BBC One's Christmas trailer is melting hearts

Watch out, John Lewis - your competition is officially here and it's a tearjerker

BBC One has officially heralded in the start of the festive season with a new promo destined to pull at the heartstrings.

The clip, achieved through a mixture of stop-motion and animation, is titled "Supporting Act", featuring the story of a young girl readying herself for her school's annual festive talent show - though her father is seemingly too distracted with work to support her.

Or so we think. As she takes to the stage and freezes under the glare of the audience, her dad steps out of the crowd to help guide her through the moves, in a dance accompanied by Clean Bandit and Zara Larsson's "Symphony".

Working with award-winning director Elliot Dear at Blinkink, the short also takes a radical new approach to animation, combining traditional stop-motion puppets with CGI created facial expressions.

The internet did not take this calmly.

Though the promo isn't advertising any particular programming, The BBC has recently announced a huge boxset offer which could challenge Netflix and other streaming services over the Christmas period.

Some of its best series will appear in full on BBC iPlayer, including the first three seasons of Peaky Blinders, hit series Taboo, and the Golden Globe-winning adaptation of Wolf Hall. Every series of Line of Duty and Happy Valley, along with series three and four of Sherlock, will appear on the streaming service. Fans of EastEnders will be able to watch classic Christmas episodes, including the affair between Max and Stacey (2007) and Den and Angie's divorce (1986).

Most series will be made available for 30 days from 16 December, so you'll have plenty of time to binge on your favourites over the holiday season.

Plus, expect BBC One to host all your Christmas favourites including the regeneration of Doctor Who, the return of Call the Midwife, a Big Christmas Thank You with Mary Berry, Mel and Sue, and great new drama with The Miniaturist, McMafia, and Little Women.

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