2. White Beard

From shops to parades, in hospitals and on high streets, Santa is a busy man, much in demand. A man, it turns out, with as many pasts as presents.

And now Santa unwraps his multiple life stories from across the decades.

Playing Santa is often the last job in a lifetime of work. Donning the red and white costume is often a way to reconnect with a new generation in the age of want, as Alan Dein discovers.

Producers: Mark Burman and Paula McGinley

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in December 2009.