00:00I set up a Santa school in 1998. I did.
00:07I got this one job on Oxford Street that I needed Father Christmas for
00:12and then I started getting other bookings as well.
00:15So it got to the point where I'd be training 20 or 30 people every year
00:19and we would look at everything to do with the role, from the costume obviously.
00:23I had to get a lot of costumes made and to get a good costume and a good beard
00:27and because not everyone's got their own beard, so you need to make sure that
00:30Father Christmas is wearing a beard that is authentic looking.
00:32They can be £1,000 each and the costume can be £1,000 each.
00:35So, you know, to kit out a really good Santa, you're looking at maybe £2,000 just on the costume and the beard.
00:41Then, having done that, you've got to make sure when you're teaching a performer to be Father Christmas
00:46that they know not only about their own past as a character.
00:49So, Bosius Nikolaus was born in AD 280 in a place called Potara in Asia Minor, which is Turkey now.
00:57And then he ends up in the North Pole. How did that happen?
01:00So there's a lot of history in between there that they need to be aware of.
01:03And the costume, as I say, needs to look amazing.
01:06You need to always have your buckles straight.
01:08You need to make sure that everything about you looks incredible at all moments.
01:13Your beard needs to be great. Your eyes, of course, need to be sparkling.
01:16You can't imagine when you're having a photograph taken as Father Christmas.
01:19Your eyes need to look very jolly, so that's very important too.
01:22You need to know the names of the reindeer.
01:24Likewise, when the children are leaving on a snack for Father Christmas,
01:27it's very important they don't just leave out one carrot.
01:29Or they can leave out one carrot, but they need to chop it into nine pieces,
01:33with an adult's help, obviously, so that each of the reindeer get a chunk.
01:36These are all details that Father Christmas needs to know about.
01:39You also need to know what's going to happen if a child doesn't have a chimney.
01:42That can be a moment of great worry for a child.
01:44And, of course, Father Christmas has a magic key, which allows him to deliver presents anywhere.
01:49It's also very important when you are Father Christmas that you never ask a child their name,
01:53because you know.
01:55Any child that you meet you've met before, unless they're a little baby,
01:59you met them last year.
02:00So why would you ask them their name?
02:02So it's very important you know the child's name when they come to see you.
02:05And also the subject of knowing what they want for Christmas is very important too.
02:10So you need to make sure that the letter has been written,
02:12and you've had a sneak preview beforehand.
02:15And that way you can always make sure that the child is reassured
02:19that they're going to get the presents that they've asked for.
02:21Or at least they're going to get something marvellous.
02:23It's a moment of great worry for parents when a child asks for something huge.
02:28And then you can see the parents going white with fear in the background.
02:31And then it's your job to say,
02:33Well, whatever I do bring you, it'll be something marvellous.
02:36And it'll be brought with all the love in the world.
02:38Which is very important.
02:40So you haven't over promised, but you made sure that they know they're going to get something nice.
