As a man who first played Santa Claus at a department store at the age of 25 – he’s had a hard life – Mervyn ought to know something about the magic of the festive season. Hear what it is like to play Father Christmas whilst wearing your Mum’s blusher on your cheeks and Tippex on your eyebrows. Come, all ye faithful, to a talk that looks at Christmas shopping, favourite toys, customs and a politically-correct Yuletide.

Enter Mervyn’s winter wonderland of ice-skating on Rudyard Lake, White Christmases, Geordie Santas and Father Christmas’s nicotine break. As Mervyn says, this talk is like a big, fat Christmas pudding: full of interesting ingredients and spice and guaranteed to make you rush to the toilet.

Put on your best Christmas jumper and your fake antlers, and join Mervyn for some tidings of comfort and joy.