John Lewis Christmas advert 2019: Edgar the dragon steals the show in heart-warming ad

Each year, there is one true and defining marker that Christmas has arrived: the John Lewis Christmas advert .

This year, John Lewis & Partners has teamed up with Waitrose & Partners to produce its first-ever joint advert, creating a heart-warming tale of Ava and her friendship with the excitable dragon, Edgar.

The two minute thirty second advert will be released at 7am today, November 14 and centres on the theme of bringing people together at Christmas. It follows the young girl who is preparing for Christmas along with Edgar, the local friendly dragon, who is struggling to control his fire breathing.

The townsfolk get angry with Edgar after he melts the ice skating rink and destroys the village Christmas tree which forces Edgar into hiding.

Ava, worried about her friend, entices him to the village feast and makes sure he gets a role by lighting up the Christmas pudding, with the villagers cheering and welcoming him in to join them.

The ad was created by advertising agency adam&eveDDB, directed by Dougal Wilson and is set to the iconic tune, ‘Can’t fight this feeling’, originally recorded by REO Speedwagon but re-recorded by Bastille’s Dan Smith for the ad.

Meeting with the John Lewis and Waitrose teams ahead of the release, they told the Standard that while Edgar wasn’t the initial concept, it was the favourite of the stories pitched and the one that came together in the end.

Filming took place in August, and when asked if John Lewis feels pressure to come up with an iconic ad year on year, they said: “It’s a nice pressure to have, and we love that the British public love it as much as we do.”

In conjunction with the ad’s release, there will also be a number of Edgar-themed products available in John Lewis and Waitrose, including a cuddly Edgar toy, an Edgar-centred story book and Edgar wellington boots.

Twitter users will also be able to use a bespoke Edgar emoji on the platform until December 25.

The ad will first air on telly this Saturday, November 16 during The X Factor: Celebrity on ITV from 8:20pm.