Virgin TV lights up Christmas with school play competition

• Virgin TV’s Christmas Stars competition will see a UK primary school’s festive play made available to millions of TV viewers
• The winning school will be joined by TV presenter, Stephen Mulhern, who will play the role of narrator in a special performance filmed at the school in front of a live audience exclusively for Virgin TV 

Virgin Media is on the hunt for the nation’s best school Christmas play in a new competition being announced.

The Virgin TV Christmas Stars competition is giving primary schools across the UK the chance to have their Christmas play produced for millions of TV viewers.

The company will film a special recording of the winning school’s festive production and make it available, via on-demand, to its four million Virgin TV customers in the days leading up to Christmas.

As part of the money-can’t-buy-prize, the winners will work with popular TV entertainer and magician, Stephen Mulhern, who will join the school’s cast, playing the role of narrator for a one-off performance.

The winning school will also be awarded £5,000 while a runner up will receive £1,000. Twenty two schools will be given £100 for reaching the final stage of the competition, too.

David Bouchier, Chief Digital Entertainment Officer at Virgin Media, said: 

“School Christmas plays are some of the most heart-warming moments of the year and we want to share this magic with millions of our Virgin TV customers.

“Whether it’s a traditional nativity featuring Mary and Joseph or a new tale with a talking snowman, we want to take the UK’s best festive school play from the school hall into our customers’ homes.

“With the amazing opportunity to work with Stephen Mulhern, this is a cracker of a prize and we can’t wait to see what primary schools have in store for us.”

Stephen Mulhern said: “Christmas is one of my favourite times of the year and I’m so excited to play the narrator in the UK’s best primary school festive play and to be able to share it with millions of Virgin TV customers this Christmas.”

Entering the competition

Schools can enter Virgin TV’s Christmas Stars competition via www.virginmedia.com/christmas. The competition closes before midnight on Tuesday 27 November.

Schools can showcase their pupils’ acting, singing and dancing talents by entering any type of Christmas play – from a traditional nativity to a contemporary tale.  The production must have an original script and be between 30 and 60 minutes in length.  The special performance will be filmed during the week commencing 10 December at the winning school.

To enter, primary schools need to submit answers to the question: “why your Christmas play should be made available to 4 million Virgin TV customers this Christmas?” and send either a poster or image promoting their production.

A panel of judges comprising of members of Virgin Media’s Executive Committee, Stephen Mulhern, and Lisa Prime, BAFTA’s Children’s Events Programmer, who will preside over a shortlist of 24 entries (two entries representing 12 geographical areas which make up the UK) before selecting the overall winner and runner up.

Entries will be judged on their creativity, originality and involvement of the children.

The competition’s terms and conditions can be viewed at www.virginmedia.com/christmas.

Note to editors:

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