About this episode

The episode explores the concept of a Victorian Christmas through the lens of silent films with guest Sarah Cook.

It's that time of year again! In today's episode - a festive special featuring plenty of yule tide tangents - we talk to author Sarah Cook about 'silent' Christmas. Digital Content Manager Christina Webber has questions: were Christmas movies a thing in the silent era? Would we recognise some of the tropes of today's Christmas film in the movies made a century ago? And why does the iconography of a Victorian Christmas still have such a hold on our imaginations? Listen along to Episode 31 to hear about all this and more. As another tempting teaser, Sarah also shares a little bit with us on 'creepy' Christmas - see below - and we've included a plethora of additional reading and viewing links in the show notes in case your interest is suitably piqued... Additional reading/ relevant links: Read the full English transcript of this episode Read 'The best Christmas films of the Silent Era' by Sarah Cook (courtesy of Film Stories) Watch Santa Claus (1898) on BFI Player Watch Harold Shaw's A Christmas Carol (1914) on BFI Player Watch The Night Before Christmas (1913) on YouTube Watch HippFest at Home: 'A New Look at Our Oldest Films' , an illustrated presentation on Victorian film made…

People in this episode

Host: Christina Webber

Guest: Sarah Cook

Topics covered

• Victorian Christmas
• silent film
• Christmas movies
• film history
• iconography

Keywords

• silent film
• Christmas
• Victorian
• Sarah Cook
• film history
• iconography
• yule tide

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: HippFest, V&A, BFI

Books & works: Santa Claus, A Christmas Carol, The Night Before Christmas

More episodes of HippCast

• Feminist film historiographies: in conversation with Kate Saccone · July 31, 2026 · 45 min
• Filmhouse are turning one! · June 26, 2026 · 38 min
• Ben Model's Silent Film Universe · May 31, 2026 · 58 min
• Young voices on 'old cinema'... again again! · April 30, 2026 · 57 min
• HippFest 2026 Programme Picks · February 27, 2026 · 55 min
• HippFest x Cinetopia: a new soundscape for Finis Terrae (1929) · January 31, 2026 · 42 min

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