'TIS THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS...

Don't forget, dear readers, that - right now - Santa is going through those lists to find out who's been naughty and whose been nice! If you doubt it, check out this report - c. 1932 - from Santa's Workshop...

Here in Venice...

Children are obviously more nice than naughty since there are clearly enough of them to require Santa calling on the assistance of a couple of look-alikes...


Elsewhere, the question remains: how on earth (and all around the earth) does Santa manage top get all those deliveries made in just one night?

Well, at long last - courtesy of a couple of penguins and my friend, the illustrator GORDON FRASER - I can now reveal the secret, for so long hidden, behind Santa's extraordinary annual efficiency!

Click image to enlarge

You can see more of Gordon Fraser's fun artwork on his blog Empire of the Gothtwinz.

Now, off you go like good little children and get to sleep and if you happen to hear any unusual bumps in the night, tonight --- no peeking!!

***

As for any grown-ups who've got time on their hands today - unlikely though that may seem - you may care to tune in to my Christmas radio dramatisation of P L Travers' seasonal fable, The Fox at the Manger, starring Dame Wendy Hiller and Alec McCowen, which is receiving a repeat on BBC Radio 7 at 10.15 am and 9.15 pm today and at 2.15 am tomorrow morning, Christmas Day.

To help you, here's all you need to know about BBC Radio 7; what you need to know about how to listen to Radio 7; the current 'What's On' page for Drama and how to listen again on-line via BBC iPlayer where the play will be listed on this page following its first transmission and can be heard for the following seven days until New Year's Eve.

Images: Venice Santas by Brian Sibley and Santa & Tardis by Gordon Fraser

For more Venice imagery, visit my website to view the album Venice Observed and then follow the links at the foot of that page to three further albums of photographs.