OrbitTv/docs/advent-on-orbit-proposal.md

Advent on Orbit: design and editorial rules (proposal, read only)

4 November 2026, Paul's seasonal concept. Not implemented and not scheduled. This is for approval only, and the Drive-In's Christmas triple bill on Saturday 19 December stays an independent event.

The idea

From 1 to 25 December, Orbit opens one advent-calendar door a day. Behind each door is that day's confirmed Christmas film, on one channel at a fixed time. A numbered door ident plays before the film and opens to reveal it. Christmas Day is Door 25, with its own special presentation.

What the library has

From the box's catalogue as of today, read only:

• 1,290 Christmas films of feature length with an IMDb ID. Most are recent made-for-TV films: 589 from the 2020s and 475 from the 2010s.
• Well-known titles: 47 are found, including:
  • It's a Wonderful Life, White Christmas and Miracle on 34th Street (1947);
  • Scrooged, Gremlins, Die Hard, Trading Places and National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation;
  • Home Alone, Jingle All the Way, The Santa Clause and The Muppet Christmas Carol;
  • Elf, Love Actually, The Holiday, Arthur Christmas, Klaus and The Polar Express;
  • Nativity! and Get Santa, which are British;
  • Krampus and Black Christmas.

So 25 strong films is easy, without leaning on made-for-TV filler.

Editorial rules

1. One door, one confirmed film. A door shows only a booked, verified film: the exact item and IMDb ID, playable on the box, rested, and with no clash.
   • Before booking: a door never reveals a proposal.
   • If the booking falls through: the door shows the channel's normal ident instead. It never shows a wrong or missing reveal.
2. The door number comes from the broadcast date. It's the day of the month in local time on the day the film starts.
   • A film starting at 00:30 on the 12th is Door 12.
   • Door numbers are never stored separately, so they can't drift from the booking.
3. The reveal comes from the booking. The title and artwork are read from the confirmed entry at play time, as Ring X's PPV and the Premiere lower third already work.
4. The best-loved films go to the strongest nights:
   • big crowd-pleasers on the weekends;
   • the classics on the last nights, 22 to 24 December;
   • Door 25: a film everyone knows, at a family time such as 15:00 or 17:00. My suggestion is It's a Wonderful Life, but it can't be the same film as the Drive-In's triple. So it's either another classic for Door 25, or a different opener for the Drive-In. That choice is yours.
5. No repeats within Advent. Each of the 25 doors is a different film, and none repeats the Drive-In's Christmas triple.
6. Suitable for the slot:
   • family films (U, PG, G or TV-G) before 21:00;
   • Krampus, Black Christmas, Bad Santa and Violent Night only after 21:00, and only on a channel that already carries that tone.
7. Each channel keeps its identity. Advent borrows a channel's slot without changing what the channel is.
   • Only films that fit the host channel are used: Wonder gets family films, BritX British ones.
   • The channel's own programmes resume after the film.

Channels

Option	How	Fits
A. One home	Every door on one channel at one time, such as Orbit Premiere at 18:00	Simplest to find and promote. Premiere's big-film identity suits the classics
B. A trail across channels (recommended)	Each door on the channel that suits its film, at a set time such as 18:00	Wonder for family and animation (Klaus, Arthur Christmas, The Polar Express), VHS for the 80s and 90s (Gremlins, Scrooged, Home Alone, Jingle All the Way), Premiere for the big classics, BritX for British (Nativity!, Get Santa, Love Actually)
C. Wonder only	Family Advent for the kids, at teatime	Smallest change; misses the grown-up classics

With option B, What's On's "Door 12 tonight" card always points to the right channel.

Presentation

The door ident is one shared 4-second clip:

• an advent calendar wall in Orbit's navy and gold;
• one door lights up and opens;
• the app draws the door number and the film's title and artwork from the booking, as the existing overlays do.

It's a single video for all 24 doors, so the app stays small.

Door 25 has its own clip: the big double door, with snow and gold.

Like every ident: silent by default, with a still last half-second. If the clip or artwork is missing, the channel's normal ident plays instead.

Promotion:

• What's On shows "Advent on Orbit · Door N tonight" only for a confirmed booking.
• The guide marks the programme with a small door number.

What it would need (later, each with your approval)

1. The Advent list: 25 films, verified like the Drive-In events (item, IMDb, playability, rest), each assigned to its date, channel and time. I'd bring this as a proposal first.
2. The booking: fixed slots on the host channels, booked like the Vortex premiere.
   • Bookings already made are never rewritten.
   • Each door must be booked before that channel's week-ahead booking reaches its date. The first is 1 December, so it would need to be installed by about 23 November.
3. The two clips: the door wall and Door 25, as design previews for your approval.
4. Tests:
   • the door number from the start date, including after midnight and across the clock change;
   • the reveal only from a confirmed booking;
   • the fallback when unbooked;
   • no repeats;
   • no clash with the Drive-In triple or any channel;
   • What's On shows confirmed doors only.

Decisions for you

• Channels: option A, B or C. B is recommended.
• The time of each door.
• Door 25's film, and whether It's a Wonderful Life stays in the Drive-In triple.
• Whether grown-up Christmas films such as Krampus or Bad Santa have any place in Advent, or stay off it.