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GRUNTS
Hidden away in Berkshire woodland is a place that comes magically alive
at Christmas.
They've arrived.
This is Lapland, UK, and every year over 200,000 visitors
are immersed in a world of quirky elves, an enchanted toy factory,
and frozen ponds.
I'm going to be a magic elf.
Tickets go on sale months in advance and sell out in a couple of hours.
We got an invitation.
It was really cold. Came out of the North Pole.
For the first time ever,
our cameras have been granted exclusive behind-the-scenes access
to see what it takes to make it all happen,
and discover why people are so desperate to go.
When we have to book the tickets, it's like, "How far are you?
"I'm 97,000 in the queue."
"Right, well, I'm only 14,000."
We've got to get these tickets.
Yeah.
Father Christmas has a big job on his hands,
and his chief helpers behind this huge operation...
Oh, my Lord. Here we go.
..are the Battle family.
This is probably my best moment, isn't it, really, I've ever done?
And this season, they want to do it even bigger and better
than ever before.
We want oomph.
That's a huge change in itself.
Yeah, yeah. I'm going to blow your mind this year.
They're relying on an army of set builders, costume designers,
and a thousand performers who will be moving heaven and earth
to make the magic of Christmas real.
I did actually start to believe again.
I think, as a group, you all start to believe.
RADIO BEEPS
Darryl, I'm not seeing any snow here.
The option of not opening on time is not an option.
THEY LAUGH
This story is set far, far away from the North Pole,
here in Swinley Forest near Windsor.
And at the heart of it is Mike Battle's ambition
to honour a child's belief in Christmas.
A child will only be of a certain age once in their life at Christmas,
so you've got to grab it.
There's a sort of, you know, blur.
And this is where we play,
that this is all true, this is all real.
I mean, come on, look at this.
This is the portal or the door through to Lapland.
This is probably the hardest site in the world
to create a production of the scale and quality that we do.
How's the production schedule looking?
We've got a week and a half until the first truck's
going to be rolling down here.
And we've got a lot of ground work to do.
Very excitingly, we're going to make one epic toy factory.
Like, you could imagine a billion toys being made here,
that sort of thing. So we're going to have a bit of a cathedral vibe.
Across this 24-acre site,
a Christmas world will soon sprout from the ground
with a huge toy factory stage,
another one housing a giant tree portal,
a frozen pond ice rink,
and a magical tree pathway.
We've done this all before many, many times,
but the ambition is even greater this year.
The Battles' obsession with making Christmas come alive
started a long, long time ago in their creative hideaway
nestled in the Kent countryside.
This is a photo that reminds us
of our very early beginnings
in 2007,
when Mike and I would actually get into costume
and be Mother and Father Christmas.
I didn't dream that 18 years on we would be meeting Elton John,
the Beckham family, the royal family, and everybody else.
Alison, a former primary school teacher,
writes all the back stories herself,
an intricate folklore that's the foundation
of the Lapland UK world.
It's a universe where 31 elves, each with special skills,
help Father Christmas at the most demanding time of the year.
Really, for me, it was a passion for childhood,
that's what came first.
And it was through Christmas
that I felt that this moment wasn't being sufficiently
honoured and respected.
For Mike, it was a chance to leave behind his hedge fund career,
unleash his long held creative talents,
and turn these stories into a thriving business.
We work with nature, with no support from water or power.
We bring everything, we assemble it,
and then we take it all away again.
The professionalism and extraordinary talent
of the amazing professionals.
The guys and girls who really fly are the ones who've got the heart
for Lapland, as well.
Hello, Christmas! I love Christmas.
It's an exciting job to work on.
So it's hard to think about Christmas all year round,
but I had a daughter last year,
so now I feel like I've got someone to take to it, so that's exciting.
When you're walking around during the live and you see all the kids
that believe they are really in this magical world, it's real special.
Dan is supervising a crew of hundreds of construction workers
who have to build an entire elven village
and the huge stages where Alison's stories will be performed.
And leave the forest as it is. We're going to incorporate a tree.
They'll be moving 2,500 tons of earth,
putting up nearly 4,000 Christmas trees,
and, of course, contending with the good old British weather.
The rain is always challenging, but it's the first day,
so we're breaking ground, making sure that all the foundations
are there for us to be able to put up all the sets,
ready for everybody else to come and make the magic.
How long are we here for?
About four months from now, still.
So it ends up being quite a long stint.
You say goodbye to all friends and family,
but, you know, all for a good cause.
Father Christmas.For a wage. THEY LAUGH
One of us has dressed up in an outfit last year.
Our crew chief, Joe, he was the first to volunteer.
He always is for these things.
Hello. Hello.
Oh, stop it!
THEY LAUGH
So, when we go and feed the reindeer,
we put on, like, an Eskimo costume.
I wasn't very good at being in character last year.
I got up there, and there was a young lad who was like, you know,
"Hello. How are you doing?" And I said, "Yeah, I'm all right."
And he was like... THEY LAUGH
He was like... CROSSTALK
He was like, "What's your name?" And I said, "Joe."
And he goes, "That doesn't sound very Christmassy."
LAUGHING
He started quizzing me on reindeers and names and things.
Luckily I was on it.
At home, the Battles make every Sunday feel like Christmas.
That's a nice one. Yes. We know our positions.
Lapland UK is a family affair,
which started with Alison's wish to make Christmas more magical
for her four boys.
We'd all have sacks with our names on.
She never imagined it would end up as a business
turning over millions each year.
I was very keen for them to have this dialogue
with Father Christmas. So it wasn't just that they had sent their letter
and that was the end of it.
I wanted them to hear back from Father Christmas
and have this whole world that we could be talking about
on the run up to Christmas.
But I had a certain image of the elves
and the reindeer
and this snowy place.
But going forward now to the event,
the children, when they're sort of hearing these stories
of the snowy place, they are picturing that exact place.
You know, we're all adults now, but as a child, it was in our heads.
And I guess what has happened now is it really does exist.
Here we go.
Mind your backs, this is hot.
Make some space. Make some space.
Cheers. Cheers.
2024.
Less than a month until opening,
and at last there's a break in the weather.
Finally here, some sun.
Haven't seen it in so long.
Enjoy it, I think.
On this stage, a tree is growing.
This is the key place where elves will invite the visiting children
to step into Lapland through a magical portal.
And it's got to be totally believable.
I think we'll get another two in. Today? Today.
We'll see how they go.
Watch your head. Go on. Sorry.
We'll have about 500 or 600 trees at the immediate footpath,
and then some of the smaller ones will sit in behind,
and they act as a natural footpath to guide all of the punters
to where they need to be going.
Father Christmas is the mind behind the whole project,
and even though he's not currently here right now,
he's the one that gives us all of our direction.
So we're working towards making Father Christmas happy
with this project, and he will be happy to deliver Christmas for us.
SANTA: I hope they know what they're doing.
Back at the office, Mike is setting out his grand vision
for this year with his trademark confidence.
I'm going to blow your mind this year.
This is a two-year project for me.
Remember when we went to Barcelona?
I was quite inspired by Gaudi, so I... OK.
Sagrada Familia, the cathedral.
And then took inspiration from that German village,
Oberammergau, where they have all the stories painted. Yeah, yeah.
So we've got our stories.
And I'm going to make one huge toy factory, so that there is...
Well, that's a huge change in itself.
Yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Lapland UK may be an enchanting world for children,
but it's also a fully fledged business,
one in which the Battles' sons are striving to make their mark.
I think it wants to be brighter when you first open up the doors...
Yes, OK, I know what you're saying. ..to get that pop of red.
Middle child Matt has designed a new advent calendar
with one eye on impressing his parents.
I don't see it as, "I need to get this signed off by Mum and Dad."
It's like, I want to show them because it's just going to make
it better and it's going to be a better product.
I think they were a bit blown away by this one, to be fair.
They said it's the best Lapland product we've ever made,
so can't do much better than that.
At nearly £40 a pop,
Matt's new product will sit at the top end
of the advent calendar market,
but nevertheless, he's aiming for 30,000 sales.
Little bit to the right.
That's pretty perfect, yeah.
To launch it, he's using an elf specially created
for Lapland's world.
This is - or will be in a few minutes -
Whittle, head of the toy factory.
Once the costume goes on, they are that character
in terms of, if a child were ever to see a character in costume,
that is the character. So it's no longer Liam, it's Whittle.
Where's my factory, then?
CHUCKLES
Let's make the toys, I suppose.
Let's get him.
Nice. Perfect.
To create a world where Alison's stories can truly come alive,
props have to be convincing,
and that's where Nick comes in.
The paint finish, the look of the buildings
is generally down to me.
We're going to stain them, as well, yeah?
My time is spent up buying the props, refurbishing the props,
and then when I get onto site, I then assume the responsibility
of making sure that whatever Mike and Alison's vision is,
we sort of collate it all together.
Just get them to put it on here for now.
Every prop that we use on site,
generally we won't buy it
unless it's going to last for at least five years.
And everything that's coming out of that truck now
has been here for as long as I've been here.
Mike and I, we probably spend a couple of hundred thousand pounds
just on physically buying new products.
You know, like our sleigh,
we bought that many years ago for a lot of money,
and when we refurbished it, it cost us £25,000 to refurbish it.
They've given us a bit of a challenge to hide this.
This year, Mike's taking on his biggest challenge.
He's doubling the size of the toy factory
at a cost of nearly £750,000.
This year is quite a change.
I wanted to develop the whole toy factory experience.
For me, for children coming in,
they have to have almost a sense of reality that this is a space,
almost like an engine, that could be capable of creating,
you know, millions or billions of toys type thing.
So it needs scale.
So, as you can see, we've definitely got scale.
But even myself sometimes, you sort of go, "Ah!"
It's so big and so expensive, you know?
The thing is, for me, I can see it all in my head already.
The thing for someone like Alison, it's much more nervous
because she doesn't really see it until it's there.
So she'll come along and be scared out of her wits.
But anyway, there we go.
ALISON: I think my biggest worry
is that I don't want to feel empty and soulless.
Oh, my God. I know.
Big change. Oh, my God.
In Lapland UK's forest,
the rain has barely let off for three weeks straight.
But Christmas waits for no-one.
All right, come on, Mrs Battle. Yep.
Mike's ploughing ahead with his mega toy factory,
but, ultimately, he needs Alison's approval.
First visit to site this year,
and apparently it is the wettest build on memory.
I'm going to see our new-build toy factory today.
I'm in two minds about it,
but I've got to trust Mike with his creative vision.
Today is going to be one of those ones
where I've just got to have belief.
Alison seems to be in the "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" camp.
She's anxious to retain the charm that's made their success,
and she's aware that time's not on their side.
Big change. Oh, my God.
Definitely got a lot, a lot, a lot of work to do...
Yeah. ..to reach your creative vision. How many lots?
More than I can even say at the moment.
To reach your creative vision, it's... It'll be fine.
My God. It'll be fine.
Oh, my Lord. Here we go.
Oh. This is actually quite...quite homey.
Oh. You should have seen it earlier.
It was a lot less homey than this.
I really respect your confidence... MIKE LAUGHS
..and your creative dream to bring this to fruition,
because at the moment, I can't see it.
MIKE LAUGHS
I really can't. That's all right.
You got to dream the dream, and then you got to make it happen, so...
OK.
Seeing is believing.
The new toy factory, like everything else,
has had to fit around a dense pine forest,
respecting each and every tree.
That one needs to stay in.
The site was GPS marked out for the first time this year.
However, GPS doesn't work too well with the trees,
so there's a few more trees that are going to be inside this building,
so I need to make a call on whether to change the dimensions
of the building, or we try and incorporate the trees
within the structures.
But, yeah, chopping down trees isn't an option.
That's on the orange mark, yeah?
What's the overall width of the structure?
488.
707 down that side. Oh, fine.
488, yeah. 462 that way.
We've got 100 mil to play with. Yeah?
Sweet, that's fine.
It's fine? Yeah, yeah, it's great.
We're OK on this one now, so we can move it over to one side
and the trees will stand just outside it, luckily.
There's about 16 working days left until we open.
I've got a really good team of people.
We're not behind schedule.
And the weather is our biggest enemy,
cos, as you can see, for a lot of the painting,
it needs to be dry in order to do it.
And if it's not dry, we can't do it.
This hut belongs to Compass, the oldest and wisest elf
who directs the children to Father Christmas,
and it's taken quite a battering.
Right, Graham, Compass...
So obviously it rained at the weekend. Torrential.
We hadn't felted the roof.
Not your fault, admittedly.
But as you can see,
we've encountered a bit of a problem. We have.
When the rain came in, it's ran down the walls
and it's thinned the colour of the paint.
And as you can see around the bottom,
the paint has run all the way down the walls.
So I need you to work some magic.
Well, the only way around it is a fully redeck.
Yeah. You can see where it's shining still.
Yeah. But that does dull down.
But it's still wet because of weather.
If we get the paint ordered again... Yeah.
..we're going to get the sprayer in here tomorrow.
Yes, sprayer machine in, get the ceilings done, get the walls done.
Get it all redone. Move on to the next one. All right.
So what are we saying, Wednesday afternoon, Thursday?
This will be ready for the scenic artists to go down?
Yeah, Thursday dinner time, yous can have this room. OK, great.
But before Nick's little helper Graham can work his magic,
the cabin will have to be completely dried out.
We've been desperately unlucky for the first couple of weeks.
This is a time sensitive build.
The option of not opening on time is not an option,
so you have to do what you've got to do to get it done.
Not satisfied with going large on the toy factory,
Mike's also raised the stakes on the tree portal into Lapland.
Ooh, new tree.
Wow.
So, this is the first year of the tree door. Yeah.
It's massive, as well, isn't it? Everything this year is massive.
Massive. We like massive.
Wow, look at that. How have they done that?
Somehow makes the door look so much smaller.
Alison looks distinctly underwhelmed.
Again, I'm slightly lost for words.
I liked the old tree.
Yeah. This is a new version.
Yeah.
Can't judge it until it's finished, Alison.
It's big, it's huge, is it going to be as charming?
Lapland UK is rooted in rich tradition.
But this is the digital age, so it now has its own online channel
run confidently by Christian, Matt's younger brother.
Me and Matt's roles were quite naturally born
out of the fact that we are the next generation.
Kind of see my role as being the middleman
between what I know my parents' vision is
and then conveying that to someone else.
It works really well with my brother.
I think it's healthy that we both want to do the best we can,
but when I see him do a brilliant shoot or something,
I think, "Wow, maybe there's a bit more I could do."
Not only has Christian managed to get a much bigger crew
than his brother today,
he's also got the number one authority at hand.
Mum, do you want to come have a look at this?
Would a child know what a magical pathway is in its own right?
"That lead to Lapland," then.
Certainly, Mother Christmas.
Looks like the performances are meeting Alison's approval.
And then sprinkle it generously over each cupcake.
LAUGHING
Right in the eyes.
With the big opening fast approaching,
Mike is on one of his many walk through inspections.
What are we thinking about lighting-wise
and sound, as well, what we're hearing?
So, the canopy above us will all... It will all be lit. OK, perfect.
After Alison's frosty response to his new tree,
Mike's under real pressure to deliver.
We need more. We need...
Like, it needs to be like a...like a big, like, hair net
of...of leaves almost, you know?
If you can imagine, like... How much more are you thinking?
Quite a lot more. Like, same again?
Yeah. If not more, yeah.
For me, it's like a giant oak tree that's just gone into autumnal.
It seems a bit more like a...
I don't know, constructive logs, let's say.
It's a tree. Come on. You know, we want oomph, you know, on top.
So I think, ultimately, we're going to struggle
to get double the amount of foliage,
but I think we can get some happy medium.
Just to bulk out the top a bit. Yeah, just to bulk it out.
Like, the technical reason why it's hard to get leaves
is, A, they have to be fire retardant,
and the shortage of autumnal leaf fire retardant branches
in this country is wild.
The trouble is, we're our own worst enemies
because we invariably make it happen,
so it becomes the normal for us,
which is OK if it's just in one area.
But this is a process that will happen in every venue.
And then you think, "Oh, my God, we have...
"That's a day in there, it's a day in there, it's a day in there."
You know, the reality is we're trying to give Mike and Alison
what they want, and it's not as straightforward
as you start there, finish there.
You sort of... It's a process to get to the end.
Today, five miles from the forest as the sleigh flies,
the Battle family are gathering the performers
who will breathe life into their show.
MIKE: We've had 8,000 people have applied to work for us this year,
and we've picked the...what we hope is the best thousand.
Well, it's all a bit exciting, really.
I'm looking forward to the next six weeks.
It'll be wonderful to get back to an environment
where I'm most comfortable in,
because even though I'm practically an adult,
I've never really lost being a child.
I'm going to be a magic elf.
So, yeah, that's really exciting.
I feel like I was born for this role.
SHE LAUGHS
This is a key moment for the Battles to come together as a team...
Is the tech guy working... Does he work for the hotel?
..and for the next generation to impress.
"..belief in our elven world."
It's a full family affair again.
Matt's going up to do a speech, and then I'm going up, as well.
So I don't know what Matt's going to say, really.
I just know the general gist.
There's a couple jokes you might hear in my speech.
I'm not sure I've seen so many human folk in one place, maybe ever.
I'm playing Elva, one of the elves.
She's a post... In the post office.
It's my second year.
And I have to say, last year was one of the greatest experiences
of my life.
The secret of Father Christmas, it's all magic.
And all those guys?
Ha. That's also part of the magic.
I'm the real Father Christmas!
And I'm the real Father Christmas.
And he's the real Father Christmas. I'm the real one.
He's the real Father Christmas. I'm the real one.
APPLAUSE
My name is Wish!
And I'm Conker!
Time for Mike and Alison to remind everyone
of the importance of the mission.
INDISTINCT INTRODUCTION
APPLAUSE
ALISON: For us, Christmas defines childhood.
We couldn't find anywhere that we felt was as special
as the importance that we placed on this moment, and we tried.
Everywhere we went was disappointing, cheaply done,
over commercialised, frankly not believable.
MIKE: Memories that you will create for them,
there's a very real chance that they will remember
what you guys do for the rest of their lives.
BOTH: Merry Christmas!
Signed, sealed and delivered with a trademark elf wave.
Little Rudi will be coming in hot on the social scene this year.
We're going to be a whole Lapland Christmas.
I'm like the Christmas elf with my family cos I give out the presents.
Like, there's your present, there's your present.
Like, the traditions, spending time together,
pulling the crackers, all that sort of thing.
They may seem excited now...
First year doing it.
..but the gruelling rehearsals haven't started yet.
Big task.
When Lapland UK's 200,000 tickets were released back in March,
they sold out in a couple of hours.
I just want to live there, Ker.
Yeah, but they keep checking us out, Sher, that's the problem. I know.
In the Welsh valleys, superfans Kerrie and Sheri
went to extraordinary lengths to get theirs
and are now planning the annual trip with their girls.
We always put the Christmas tree up
the weekend before our first visit.
My all-time favourite is that one.
It's Father Christmas's house. House.
I think that one got to be it. It holds special memories
for us, that one. Memories, doesn't it?
That one, I'll always remember 15 jingles,
and that was the first year that we went.
So... 2016.
Today is my 18th visit, Amy's 19th visit.
And then we go again.
By Christmas Eve we would have gone 20 times. Wow.
We eat, sleep, breathe, Lapland every day of the year.
I don't know what it is.
It's like this magnet that just draws us in. Yeah.
Hi.
Tickets are not only hard to get, but at £150 a head
for the best dates, they're not cheap.
For us as a family,
I think it's our most special place ever.
We save to be able to make sure that the girls get there every year.
Yeah. When we have to book the tickets,
it's like, "How far are you? I'm 97,000 in the queue."
"Right, well, I'm only 14,000."
And it's like, we've got to get these tickets. Yeah.
It's not just a very special place to us,
it's the way the girls feel
when they're there. When they're there, yeah.
And nothing compares to that.
This is my invitation.
So, where are we going?
Lapland! Yeah!
And we've got to read them now.
"Dear Amy and Casey-Grace,
"it's Father Christmas here.
"I'm writing to you from my snowy home in Lapland,
"and I have some very exciting news to share with you.
Would you like to help the elves? Yes.
Would you like to help the elves? Yes. Yes.
Can I help the elves?
No. No.
Oh, just you lot? Yeah!
SHERI: So I think that we would be allowed in, actually,
because we know the coordinates.
Yay! Yay!
And you know when...
So we never get lost.
Sheri had hers on her arm,
and I had mine on my shoulder.
51.4 degrees north, 0.7 degrees west.
Pinpoint, Lapland UK.
With only a week to go, the toy factory is at last starting
to take shape, but last minute nerves are creeping in.
You know what? Let's not add any of the other characters around.
We'll show Mike her in place.
And she's the main...
Art director Emma is expecting her first Mike visit any minute.
It sits on the podium right at the tree?
Yeah.
Everything in the toy factory is built from nature.
So it's all the woods and all the colours
are not too sort of fake and fluorescent.
The hardest part is always making it look real.
And Mike is always saying, "Just make it real."
Aha.
See, it's starting to enclose, isn't it?
Starting to feel small.
Starting to feel... It's starting to feel small?
Yes. It's not... Go... Try that again.
No, no, no, but... No, no.
You weren't here when it was the big, white marquee. Yeah.
No, it feels so... That was the scary moment.
Yeah. So that's great.
But, yeah, no, you pleased so far?
Yeah, it's... I think I started the morning
a bit more overwhelmed seeing it... Mm-hm.
..and now the more I've spent time with it...
No, it feels a lot clearer.
Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
It's feeling remarkable, really.
Yeah.
CHRISTMAS MUSIC PLAYS
Yeah, that's quite good there.
With the clock ticking, the massive oak tree Mike was unhappy with
is starting to take shape.
More leaves, good. Yes. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Deep in this waterlogged winter,
Nick's finally sourced the right kind of leaves.
It really is the miracle before Christmas.
So it goes without saying these are fire retardant.
Yeah, yeah. Super.
And these are oak variety of leaves just to match the rest of the tree.
Yes. Of course, yeah.
I suppose, from a customer perspective,
this is where they're going to come in,
this is the first impact.
So, for me, and especially for Mike... Yeah.
..if you can see you've got the spot in the centre... Yes.
..it's that initial impact where we don't really want them to see this,
we want them to concentrate on the tree. Of course.
So any notable spots would be where we want to try and fill
as best we can, all right? Yeah, yeah.
We're rehearsing here on Sunday... Yeah.
..so we really need to be out by Thursday at the very latest.
Yeah, we'll get it done. Just so we can reset the room.
Yeah, we'll get it done. All right, good man. Thanks, pal. Cheers.
For me, the glade has always been probably the best area
on the whole site, where you think,
"Oh, my God, what an amazing environment."
You wouldn't expect to find this attention to detail
in a tent in Ascot.
Back at Compass the elf's rain-soaked blue hut,
it's been all hands on deck.
I ain't gonna squeeze through there, am I?
What's that, Graham, you're going to help?
What an absolute legend.
Whilst the camera's on!
LAUGHING
Right, three, two, one. Go!
Ooh, ah!
Pivot. Pivot?
Unusual to get a painter to help lift something
other than a paintbrush. THEY LAUGH
Graham, how much better is the blue in here now, right?
Much better. Much better. So much better.
We've got the right colour. Yeah, the right colour helped.
No rain, waterproof.
All this has been painted by hand and the roller.
The whole room? The whole room, both sides, whole room.
Which wasn't ideal.
But we got it done. But we got it done.
Yeah, it looks great, to be fair. Yeah.
Meanwhile, in a central London studio...
Father Christmas says, "Wake up, it's Christmas morning!"
..the actors are getting into full-on elf mode
with just days until the show goes live.
I'm Conker!
Cheery hi, human folk!
There's that charming elf wave again.
Oh, wow, look at your elf waves!
Cheery hi!
And what are perhaps the most important cast members
are arriving on site.
It's going to be a test, that one.
SANTA: Not too long now before the big night.
Make sure you get plenty of rest.
RADIO BEEPS Daryl, I think we're ready for this.
Send water for me, please.
But for the full Christmas effect, there's one thing missing.
Yeah, we're looking pretty good.
Send snow.
RADIO BEEPS Daryl, I'm not seeing snow here.
ON RADIO: It's got a long way to travel, though, don't forget.
Yeah, copy that.
Do you want to just go and walk the pipe? Yeah, just doing that.
Without snow, there's no Christmas.
The boys have to create a pathway across three acres
with 16 tons of artificial snow.
But right now, it's not looking good.
ON RADIO: Joe, what you saying, mate?
The air is coming through quite well,
but that snow's not coming through hardly at all.
Turns out, to be a good snow elf,
you need brute force...
Come on, get it out of there.
..and some risk taking.
Right, get that turned off.
THEY LAUGH Get that turned off.
We've got snow, let's go!
Let's go.
Well done, lads.
Well done.
Whoa! Right, we're cooking.
RADIO BEEPS Joe to Daryl.
Go ahead.
When you are ready, send snow.
Snow in three, two, one.
THEY LAUGH
It takes a while to get up here.
Here we go.
Yeah, we're cooking, Daryl.
Hallelujah!
Success.
Oh, look at this for timing.
THEY LAUGH
How's it going? Good.
The first...first snow of the year.
First lot of snow coming in now.
Well done, lads.
Merry Christmas.
Yeah, it looks nice. All good.
Where we are now in the process is that it's great,
it's super good, but I'm pushing hard for amazing
all across the site.
With time running out before the site opens to the public...
Alison? Yes?
..this is Mike and Alison's chance to make last-minute changes.
Something the crew obviously relishes.
We're giving you a massive list.
Yeah, I've got it. Got it, right.
It's looking much, much, much better.
I think it's going to be a really memorable and magical moment
to actually walk through a tree trunk to Lapland.
So, yeah, really, really happy with it.
All right, that's great. Let's get to the toy factory, then. OK.
And so to the area Alison's been fretting over for months.
The moment of truth.
Here we go, Alison.
Wow, wow, wow, wow.
It is quite incredible, Mike.
A feat of engineering ambition,
and it's amazing.
It does not feel now like a structure.
It feels like we really are in Father Christmas's toy factory,
and I love it.
It's amazing. It's so good.
I'm already so excited to see all of the toy factory.
Obviously, everyone's got, like, their own version
of the same characters, because we've run it a few times
with, like, other people, you can see it slowly sinking in.
It, like, feels like everyone's, like, evolving.
I'm shattered. It's not even Christmas yet
and I'm Christmas...Christmased out.
I don't know how they do it each year.
This is the final push for everybody.
Oh, nice. Ha-ha!
Lovely.
The last tree to be snow dusted...
..the last rehearsal...
..it's beginning to feel,
well, a lot like Christmas.
Today, Lapland UK goes live.
# Busy elves, busy elves
# Working night and day
# Helping Father Christmas build the toys to fill his sleigh. #
Yay!
We've got an invitation.
The girls didn't know about it until this morning
when they discovered their invite through the letterbox.
It was really cold.
Yeah, it felt like it just came out of a freezer, but it wasn't,
it came out of the North Pole.
Every day from now until Christmas...
They've arrived.
..4,000 folk, big and small,
will be excitedly entering the magical forest.
All day, elves will guide the children around their world.
And the first big moment, they're crossing into snowy Lapland
through that tree portal.
And you must be the very special small folk
invited by Father Christmas to journey to Lapland
to help the elves save Christmas.
INDISTINCT
Touch your nose,
click three times...
..and let us in!
Then our wish will be granted!
CHEERING
It's magical, isn't it? Yeah, it is.
Daddy can't do ice skating.
Oh, no. Excuse me?!
Seeing the families, I actually feel really emotional about it.
I do. I feel like I'm going to cry.
Just seeing all these little children and...
They've all come to our world, it's just...
It's beautiful, isn't it?
The fact that it's fleeting, that my boys are now this size,
that all these moments pass so quickly,
and they're the best years of parenting and having a family,
and, in a way, an envy that these families are still enjoying
that moment, but also just a pride that we're able to give them
this happy time in their lives.
Oh, darling.
This year's Lapland UK has started strong,
and its succession is already looking assured.
It is about heart, about honouring childhood.
We're very aware of that, so we're not going to go away from it.
We know that that is Lapland,
that is the heart of it that has got us this far.
We will always remain on track if we just keep asking ourselves,
"Well, is this in service to belief?"
As long as it's always cementing a child's belief in Father Christmas
and the world of Lapland.
And the new mega toy factory appears to be wowing the visitors.
THEY GASP
You say cheery hi.
Flippin' heck.
That's blinkin' good. That's fab.
It's just...
You can't take it all in because there's just so much.
This is amazing.
Oh, Whittle, I think this is the most magical moment
of my entire life!
When the lights turned off, you could see all of the wishes
in the sky.
CHEERING
It was amazing. It kind of looked like the northern lights.
When the show is live, the backstage team must be creative
when crossing between the two worlds.
People are like, "Oh, you had some unique experiences?"
I've be like, "Have I?!"
What are we called? Herders?
Yeah, we are. Do we have names?
I do. I'm, um, Doddle.
It's the construction crew's job to feed the reindeer,
but they must do it in character.
The visiting kids won't miss a trick.
What is it? Dasher, Dancer, Blitzen...
Prancer, Comet, Cupid, Donner, Blitzen.
Is there a Dancer and a Prancer? Yeah.
Rudolph's not there, he's sleeping.
We all know him.
Right. Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet,
Cupid, Donner, Blitzen and Rudolph.
What is this?! THEY LAUGH
There's a queue looking at the reindeer at the moment.
Good luck. Cheers, see you later.
WHISPERING: All right.
Oh, wait, wait, wait, two seconds.
Dasher, Dancer, Prancer...
That'll do. That's it, just three.
Hello. CHILD: Is that for the reindeer?
It is.
All right, you do one, two, three,
and I'll do the same.
Come on.
Come here.
Joe. I'm called Doddle, mate.
I've just called Joe, Joe, and he said, "It's Doddle, mate."
Try and stay away from people.
Phew! That was a close call.
If I start feeling a bit confident, I'll take my hood down.
My hood's like that.
Right.
Time for a swift exit.
Everywhere elves are working hard to stay in character
and create an enchanting reality.
What's your name? INDISTINCT
Oh, that's wonderful.
My name's Fable. It's lovely to meet you.
Has it been the best day ever?
Yeah! I'm having the best day ever, too.
How wonderful!
What is that? It's a camera.
A camera?
Oh, let me have a look.
Oh, how marvellous!
Oh, and that is...!
THEY LAUGH
How wonderful is that?
Oh, wow. Well, we must capture one now, all right?
And we'll do big waves.
Oh, that's brilliant.
Cheery hi!
The Battles' big money gamble, hard work, and Christmas vision
have paid off.
It all came together.
He did it.
I never doubted in Mike.
I doubted in my response to it.
There is doubt. You never know, ultimately,
but you've just got to work hard to make it through.
But it's happened now, so, yeah, I'm thrilled with it. It's great.
But of course, no day in Lapland UK would be complete
without a visit to the big man.
Welcome to Father Christmas's house.
It's really cool, isn't it? Father Christmas's house!
Look, you've got Father Christmas's skis, his snow boots, his sled.
Are you ready to come in and see Father Christmas?
Yes! Come on in.
Welcome, welcome.
SANTA: Hello, come on in. Cheery hi.
Hi! Come and sit down.
You're all on the good list.
We've decided to make you all honorary elves.
GASPING Oh, wow!
That means you get your very own golden bells.
Thank you.
And one for you. Thank you.
And one for you. Well done.
Brilliant.
ALISON: I think you two working together are quite a dynamic team.
You make it happen.
SANTA: The most wonderful thing about small folk, little children,
is that they believe,
their eyes are open to the wonders of the world.
And as we grow older, sometimes we forget
that believing is what makes things happen.
And when you believe in something
that gives it the possibility of becoming a real thing.
So we should all carry on believing.
Oh, thank you so much!
I'm 30 years old, but on Christmas Eve, we still have a call,
and my mum still reads us that book.
We used to come down in the morning, grab our stockings,
and go and sit on my parents' bed.
Pigs in blankets. Can't beat a pig in blanket.
I love Christmas.
Yeah, it's a special time.
ALISON: It's everything, isn't it?
To be able to share this joy with these families,
that's why we're here.
MIKE: And those are the years that you really want to witness
your children being those innocent souls.
Merry Christmas!
Cheery byes!
Ho-ho-ho-ho-ho-ho!
Subtitles by Red Bee Media