Little Crackers-My First Nativity

Little Crackers was a series of short (often autobiographical) films produced for Sky television. Famous celebrities wrote a ten minute (give or take) story and often directed it themselves. Many of them star in their Little Cracker as well.

My First Nativity is based on a childhood memory of comedian and former Doctor Who companion Catherine Tate. Now she is a gobby show off, but at the age of four or five she was so painfully shy she couldn't even raise her hand to ask to go to the toilet. At home, she was forever putting on shows and singing and dancing her little heart out, but in front of others.....nothing.

For my American friends, it is worth noting that the Nativity play is an annual event for classes of little people. You might very well take part in the show regardless of your race or religion. Remember how in Kindergarten half the class dressed as "Pilgrims" and half dressed as "Indians" for Thanksgiving and put on some sort of show? It's like that. You dress up and do it because it is a tradition.

In this Little Cracker, Catherine Tate plays her own mother. It is well written and well acted and a true slice of her life.

Watch it here:

Here is an interview on the Graham Norton Show where she talks about this childhood incident. Obviously these were different times. Nowadays, Gary Glitter has been exposed as a paedophile and is in prison. But in the 1970's I bet this rocked.  

I love seeing a window into other people's childhoods. I recall so much of mine with great clarity of feeling, I love to see how others were shaped by their experiences.

What are your memories of a childhood Christmas?