Use BBC.com or the new BBC App to listen to BBC podcasts, Radio 4 and the World Service outside the UK.

Find out how to listen to other BBC stations

Episode details

Radio 4,23 Dec 2025,14 mins

O'Brien's First Christmas

Christmas Days by Jeanette Winterson

Available for 9 days

O’Brien doesn’t like Christmas. If she goes home to Cork, the aunts will ask about her marriage prospects, her dad will nag her about her job prospects, and her mum will comment on her hair. Faced with another Christmas alone in London, O'Brien strikes up a friendship with the department store Santa. Louisa Harland reads a short story by Jeanette Winterson, from her collection 'Christmas Days'. Abridged by Miranda Emmerson Produced by Emma Harding, Fay Lomas and Mair Bosworth Mixed by Ilse Lademann A BBC Audio production for BBC Radio 4

Programme Website
More episodes