RIGHT – get those tissues out and prepare to have your emotions bombarded. It’s time for the Christmas TV adverts.

Each year, we’re subjected to much public sharpening of the brightest advertising brains linked to the huge budgets of the biggest companies, all combining in impressive segments of commercial festive messages.

The main one, of course, is “buy our goods” but it can be so subtlety wrapped that we automatically take it as entertainment – which, in fairness, it often is.

Like all the best Christmas adverts, the new John Lewis offering not only tugs at the heartstrings but has a genuine social care message to impart. It centres around a solitary elderly man living on the moon, gazing wistfully at earth. A little girl with a telescope tries to cheer him up, and succeeds. Cue much tearing up and guilt about not contacting older relatives.

So, not a bad result, really.