The Greatest Store in the World

1999 British film

24 December 1999 (1999-12-24)

CountryUnited KingdomLanguageEnglish

The Greatest Store in the World is a book written by Alex Shearer, later made into a made-for-television film which was broadcast on 24 December 1999 by CBBC (on BBC One). The TV movie has been shown a few times at Christmas on the CBBC channel. It was filmed in the famous London department store Harrods (though the name "Harrods" is not used in the story).

Plot

The story is told in flashback by Livvy (played by Elizabeth Earl), a bright young girl who is in police custody on Christmas Day. As she is questioned, she reveals that for several days, she and her equally resourceful mother Geraldine (Dervla Kirwan) and younger sister Angeline (Holly Earl) have been living in a department store called "Scottley's" since their camper van blew up. As the story progresses, the family deal with outsmarting staff, in particular Mr Whiskers (Peter Capaldi) the friendly but suspicious doorman, icy deputy manager Miss Greystone (Helen Schlesinger), and Santa (Ricky Tomlinson) and his elf (Sean Hughes). There is also a guest appearance from S Club 7 in an advertising stunt by department store owner Mr Scottley (Brian Blessed). On Christmas morning, Ms Greystone, Santa and his elf attempt to burgle the store safe.