Watch: John Lewis has released this year's Christmas ad

British department store John Lewis has become known for its heart-rending Christmas commercials – and this year's just dropped.

In more recent years its ads have veered towards the overly-schmaltzy, but this year it has gone for delightful – and it works.

Called "Buster the Boxer," the ad features a dog watching after his owner constructs a trampoline for his daughter on Christmas Eve, and watches from inside as some urban foxes, a badger and squirrels get the first bounce.

Here it is:

The music, by the way, is a cover of Randy Crawford's "One Day I'll Fly Away," performed by Vaults.

In this reporter's completely subjective opinion though, nothing will ever beat John Lewis' effort from 2011.