John Lewis hopes its festive TV ad will help ease pressures

Over the years its Christmas adverts have featured a menagerie of lovable creatures, but this year John Lewis is tugging on heartstrings with a Narnia-inspired tale of two sisters that, for the first time, gives its struggling department stores a starring role.

- Zoe Wood

After last year's lighthearted outing featuring a cheeky Venus flytrap, the ad is a distinct gear change. It is filmed in John Lewis's high-profile branch on London's Oxford Street store and, at a time when the high street is facing severe headwinds, for once, is actually about going Christmas shopping—without a lovable penguin or snowman in sight.

The set-up is also a lot more traditional than previous esoteric favourites such as the sad tale of a lonely man on the moon. It is about a woman's last-minute dash to buy the perfect gift for her sister. There is still magic: like the children in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, she tips through a rack of dresses into a world of memories that give glimpses of her sister growing up and, crucially, trigger gift ideas.

At a time of peak 1990s nostalgia, the ad is set to The Verve's 1997 indie anthem, Sonnet. The former Verve singer Richard Ashcroft's stock is riding high after he was confirmed as the support for Oasis's reunion 2025 tour.

The Christmas trading period is when many retailers, including John Lewis, rake in the lion's share of their annual profits.