Mog's Christmas, Channel 4, review: an instant classic to rival The Snowman
For some reason, Mog’s Christmas (Channel 4) is airing at 7.45pm on Christmas Eve, a time when its target audience should be in bed. But I guess that the excitement of waiting for Father Christmas means they might be allowed to stay up later than usual.
Anyway, in this era of catch-up you can watch it whenever you like, and you should, because it’s the loveliest thing. Judith Kerr’s timeless classic is faithfully rendered on screen and young children will adore it.
The Mog stories are slight – nothing as exciting here as a tiger coming to tea – but the pleasure is in the character of Mog herself. Kerr captured the essence of cat: the slightly sulky, excuse-me-this-is-MY-house attitude. Mog is also quite needy and very much a glass-half-full sort of animal, plus she’s rather dim. If she were a human, she’d probably be in therapy. Kerr conveys this with great comic understatement and the simplest of language. “Mog was nice but not very clever.”
The story gives us a cat’s eye view of Christmas. Mog is discombobulated: the decorations, the tree, the noise from visiting relatives in the form of two elderly aunts and one jolly uncle. She gets told off for investigating the stuffing mix. “I don’t like it here, thought Mog,” and she slopes off outside to feel sorry for herself. But all is well in the end. She even learns to love the tree.
This half-hour film stays faithful to the gorgeously illustrated world that Kerr created, and a timeless quality rooted in the 1970s: the milk float, the quiet streets, the fashions (Mr Thomas and the jolly uncle wearing shirts and ties even though they’re not at work). To fill the running time, the film-makers have broadened the story to recreate the local High Street – you will recognise it from The Tiger Who Came to Tea, and the charming details include a shop selling 1970s TV sets, one of them playing Morecambe and Wise. Watch out for some familiar faces glimpsed through the window of the cafe, sitting down to sausages and chips.
The animation is reminiscent of Channel 4’s great Christmas hit, The Snowman. The starry voice cast includes Benedict Cumberbatch and Claire Foy as Mr and Mrs Thomas, but you wouldn’t know it because everyone is so unshowy. Even Miriam Margolyes tones it down as one of the aunts. Adjoa Andoh provides a purring narration. An original song, sweetly sung by Sophie Ellis-Bextor, was written by the Oscar-winning lyricist Don Black and the Grammy-winning composer David Arnold. That’s some pedigree.
