John Lewis drops low budget advert for Christmas 2022

Forget about Halloween ending and your local festive light switch-on, everybody knows that when the annual John Lewis advert lands, that’s when Christmas really begins.

And the wait is no longer over, as the department store has released its Christmas advert today (11 November), and it’s adorable. Check it out here (and make sure you have a tissue to hand!):

The brand-new advert is titled ‘The Beginner’ and sees a middle aged man try to become a skateboarder.

As he tumbles and tries to sort his footing, much to the amusement of his wife, who watches on from the distance.

We soon realise that the man is learning his new hobby so that the shy foster kid, Ellie, staying with his family feels more comfortable.

And we're not crying, you are!

The advert has been a long time coming and was teased by John Lewis yesterday on Twitter, where they shared a clip of someone rolling along a Christmas tree on a skateboard before welcoming the beacon of the festive season into their home to begin decorating.

@JohnLewisRetail / Twitter

The tear-jerking short film has become a crucial moment in the Christmas calendar, and TV viewers everywhere will recall previous adverts from the brand which has showed the likes of two snowmen falling in love, a bear who was woken up from hibernation so he could experience Christmas for the first time to a budding friendship between a boy and an alien.

Christmas lovers will probably recall the latter, which was shown on our screens last year and featured Nathan and Skye, who he helped find out why Christmas is so magical for herself - including eating mince pies without the wrapper on.

John Lewis

Their friendship grew as the unlikely pals watched gushy Christmas films (a must for the festive season) and had a snowball fight until Nathan ran to the woods to see Skye off as she headed back into the depths of space.

The tearful moment came for onlookers after Nathan rushed to gift her the Christmas jumper which he was wearing when they first met - which, of course, has twinkly lights and plays an annoying Christmas tune, another must for the season of giving.

The song behind the sweet 2021 advert was 'Together In Electric Dreams' by Lola Young, an acoustic cover of Phillip Oakley & Giorgio Moroder’s 80s classic.

Now it's The Beginner's time, what do you think of the new ad?