Sveriges Television's Christmas calendar

Sveriges Television's Christmas calendar
Also known as Sveriges Televisions julkalender
Genre children
Country of origin Sweden
Original language(s) Swedish
Broadcast
Original channel SVT
Original airing 27 November 1960

Sveriges Television's Christmas calendar (Swedish: Sveriges Televisions julkalender) or Sveriges Television's Advent calendar (Swedish: Sveriges Televisions adventskalender) is a Christmas calendar TV series for children, broadcast by Sveriges Television (Sweden's Television) since 1960 and has developed into a living part of contemporary Swedish Christmas tradition.[1][2]

Every series consists of 24 episodes (with a few exceptions), broadcast daily 1–24 December. The theme for most series have some connection to Christmas. Prior to 1971 it was called Adventskalendern.[1] Sveriges Radio also has a tradition of broadcasting a similar series in radio each year and prior to 1973, it was always the same series in radio and on TV (with a few differences in adaptation, depending on the medium), but since then, it has been a different series in radio and on TV. In the beginning, the series began on Advent Sunday, but nowadays, it always starts on 1 December; it has always ended on Christmas Eve (24 December). Thus, for instance, the 1967 series Gumman som blev liten som en tesked had only 22 episodes, since Advent Sunday of that year was 3 December.

Along with each series, there is always the possibility to buy a paper calendar with a window to open each day. These are available in most Swedish retails, shops, supermarkets etc. and the windows usually contain images of something to do with the plot of that day's episode.

Every series from 1988 and onwards has been published on DVD (except for the 2013 series, which is expected to come out in October 2014), as well as some series before that. From the 1980s, all but the 1980 and 1987 series have been published. From the 1960s, the 1967 and 1969 series are available and from the 1970s the 1972, 1973, 1974, 1977, 1978 and 1979 series. Until 2011, the older series were published by Pan Vision, but from 2012, the publication has been taken over by Scanbox Entertainment. There are usually two or three new series published in the autumn each year.

List

Year Title[2] English translation DVD release date Notes
1960 Titteliture Titteliture TBA The premiere was on 27 November (Advent Sunday) and not 1 December, but the series still contained 24 episodes, since Swedish Television did not broadcast on Wednesdays at this time.
1961 Julbåten Juliana The Christmas Boat Juliana TBA
1962 Tomtefamiljen i Storskogen The Santa Claus Family in the Big Woods TBA
1963 Den tänkande brevbäraren The Thinking Postman TBA This calendar is also known as Brevbäraren vid TV-gatan (The Mailman on TV Street; in radio, it was called Brevbäraren vid Radiogränd [The Mailman in Radio Alley]) and the mailman was played by Stig Grybe.
1964 Lill-Stina på reportage i Storskogen Little Stina on a Report Mission to the Big Woods TBA
1965 Farbror Pekkas handelsbod Mr. Pekka's Shop TBA The at the time very popular Pekka Langer had a shop in the woods.
1966 En småstad vid seklets början A Small Town at the Beginning of the Century. TBA In radio, it was called En jul för 50 år sedan (A Christmas 50 years ago) and it was set just before World War I.
1967 Gumman som blev liten som en tesked The Little Old Lady who Became Small as a Teaspoon 21 October 2009 Birgitta Andersson played Teskedsgumman (Mrs. Pepperpot) and Carl-Gustaf Lindstedt played her husband. The series began on 3 December (Advent Sunday), so there were only 22 episodes and not 24. In 1973 there were new episodes made in colour. This series was simply called Teskedsgumman, but it was not a Christmas calendar.
1968 Klart spår till Tomteboda All Aboard for Tomteboda TBA
1969 Herkules Jonssons storverk Herkules Jonsson's Labours 26 October 2006 The boy Herkules Jonsson was played by James Dickson, while his dad "Bara Jonsson" was played by Tage Danielsson, who also wrote and produced the series. This was the first time the calendar was made in colour. The series contained 25 episodes instead of 24, since it began on 30 November (Advent Sunday).
1970 Regnbågslandet The Rainbow Land TBA
1971 Broster, Broster! Broster, Broster! TBA The series concerned a family, expecting a new family member at Christmas. As the other children in the family did not know whether they would have a brother or a sister, they combined the two words into "broster".
1972 Barnen i Höjden The Children in the Height 23 oktober 2013
1973 Mumindalen Moominvalley 26 October 2005 This was the first time the calendar was broadcast on Swedish Channel 2, which not everyone in the country could watch at the time. This was also the first time there were different calendars in radio and on TV.
1974 Rulle på Rullseröd Rulle at Rullseröd 24 October 2012
1975 Långtradarchaufförens berättelser The Lorry Driver's Stories TBA Beppe Wolgers played the lorry driver, who was told various stories by hitchhikers.
1976 Gumman som blev liten som en tesked The Little Old Lady who Became Small as a Teaspoon 21 October 2009 Rerun from 1967.
1977 Fem myror är fler än fyra elefanter Five Ants Are More than Four Elephants 26 November 2008 The original series was broadcast in 1973 and 1975. This series contained parts from the original one, with sequences of "window opening" with the three main characters Magnus, Brasse and Eva added. The windows of the calendar were not numbered, but had letters on them. Since each episode concerned one of the letters of the Swedish alphabet, this calendar had 28 episodes and therefore started on 27 November (which happened to be Advent Sunday). The window openings and parts of the episodes themselves are included in the DVD box with the original series.
1978 Julius Julskötare Julius, the Christmas Caretaker 23 oktober 2013 Björn Skifs played Julius.
1979 Trolltider Troll Times 19 November 2001 Birgitta Andersson and Eva Rydberg played the main characters, two trolls.
1980 Det blir jul på Möllegården It Will Be Christmas on the Mölle Farm TBA
1981 Stjärnhuset The Star House 26 October 2011 Sif Ruud told Johannes Brost about Greek mythology.
1982 Albert & Herberts julkalender Albert & Herbert's Christmas Calendar 23 October 2002 A Christmas spin-off from Albert & Herbert, which in turn, was a Swedish remake of the British series Steptoe and Son.
1983 Lille Luj och Änglaljus i strumpornas hus Little Eluy and Angel Light in the House of Stockings 26 October 2011 Staffan Westerberg made this calendar where his figures of Lillstrumpa och Syster Yster (Little Sock and Sister Skittish) turned up for the first time.
1984 Julstrul med Staffan & Bengt Christmas Troubles with Staffan & Bengt 24 October 2007
1985 Trolltider med trollkalender Troll Times with the Troll Calendar 19 November 2001 Rerun from 1979.
1986 Julpussar och stjärnsmällar Christmas Kisses and Star Explosions 20 October 2010
1987 Marias barn Mary's Child TBA
1988 Liv i luckan med julkalendern Life in the [Calendar] Window with the Christmas Calendar 31 oktober 2012
1989 T. Sventon praktiserande privatdetektiv T. Sventon, Consulting Detective 26 October 2005
1990 Kurt Olssons julkalender Kurt Olsson's Christmas Calendar 20 October 2004
1991 Sunes jul Sune's Christmas 20 October 2004 Also had a spin-off in the 1993 film Sune's Summer.
1992 Klasses julkalender Klasse's Christmas Calendar 21 October 2009 This is the only time the Calendar has been broadcasten live, since people could make phone calls to it. The episodes were unusually long (30 minutes) and it began on 29 November (Advent Sunday), so there were 26 episodes all in all.
1993 Tomtemaskinen The Santa Claus Machine 19 November 2001
1994 Håll huvudet kallt Keep Your Head Cool 20 October 2010
1995 Jul i Kapernaum Christmas in Capernaum 27 October 2006 Each episode consisted of two parts – one with a continuous adventure played by actors and one with free standing episodes with puppets. The entire series was published on VHS, but the DVD edition only contains the continuous adventure.
1996 Mysteriet på Greveholm The Mystery of Greveholm 19 November 2001 This was the first Christmas calendar that had its own website.
1997 Pelle Svanslös Peter No-Tail 19 November 2001 This series had a spin-off in the movie Pelle Svanslös och den stora sKattjakten (Peter No-Tail and the Big Treasure Hunt) in 2000, where the K in "sKattjakten" is capitalised as a note to the fact that all the characters are cats (Swedish "katt").
1998 När karusellerna sover When the Carousels Sleep 27 October 2006 It was filmed in Liseberg
1999 Julens hjältar The Heroes of Christmas 19 November 2001
2000 Ronny & Julia Ronny & Julia 27 October 2006
2001 Kaspar i Nudådalen Caspar in the Now-Then-Valley 24 October 2002
2002 Dieselråttor & sjömansmöss Diesel Rats and Sailor Mice 22 October 2003
2003 Håkan Bråkan Håkan the Trouble Maker 20 October 2004 This series had a spin-off in the movie Håkan Bråkan & Josef in 2004.
2004 Allrams höjdarpaket Allram's Hit Parcel 25 November 2005 The main characters Allram Eest and Tjet (two puppets) made their debut in the series Allra mest tecknat in 2002.
2005 En decemberdröm A December Dream 27 October 2006
2006 LasseMajas detektivbyrå LasseMaja's Detective Agency 7 February 2007 This was the first Christmas calendar broadcast in HDTV (720p). It had a spin-off in the movie LasseMajas detektivbyrå – Kameleontens hämnd in 2008.
2007 En riktig jul A Real Christmas 21 November 2008
2008 Skägget i brevlådan The Beard in the Mailbox 21 October 2009
2009 Superhjältejul Superhero Christmas 20 October 2010 The main characters Supersnällasilversara and Stålhenrik made their debut in Swedish Television's children's show Bolibompa and then had their own series Supersnällasilversara och Stålhenrik in 2004.
2010 Hotell Gyllene knorren The Hotel The Golden Twist 26 January 2011 This series also had a spin-off in the movie Hotell Gyllene Knorren – Filmen in 2011.
2011 Tjuvarnas jul The Thieves' Christmas 14 November 2012
2012 Mysteriet på Greveholm: Grevens återkomst[3] Mystery at Greveholm: Return of the Count 13 February 2013 This series is a sequel from the 1996 years Christmas calendar, Mysteriet på Greveholm.
2013 Barna Hedenhös uppfinner julen The Hedenhös Children Invent Christmas TBA This series is based on the books by Children's Author, Bertil Almqvist
2014 Piratskattens hemlighet The Secret of the Pirate Treasure TBA This series was be filmed in Croatia, becoming the first Sveriges Television's Christmas calendar program to be mostly filmed outside of Sweden.
2015 Historieätarna History Eaters TBA
Year Title English translation DVD release date Notes

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Julkalendern". Nationalencyklopedin (in Swedish). Retrieved 26 February 2010. (subscription required)
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Varsågod - alla SVTs julkalendrar" (in Swedish). Sveriges Television. Archived from the original on 4 April 2012. Retrieved 4 April 2012.
  3. ↑ Rothenborg, Ole (4 April 2012). "Till jul spökar det på Greveholm igen". Dagens Nyheter (in Swedish). Archived from the original on 4 April 2012. Retrieved 4 April 2012.

Further reading

  • Stenudd, Solveig (1994). Teskedsgumman, Pettson och alla de andra: Julkalendern i radio och TV genom tiderna. Stockholm: Sveriges radio. ISBN 91-522-1751-5.

External links