A Winchester lecturer has scooped a top slot on Christmas morning TV for the screening of his film, The Christmas Storykeepers.

The feature-length children's film re-tells the story of the Nativity and is expected to be viewed by millions. It has also been endorsed by D. George Carey, Archbishop of Canterbury.

Dr Andrew Melrose, director of the MA Writing for Children course at King Alfred's College, is thrilled that his film will be transmitted on December 25th.

"The Christmas Storykeepers is a musical Nativity story, set in 64 AD in Rome and I'm delighted that it has such a prestigious slot, especially as another episode in The Storytellers series is being transmitted on Christmas Eve," he said.

This is the end of a particularly good year for Dr Melrose, in which he has released three books, including Write for Children and Magic Mr Edison, while another film and an animation series is in development with the Oscar-nominated film director, Jimmy Murakami, responsible for The Snowman, When the Wind Blows and Battle Beyond the Stars.