We love this time of year. The Autumnal Equinox is just around the corner, meaning the weather gets cooler, the nights get longer, and the town and city lights shine for all to see during the evening. Very British Problems calls September 1st the first day of Christmas in jest, but it appears to be the milestone where people begin to stop looking at the Summer days, and faint thoughts of the winter nights begin to be entertained.

BBC Radio 2’s Sara Cox asked when it would be acceptable to start drinking glühwein, and we think the post-Autumnal Equinox longer evenings is the perfect time to start getting in some practice. It’s a rule, really:

• September 1st: Start thinking about Christmas.
• September 16th: Get nerdy with Christmas UK as they begin to closely follow the Christmas Run-Up.
• September 21st: Autumnal Equinox - start on the lighter Christmas food and drink - you don’t want to peak too early!
• October: Begin watching a Christmas movie every now and then, no more than two or three a day.
• November: Start hanging out in Christmas markets enjoying more food and drink.
• December 1st: National It’s OK To Start Playing Christmas Songs In The House Day.
• Sunset of the last working day before Christmas: OK to get out the good chocolates.

It’s a nice routine to fall into! And as our eighth Christmas Run-Up begins, we begin to wonder what we’re going to be in for this year. It’s an odd time economically as the major brands hit rocky times, and we’re left thinking how this will affect this year’s crop of Christmas adverts. Even that High Street stalwart John Lewis has just announced a staggering 99% drop in profits, which probably led to the recent rebrand and the rather excellent Bohemian Rhapsody school play ad that’s currently doing the rounds.

It’s a nice idea, however early John Lewis Christmas ad rumours have always turned out to be so wide of the mark. It’s also a little too schmaltzy for us given the direction they’ve taken with their rebrand ad - we’re hoping that they’ll also decide to go for sharp writing, humour and direction in their festive epic. But… Elton John’s Your Song was covered by Ellie Goulding for their 2010 Christmas advert, which is a vote in favour and against him featuring in this year’s new advert.

Elton John also featured in John Lewis’ 2015 mid-year home insurance advert as Tiny Dancer was given the JL treatment. Does this mean that John Lewis have had their fill of the Rocket Man himself, or that they’re very keen on him and would use him again? It’s a tough one, and we’ll be watching closely with interest.