Directed by Michael Gracey, who went on to make The Greatest Showman, this features a rolling cast bringing gifts to a studio, arranging them in such a way that their shadows combine to create a woman and her dog in the snow. The tagline? ‘Whoever you’re looking for this Christmas.’

‘If you know the person, you'll find the present.’ The first of many epic cover songs to feature in a John Lewis Christmas advert, in this case From Me to You by The Beatles, sung by John Lewis Partners. As actors appeared, they were closely followed by the perfect gift – from an older couple with a satnav to a baby with a toy mouse.

The first of 14 adverts from agency Adam & Eve, this one evoked the childhood joy of opening Christmas gifts. At the end, a child delighting in a new camera morphs into her adult version, feeling the same excitement at the gift. An acoustic version of Guns N’ Roses’ Sweet Child O’ Mine was the soundtrack.

Sundance Film Festival award-winner Eric Lynne directed this ad, which foreshadows today’s For All Life’s Moments tagline, exploring the rituals of gift giving, from sneaking the kids’ presents up the stairs without them seeing, to getting covered in tape as you wrap something awkward. Sir Elton John’s Your Song would be revisited in 2018, sung by the great man himself…

The first tear-jerker, this masterpiece by director Dougal Wilson follows a boy’s anxious wait for Christmas morning – the kicker being that he is impatient to give a gift to his parents, rather than open his own. This reworking of the classic Smiths song really fast-tracked John Lewis’s reputation as the home of Christmas.

This cartoon tells the story of a bear who hibernates, leaving his BFF, a hare, to spend Christmas without them. As the other woodland animals decorate the tree and wrap presents, the bear snoozes in its cave, waking on Christmas morning to the delight of its long-eared companion. Lily Allen’s version of the Keane song gave her a third number one hit.

A boy’s beloved pet penguin begins to wonder about finding a mate, watching romantic movies and wistfully gazing at people kissing on benches. The boy’s solution? A mail-order bride for Monty, who turns out to be just a cuddly toy and part of the boy’s imagination. With Dougal Wilson back in the director’s chair, and John Lennon covered by Tom Odell, this ad is rated top by many John Lewis customers.

Through her telescope, a girl sees a lonely old man on the moon and sets about sending him a gift for Christmas – a telescope of his own so he can see that he’s not alone. With an ethereal reworking of Oasis’s Half the World Away by Norwegian artist Aurora as the soundtrack, and a tie-in with charity Age UK, this is one of the top-ranked Christmas adverts.

This ad was played for laughs, not tears, as Buster the dog frustratedly watched foxes, badgers, hedgehogs and squirrels bounce on a recently assembled trampoline in his garden on Christmas Eve. The next morning, Buster barges past the little girl whose Christmas present it really is – and the joy on his face as he finally gets his turn to bounce is unforgettable.

National treasure Sir Elton John is celebrated in an advert that traces his life. Set to the soundtrack of Your Song, we rewind through stadium performances, private jets and recording studios to early gigs, until we reach boyhood, when a young Elton comes down the stairs on Christmas morning to unwrap a gift to all of us – the piano that set him off on his stellar career. 

Eight random acts of kindness unfold in this live action and animated advert, which chimed with the national mood as we hunkered down for a lockdown Christmas. An original track by Celeste broke from the tradition of covers for the soundtrack, while eight artists collaborated to create the different scenes, including French animator Sylvain Chomet and Chris Hopewell, who’s made music videos for the likes of Franz Ferdinand.