NICHOLAS RALPH’S FESTIVE HIGHS AND LOWS

CHRISTMAS TRADITIONS

I go back to my folks in Nairn every year. My mum and my auntie take it turn about to do the cooking. It is very traditional – all the trimmings. Pigs in blankets. They come out early. We get starting pigs in blankets in a dish while watching Christmas movies. Then we go onto the full turkey. My mum does a homemade chocolate log and there is Christmas pudding as well. I think it is the actor in me, but I always try to get a game of charades going. I’m quite competitive with it – even when I try not to be.

BEST CHILDHOOD CHRISTMAS PRESENT

A Tony Hawk skateboard. I was so excited. I think I would have been around 10. But then on Boxing Day, I tried to do a trick and ended up smashing my shinbone badly. My leg had a big cut and we ended up spending the majority of the day in A&E. So, it went from being the best-ever gift to one that perhaps wasn’t so good – certainly from my parents’ perspective. I continued to have many a happy day on my skateboard afterwards.

BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENT AT CHRISTMAS

One year, I wanted a stunt scooter with thick tyres and grinding pegs like a BMX. My brother and I both wanted one. Neither of us got it. Maybe that was after the skateboard accident?

DREAM GUEST FOR CHRISTMAS DINNER

Gary Oldman. I would ask him about acting, his career and bore him to tears with my questions.

FAVOURITE CHRISTMAS FOOD

I love everything although the pigs in blankets probably edge it.