CHILDREN from a Bradford drama school have become familiar TV faces this Christmas, starring in a total of seven festive adverts, including the heartwarming ‘Imaginary Iggy’ ad for McDonald’s.

From the first sight of the Coca-Cola trucks rattling along to the chant of ‘Holidays Are Coming’ to speculation about what John Lewis will pull out of the bag this year, Christmas adverts are a staple of the festive season. And this year nine youngsters from Articulate appear in commercials for some of the world’s biggest brands.

Stacey Burrows, owner of Baildon-based Articulate, said: “There is no doubt that there’s a lot of talent in the North, particularly in Yorkshire, and we recruit the best teachers in the business. Our tutors include Kirsty Armstrong (who was in My Mad Fat Diary on Netflix) and Lee Otway (former Hollyoaks star), both working television actors with years of teaching experience.”

This isn’t the first year that youngsters from Articulate have appeared in festive adverts. Brothers Austin and Rocco Haynes starred in the 2020 Co-op Christmas advert, as two boys busking Oasis hit Round Are Way. “Austin and Rocco recorded the track in a studio, with Austin playing the guitar. The ad won pretty much every child casting award going this year and the boys have gone on to some great acting jobs,” said Stacey.

The Articulate youngsters in this year’s Christmas adverts are:

* Matilda Firth, six, of Leeds, shares the same name as the little girl she plays in the McDonald’s advert currently tugging at the nation’s heartstrings. The ad shows Matilda’s bond with her imaginary childhood friend, Iggy, but as she grows older he takes a back seat in her life...until, as a young woman, she spots a little boy feeding his imaginary friend in the fast food restaurant, leading her to reunite with furry pal Iggy at Christmas.

“Filming it made me feel very happy,” said Matilda. “My teacher showed it in class at school. When we saw it for the first time on TV I asked my mum if we could watch it again straight away.”

Said Stacey: “The advert is brilliant - a real tearjerker. The reaction from the public has been incredible. Matilda has racked up a great acting CV since starting with us, including films, TV shows and commercials.”

* Owen Phillips, 10, stars in two festive ads. His ice skating skills - he skates competitively at national level - landed him a role in Asda’s commercial, which sees a family skating through the festive season, from a school Nativity through shopping and an office party and finally to Christmas dinner. Owen, who has been in TV hit Gentleman Jack, plays a boy dressed as a Christmas pudding skating through the set.

“Getting choreography from Dan Whiston (former Dancing on Ice champion) for the Asda advert was like a dream like something only celebrity skaters ever get to do,” said Owen. “Also, being able to do the advert to Torvill and Dean’s winning song from the Olympics was awesome.”

Owen is also in an advert for Nintendo which was filmed in Bucharest, Romania.

* Megan Sanasy, seven, makes her first TV appearance in an Iceland advert, showing her enjoying a festive feast. “It felt like a dream come true and I was really proud of myself,” said Megan/

* Mattea Cooper had to sit at Christmas dinner table in the middle of summer while filming the Lakeland advert. “It wasn’t that strange because I didn’t get to eat any of the food!” she says.

* Matilda Kent is in Studio.com’s ad showing people preparing for the festive season early, wearing Christmas socks and jumpers in summer and putting lights up at Halloween. Looking back on the filming, Matilda said:“I loved it all. But really I liked chatting to my pretend dad. Also the dog was very cute.”

* Tilly Kaye and siblings Isha Kaur and Daya Singh Athwal are in the Facebook Portal advert. Tilly, who play Calamity in Last Tango in Halifax and stars as Biff in CBeebies show Biff and Chip, had to learn a new skill for the ad. “Filming required me to know some tap dancing steps, so prior to filming I was lucky enough to receive a lesson from a professional tap champion,” said Tilly. “I also had a fabulous festive outfit to dress up in.”

Daya is a star of Channel 4’s Secret Lives of 5 Year Olds and Isha is in Biff and Chip, says Daya loves to learn from his older sister, and Isha is proud of him being himself. Says: “This is what it is all about. Drama really allows children to be just be themselves.”

* Aya Maruyama of Bingley teams up with Olympic champion Jessica Ennis-Hill in Sports Direct’s star-studded Christmas commercial. Says Aya: “Meeting Jessica was surreal. I’d looked up to her as a strong female athlete whilst growing up.”

Stacey praised the support of local authorities in Bradford, Leeds, Kirklees, North Yorkshire and Calderdale: “Their safeguarding units provide an invaluable service to agencies such as Articulate and all the other productions that either come to Yorkshire or use Yorkshire-based children.

“When you’re at home this year with your mince pie or festive tipple and you see children on your TV bringing Christmas cheer, chances are that one or some of them are your neighbours. For one agency based in a village in Bradford to bring so much to so many around the UK means the world me and the team at Articulate.”