Lawrences to give festive TV address

Doreen and Neville Lawrence: Strength in adversity

The parents of murdered black teenager Stephen Lawrence will deliver an alternative Christmas message on Channel 4 this year.

Neville and Doreen Lawrence have agreed to give the address, which runs at the same time as the Queen's Christmas Day speech on other channels, the channel's Director of Programmes, Tim Gardam, said.

The Lawrences join a diverse range of people and performers who have given past addresses, including Jesse Jackson, Brigitte Bardot, Quentin Crisp, and Rory Bremner dressed as Diana, Princess of Wales.

Last year Channel 4 broadcast a plea for peace in Northern Ireland from Belfast schoolgirl Margaret Gibney.

Announcing the channel's Christmas schedules, Mr Gardam said: "The Stephen Lawrence case was one of the major, defining issues of 1998."

Stephen Lawrence: Stabbed to death in 1993

He added the Lawrences would never have come into the public eye if their family had not been struck by awful circumstances, but they had impressed the world with the way they acquitted themselves in the face of tragedy.

Stephen, 18, was stabbed to death at a bus stop in Eltham, south-east London in April 1993.

A private prosecution by the family against five white youths failed, while the outcome of a public inquiry into the police investigation into the case is expected in the New Year.

Other Channel 4 Christmas programmes include a new 90-minute version of Alice Through The Looking Glass starring Kate Beckinsale.

Raymond Briggs' animation The Bear and a Welsh National Opera production of Hansel and Gretel also feature.

The channel will be reflecting the downside of Christmas spirit - with a series of pre-holiday programmes about the dangers of alcohol.

Last Orders will look at the casualties of drink who arrive at Walsgrave Hospital, Coventry on Friday and Saturday nights.

Drink Drivers will show a woman whose mother was killed by a drunken driver confronting others, while The Confrontation depicts an alcoholic's family showing him "tough love" in an attempt to persuade him to stop drinking.