Who'll have the Christmas No.1 hit? It's the hot question every year. Cutting a seasonal number might seem the obvious route, but it's never guaranteed to work. After all The Pogues' Fairytale of New York was pipped bythe Pet Shop Boys' You Were Always On My Mind in 1987.

Yet every No.1 Christmas song included here is memorable in it's own way. From Al Martino's romantic 1952 ballad through to Slade's raucous Merry XmasEverybody right up to Alexandra Burke's reprise of Leonard Cohen's anthemic Hallelujah in 2008, the Christmas No.1 has always had its own special magic.

Here then, spanning some 56 seasons of goodwill, is atruly classic collection of sparkling songs that made it to the very top of the Christmas tree.