need
35:25signing off by the palace.
35:26It's not stable yet.
35:28I'm just trying to get it
35:29visually correct, and then we
35:31will deconstruct it and rebuild
35:33it with an awful lot of
35:35fishing wire.
35:35She's having a little chat
35:42with the little sailor boy.
35:44He does look as though he's
35:45got his trousers down,
35:46doesn't he?
35:47With those boots.
35:54Ten miles away, the team at
35:56Chiswick are trying to make up
35:58for lost time.
36:03The floor protection has
36:04arrived.
36:05So decorating can begin in
36:07earnest.
36:08We need to make sure that
36:09nothing's at risk of bumping
36:10into any parts of the house.
36:13One.
36:14Oh, no.
36:14It needs to go this way.
36:16The festive queen is being
36:18dressed in green, gathered
36:20from the estate gardens.
36:25While the dancers are almost
36:27ready to take their places
36:28in the gallery.
36:31There we go.
36:32There you go.
36:33She's in.
36:33She's on.
36:34But yesterday's weather has
36:36taken the shine off the fifth
36:38day of Christmas.
36:42It was just, it was absolutely
36:43chucking it down with rain.
36:45And it's got soaking wet.
36:47And it still landed a full paint job, really, so it's just looking a bit worse for wear.
36:55So I'm just cleaning it back before we give it another coat.
37:02And then it should look like a gold ring again.
37:05Am I OK to lift one of them?
37:08Yes.
37:08So you're just from the bottom, right.
37:11The last day is also in jeopardy.
37:16It's the big yellow one on the right, I think it was.
37:20The drums were meant to be on a stand, but curator Lydia has declared it too precarious for the blue velvet room.
37:27There we go.
37:32She's overseeing Charlotte's emergency alternative.
37:36Yes.
37:36So this one is over there.
37:40Swap it round.
37:41Yep.
37:41Everything has to be at least a metre from the delicate surroundings.
37:45I think this one is underneath here.
37:48And then that one's on top.
37:49This drum.
37:52Yep.
37:54Let's face forward.
37:56There we go.
37:57OK.
37:59So there we have our 12 drums.
38:07Yeah, we're at 1.7-ish, 1.6, 1.07-ish.
38:11So we're good.
38:12Lovely, thank you, Lydia.
38:13That's all right.
38:14Good.
38:14Brilliant.
38:15Next.
38:15The mannequin-intensive Chiswick house is rapidly filling with lords a-leaping, maids a-milking
38:26and ladies dancing in various states of undress.
38:35The biggest of all is ready for her fitting.
38:41Right, we have a rest.
38:42We have a rest.
38:46I'm not really resting.
38:47I'm kind of holding all the weight.
38:48Are you ready to go?
38:49Yeah.
38:54So can someone go in the middle?
38:56Yeah.
38:58Right.
39:01Yeah, go try and lift and slot it in.
39:03And watch your fingers, keep them all the way.
39:05One, two, three.
39:07Yeah?
39:08I like it one somewhere.
39:09Yeah, no, it's good.
39:10Mine's good.
39:11It's the final day of installation at Kensington.
39:21Christmas has to be all wrapped up by tonight.
39:23These are my vintage napkins that have been through the freezer.
39:30Glassware, we had to go modern to get a full set.
39:32Yeah, but we like the blue.
39:34And this is my dinner service.
39:35The palace is really beginning to sparkle.
39:45There's a little bit of glitter there.
39:47So I'm going to chop the end bit off.
39:48A little too much for Selina.
39:52When we made this, we originally thought that every product did not have any glitter.
39:56But it turns out that this particular one just has a tiny smattering on the ends of these leaves of this branch.
40:02So most of it actually hasn't got it, but it's just right on the end.
40:05So I've got to go through the whole of the banister and just cut off the ends of this particular copper leaf.
40:14Obviously, today's the final day.
40:15We're rushing around trying to get everything put in time.
40:18So I'm just trying to do this.
40:21It's going to take as long as it takes to make sure that we've got rid of all the glitter.
40:23At Chiswick House, the 12 days of Christmas are coming on apace.
40:38Last-minute adjustments should see the dancing ladies decent before the lords leap into action.
40:47And Laura's adding a note of finesse to floristry.
40:50We're in the red velvet room, which is the pipers.
40:53Piping.
40:54So we wanted to sort of reference the music.
40:58But the gold rings are still looking a little lacklustre.
41:02The trick to this is just don't put so much gold paint on that it drips everywhere.
41:08Because can you imagine having to go over it again?
41:11Seven swans have all been folded into one larger-than-life figurine.
41:17This could be her swan song.
41:19As we lift her, she's going to go in on her back.
41:25So if any damage happens, it's around the back of the dress.
41:28You're fine.
41:28So I think two people on the heavy base and one person catching the top of the torso.
41:37To be honest, we could probably go up this way.
41:41Are you all right with her?
41:41Yeah, yeah, good.
41:42Made with dozens of paper doilies and origami creations, Meg, Sarah and Adrian have to squeeze her through four doorways to reach her resting place in the bedchamber.
41:56She has a delicate exterior, but a heart of steel.
42:10Beneath her skirts is a metal frame.
42:13If anyone slips, it's hard to know who would come out worse, her or Chiswick House.
42:19Yeah, could you be turned slowly, especially too wide for these doors?
42:24That's all right.
42:28Okay, thank you.
42:30Brilliant, brilliant, brilliant.
42:31Two doors down.
42:32Come on up, guys.
42:34Excellent.
42:34Two to go.
42:36Yeah.
42:39And then we're going to reverse.
42:41So, Megan, you're going to go in backwards.
42:45Megan, you okay?
42:47Do you want me to stop?
42:48Well, I think, yeah.
42:50You all right?
42:50We're almost there.
42:51Okay.
42:54Just keep going a little bit further, Megan.
42:58There we go.
43:00Beautiful.
43:03With time running short, Eve's hanging nearly 100 metres of faux spruce garland.
43:10It's another job that's taking longer than expected.
43:13We've essentially realised that we need a lot more protection than we first expected on
43:19the stonework.
43:20So, what we've had to do is back all of the garlands and the wreaths with hessian so that
43:26none of that is going to scratch the stonework, because that can cause it to deteriorate.
43:31But we've also had to do a lot with the contact points.
43:35So, we've got bubble wrap.
43:37We've got hessian involved.
43:38It's taken us about four hours so far.
43:41We've still got a little bit more to do, and the light's going.
43:43So, I think it's time to crack on and hopefully get done.
43:46The countdown to Christmas is almost over.
43:57Just a few last details on this very sweet seaside painting retreat.
44:13Oh, wow.
44:16It's down to the final few baubles.
44:20I was dubious when we were making them as to whether they were going to look good enough
44:24and whether they'd work with the scheme on this tree.
44:26But they look really lovely.
44:28They're really sweet.
44:30Nice to put in a little handmade touch.
44:40It's opening night.
44:41It's opening night.
44:46Our heads are fully in Christmas, 11 months of the year, which is ultimately pretty exhausting.
45:02The only time we can't properly enjoy it is when we down-tool, open the doors.
45:10And sit back and see whether the visitor really loves it.
45:13Yeah.
45:13So, let's do that.
45:30Yeah.
45:30It's a huge relief to have got it done, huge relief to have got it done.
45:59And I am really proud of it.
46:01I think we did very well.
46:15Well, perfect festive telly here on Channel 4, taking two amazing shows and smushing them together.
46:22The cast of Peep Show takes the tent for the great Christmas bake-off, Christmas Day, two days to go from eight.
46:30Cupid's working overtime to beat the Christmas rush next with new first dates at Christmas.
46:35Christmas Day
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