Never mind the North Pole, the most festive corner of the globe this Christmas is Essex. 

Yes, this year the county’s bronzed and glittering denizens have got together to give viewers and listeners a yuletide season so merry, so laden with glad tidings and joy that the only word to describe it is, perhaps somewhat predictably, "reem".

But while we’ve all been privy to the joys of the TOWIE cast’s spirited rendition of Last Christmas by this point, we’ve yet to see even the merest glimpse of The Only Way Is EsseXmas. Until now.

For the show’s 2011 Christmas special, the cast are heading off to Lapland. Their mission? To seek out Santa Claus and introduce him to the joys of vajazzling. Well, to seek him out at any rate. And along the way, there’s drama aplenty for Mario, Lauren and the gang. Highlights of their trip include:

• The cast frolicking in a hot-tub!

• Chloe coming a cropper in a snowball fight!

• Sam and Billie making merry!

• And there's more! (Including Arg having a Tudor-themed birthday party, Joey and Jess flirting like crazy and Mario opening up to Lucy, but sadly we don’t have pictures of any of that lot…)

The show’s on ITV2 tonight at 10pm, but if you can’t wait that long for a bit more Essexmas cheer, here’s the Last Christmas video again: