The annual Christmas Eve television broadcast of King’s College Cambridge’s Carols from King’s will still go ahead this year – as it has every year since 1954 - but with a difference. Instead of the boy choristers being joined by their usual choral scholars colleagues (the adult members, drawn from the university’s students), they’ll instead be joined by the renowned vocal group The King’s Singers.

The reason is that just days prior to filming, two choral scholars, living in the same household, both tested positive for Covid-19 - though both thankfully have only suffered mild symptoms. The King’s Singers were asked to step in at 48 hours’ notice, and in fact sang with the choristers for the first time only minutes before filming began.

‘We are all hugely grateful to The King’s Singers for stepping up at the last minute. They have shown tremendous goodwill and consummate professionalism,’ said Revd Dr Stephen Cherry, Dean of King’s College.

‘King’s College Choir has been preparing for our Christmas broadcasts for months while following strict safety protocols, so it was particularly disappointing that the choral scholars couldn’t be with us for the filming. To have had one of the households hit by the virus at the last moment was incredibly unfortunate,' he added.

There’s a historical link to King’s Singers participation – the original ensemble was formed in 1968 by six recent choral scholars from King’s College, Cambridge.

The resulting service will be broadcast on BBC Two at 17:30 on Christmas Eve, and an order of service will be available to download from King’s College from Friday December 18.