Location: Buckingham Palace
Procuced by: Sky
Theme: The Queen speaks of courage and hope in adversity, recalling the natural disasters in Australia and New Zealand, and the tragedy which struck a Welsh mining community. Her Majesty highlights the importance of family, communities and friendship in the support and rebuilding process. The Queen remarks that the marriages of two of her grandchildren have reminded her and Prince Philip of the importance of family. In a strong message of Christian hope, the Queen explains that finding hope in adversity is one of the themes of Christmas, as Jesus was born into a fearful world, and the angels appeared to shepherds who were afraid, yet brought joyful news: 'God sent into the world a unique person - neither a philosopher nor a general, important though they are, but a Saviour, with the power to forgive', she says.
Commentary: It is well-known that Queen Elizabeth II is a deeply committed Christian, and she almost always makes references to her own faith in her Christmas broadcasts. Nevertheless, the 2011 broadcast is the most robustly Christian in tone we have seen for decades: 'It is my prayer that on this Christmas day we might all find room in our lives for the message of the angels and for the love of God through Christ our Lord', she says at the end of her message. So resounding is this tone, that some commentators have argued that in concentrating on the supporting themes of the speech, media organisations such as the BBC have, deliberately or otherwise, missed the point.
It had been announced in January 2011 that Sky News would join the BBC and ITN in producing the Christmas broadcast on a two-yearly rota basis, beginning with the 2011 broadcast. Despite the fact that Sky is a subscription broadcaster, and owned by News Corporation, which with embarrassing timing would be hit by scandal during the course of the year, it produces a high quality news service which rivals the BBC, and it would have been difficult for Palace officials to turn down its request to become involved. Whatever discussions and disagreements might have taken place during the planning stages remain firmly hidden behind the scenes, but what emerged was a largely traditional format, based on the 2007 'template' for recent broadcasts (indeed, the 1844 Room in Buckingham Palace is used here for the first time since 2007). The only 'innovation' looks more of a gimmick: The Queen is filmed at various intervals by a second camera, while looking at the main camera. This technique is common in television news, but it seems odd to see the Queen given the appearance of a newsreader returning to deliver the headlines at the top of the hour! In general, however, this is a good first production by Sky.
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