Nigel Harman

Set against a backdrop of early '60s London, Telstar is the story of the world's first independent record producer, Joe Meek. A maverick genius who enjoyed phenomenal success with Telstar – the biggest selling record of it's time – before bad luck, depression, heartbreak and paranoia led to his downfall.

The mysterious Nathan Hyde is lured out of hiding by the glamorous Erica, a reluctant employee of a global organisation known as The Establishment. Hyde's particular skills are required to recover a priceless Rubens painting stolen from the Catholic Church, but his assistance is only secured when his daughter's safety is assured.

The tale starts in a suburban house in 1971 with a schoolboy Simon dreaming of how he will make a fortune. The main story is about X Factor hopeful Chenice, a would-be astrobiologis twho lives in a caravan under a flyover with her terminally ill grandfather in an iron lung, and Max, a ukulele-playing plumber.. She is persuaded by her adoring plumber, to audition for The X Factor. She has never heard of X Factor but it could be her route out of poverty.Their romance blooms as everything around them shimmers with glitz and deception.

Mel Smith and Griff Rhys Jone star in festive special about a family with a video camera. Christmas usually means a little over-indulgence, but to the Aldershot family it is an orgy of hitherto uncharted proportions.