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'It was the most special thing in the world' - Ray D'Arcy's lovely memories of Christmas on The Den
Source: RTÉ
CHRISTMAS MORNING IN Irish households in the eighties and nineties were dominated by two things: rushing to see what Santa had brought, and The Den.
There was nothing quite like turning on the telly at 7am to be greeted by Zig and Zag, and Ian or Ray, to take the excitement up to fever pitch.
Last year we brought you Ian Dempsey's memories of that wonderful festive tradition. And this time round we caught up with Ray to reminisce about...
RTÉ on Christmas morning
Like Ian, Ray and co would pre-record an opening link for 7am, and then play a Christmas film. After the film it was live in studio for a couple of hours of festive Den magic; madness with Zig and Zag, a blast of Ducktales or The Racooons, and excited phone calls from kids.
Killianm2 / YouTube Killianm2 / YouTube / YouTube
Ray remembers:
He also remembers the halls of RTÉ being fairly empty with just a few of them "rattling around":
On working at Christmas
Killianm2 / YouTube Killianm2 / YouTube / YouTube
On Christmas Crisis
D'Arcy took part in several Den Christmas specials over the years, but the most enduringly popular is definitely 1992's Christmas Crisis.
Christmas Crisis saw Ray and the lads living in 10 Celebrity Square, with Postman Patrick (played by the genuinely terrifying Podge) causing all kinds of trouble (including breaking Ray's Pierre Du Plonk clock and stealing his Scent of Man), culminating in an emergency trip to Lapland to see Santa.
Ray remembers:
Of course it was Podge posing as Postman Patrick who had been up to no good. D'Arcy said "there was a real evil" in the character. So much so that RTÉ had letters and phonecalls from parents about their children's fear of Podge.
Christmas Crisis made use of all the resources that RTÉ had to offer, from a new state-of-the-art TV gallery doubling as Santa's HQ:
To Crimeline getting involved into the investigation at 10 Celebrity Square:
And of course, there was the trip to Finland to see Santa in Lapland, to make sure Zig was going to be fully exonerated in time for Christmas.
Ray remembers having fun with the crew both on and off screen, particularly throwing in a "great Finnish" joke whenever they could.
On that famous Christmas visit from Mary Robinson
RTÉ RTÉ
D'Arcy remembers that Robinson's nine-year-old son Aubrey was a great fan of The Den, and the sport of the President-elect challenging Dustin on his assertion that she had smelly feet.
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Finally, on that pesky Ted
D'Arcy jokes:
Ray, of course, spent many Dens wrestling with Ted, and he remembers it was the days when he was feeling a little worse for wear that Ted would be at his most active.
He also recalls bleeding from the head live on air one day, after a particularly rough bout with Ted.
But of his time at The Den on Christmas mornings, Ray says:
We think so too! Happy Christmas Ray, Zig, Zag, Dustin, Zuppy and Soky, wherever you are today! From all at DailyEdge.ie
Read: 'It was absolutely live' - Ian Dempsey reminisces on Christmas morning in The Den>
The Den Christmas Crisis: Ray, Zig and Zag save the day>
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