It's a Wonderful Life

During the Vietnam War, North Vietnamese VietCong guerrillas built a vast network of tunnels in the south of the country as part of the insurgency against the South Vietnamese government and their American allies. The tunnel network was a key base and shelter for the North Vietna ...  Show more

In the early hours of 14 February 1981, a fire broke out at the Stardust nightclub in Artane, Dublin which was filled with more than 800 people. The blaze killed 48 people and injured 200. A tribunal in 1983 found the cause to be probable arson. This was rejected by many victims' ...  Show more

Released in 1946, Frank Capra’s fable of Christmas despair in small town America has become – rather improbably – a staple of festive television. Starring Jimmy Stewart as virtuous everyman George Bailey, It’s A Wonderful Life is not just a feelgood tale of moral redemption, but ...  Show more

In episode six of A Cinematic Christmas Journey, Peter Billingsley and Nick Schenk are discussing It's A Wonderful Life. They discuss the legendary and brave career of Jimmy Stewart, the error that led to this movie's rise to popularity, and more as they go through the central th ...  Show more

Festive favourite 'It’s a Wonderful Life' originated as a short story transcribed into Christmas cards by its author Philip Van Doren Stern. But it received disappointing box office returns following its premiere on 20th December, 1946 - and was not considered ‘a classic’ for dec ...  Show more

We hear from eye-witnesses to some classic moments in cinema history – from It’s a Wonderful Life to Satyajit Ray’s Apu trilogy via Studio Ghibli, the Sound of Music and Charlie Chaplin’s Great Dictator.

Plus, film critic Helen O’Hara tells us about the history of Christ ...