The year-long wait is finally over as everyone's favourite adverts, Christmas adverts, are starting to appear on our screens.

One of the first this year is for high street food and clothing giant, Marks and Spencer, who have called on iconic bear Paddington to help save the day.

The advert sees everybody's favourite, marmalade-eating bear save Christmas as he thwarts a hapless burglar, as reported by our sister title, the Mirror.

Each year companies battle it out to release the best Christmas advert, and Marks and Spencer have taken a lead with the signing of the cuddly star of the acclaimed sequel, Paddington 2.

And in its most aggressive seasonal campaign yet, the high street chain is launching 90 spin-off Paddington products from exclusive marmalade and chocolate to cuddly toys and duffle coats as well as a blitz on social media sites.

In a coup, the advert is voiced by original Paddington actor Ben Whisham and directed by Daniel Kleinman, who is also behind the title sequence of most of the James Bond movies since GoldenEye.

The 90 second advert starts with Paddington dreaming of being given marmalade by Santa for Christmas.

But, a thud on the roof startles the bear and as he races to his bedroom window and opens it to see what caused the noise, his action knocks the crook over and innocent Paddington thinks he has sent Santa flying.

Paddington saves the day in the Christmas advert
Paddington saves the day in the Christmas advert

Mistaking the burglar's red outfit and sack full of stolen presents for Father Christmas delivering gifts to families in his street, Paddington leaps to the luckless thief's aid and rifles through the sack excitedly telling the fake Santa he knows all the children whose names are on the gift tags.

As the burglar looks aghast at his Christmas crime wave ending abruptly, Paddington tells him: "We've got loads more to deliver - let's take your sleigh," and with a "giddy up" he grabs the crook and the pair jump into a decorative sleigh placed on top of the roof.

In hilarious scenes, they launch off on the dodgy contraption with wooden reindeer and put the presents back under the Christmas trees in homes where they were stolen from.

Subtle branding from the high street store in some of the houses includes stockings hanging by the fireside with the initials M and S and Paddington stopping to guzzle a trademark mince pie put out for Santa.

The escapade sees Paddington call the burglar, played by actor Mark Benton, to a window as the last present has been returned just in time for Christmas morning.

As the pair haze through the glass, a little girl called Alice excitedly rips open her present to reveal her wishlist gift – a sparkly superhero's outfit.

The heart-warming scene finishes with Paddington reaching into his red hat to pull out a signature marmalade sandwich which he hands to the teary-eyed crook and wishes him a Merry Christmas.

Filmed over four months using original street and indoor scenes from the StudioCanal and Heyday Films movie, the ad ends with a twist as veteran news reader Angela Rippon announces "breaking news" to the nation of how a bear was spotted helping Santa on his rounds on Christmas Eve.

As the press descend on his home, a bleary eyed Paddington opens the door and declares: "We're going to need more marmalade".

Paddington 2 had its world premiere in London on Sunday with all the stars from Ben Whishaw and Hugh Bonneville to Julie Walters on the red carpet.

The advert will be shown in cinemas before the movie and makes its TV debut on Tuesday, November 7 during the ad break in The Mirror's Pride of Britain awards ceremony on ITV.

It is the first time that M&S has launched a film-based Christmas advert but is banking on the Paddington phenomena to be the one that defines Christmas 2017.

Patrick Bousquet-Chavanne, executive director of customer marketing said: "The public looks for a Christmas moment – we do not want to disappoint."

And Paddington fever is expected to sweep Britain as M&S launches scores of exclusive Paddington products with a £12 bear poised as the sell-out item, along with bear themed baubles, nightwear, socks and a £3 movie story book with all proceeds from the paperback going to the NSPCC.

Rob Weston, M&S marketing director said: "It has been a really hard year and people are looking to escape into a Christmas bubble and put reality on hold.

"We wanted to create an ad that would stand out from the crowd, have broad appeal across all age groups and be fun. Paddington will do all this."

A longer than usual 90 second ad will air first with 60 and 30 second versions also screened across TV, cinemas and online.

Paddington helps save Christmas in the advert
Paddington helps save Christmas in the advert

And the hastag #LoveTheBear is expected to start trending just after midnight when the ad hits social media sites.

Meanwhile attention now turns to when we will see the other top companies release their Christmas advert as the race for the number one spot heats up.

One of the most memorable ads from last year was undeniably John Lewis’ effort, which saw Buster the dog bouncing merrily on a new trampoline.

This year's advert from the high street brand is expected to be released in the second week of November, in line with previous year's release date.

Debenhams meanwhile have already released a teaser clip of its festive advert. A 20 second clip tells the tale of a young woman losing a shoe on a crowded train and a handsome stranger finds it.

The full advert will be revealed on Thursday, November 9 and will make its TV debut during Gogglebox on Friday, November 10 at 9pm.

Supermarket chain, Aldi have also released their advert, which revolves around a carrot, fondly named Kevin.

Kevin the Carrot will also make his first appearance of the festive season on TV on Tuesday, November 7, on ITV during the advert break for Emmerdale.

Not one to be outdone, Sainsbury's will be releasing their effort on Sunday, November 12 to follow up their advert last year featuring Dave, the dad run ragged by Christmas.