The UK monarch's Christmas speech to the Commonwealth has been a tradition since 1932 when King George V first broadcast to the nation via the radio. Since 1957 the broadcasts have been televised and transmitted on Christmas Day each year.
The only on-screen credit is the title itself, 'The Queen', although the annual speech is more colloquially referred to as 'The Queen's Speech'.
The 2008 speech was filmed and produced by the BBC. In 2009 the production will revert back to ITN for two years. This biennial changeover was instigated in 1995, ending a 37 year monopoly by the BBC. It has been suggested that the Royal Family wished to share the production with ITN because of the BBC's decision to produce a controversial episode of Panorama (1953) featuring an interview with Princess Diana .