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Nativity!
''Nativity!'' is a 2009 British Christmas musical comedy film directed by Debbie Isitt and released on 27 November 2009 and the first instalment in the ''Nativity'' film series. The film stars Martin Freeman and Ashley Jensen. In the film, teacher Paul Maddens (Freeman) lies to his rival that Hollywood are coming to watch his school's Christmas nativity, but after the lie gets out of hand, he must resolve the issue fast. The film was written by its director, Debbie Isitt, but was also partially improvised. The film premiered on 23 November 2009 in the SkyDome Arena, Coventry, England. It was released in cinemas on 27 November 2009. The film was followed by '' Nativity 2: Danger in the Manger'' (2012), '' Nativity 3: Dude, Where's My Donkey?'' (2014), and '' Nativity Rocks!'' (2018). In 2017 a stage musical adaptation premiered and has since toured the UK over the subsequent Christmas seasons. Plot Paul Maddens is a miserable, jaded teacher at St. Bernadette's, a local ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nativity! The Musical
''Nativity! The Musical'' is a stage musical written and directed by Debbie Isitt (co-composed by Nicky Ager), based on Isitt's 2009 film of the same name (part of the ''Nativity'' film series). The musical follows a Coventry based primary school, St Bernadette's, where teacher Mr Maddens and his assistant, Mr Poppy mount a musical version of the nativity with the students, promising it will be adapted into a Hollywood movie. The musical features songs from the film including "Sparkle and Shine", "Nazareth", "One Night One Moment" and "She's The Brightest Star". Production history Birmingham, UK tour and London (2017) The musical made its world premiere at the Birmingham Repertory Theatre from 20 October to 12 November 2017, before touring to Southend Cliffs Pavilion (15 to 19 November), Sheffield Lyceum Theatre (22 to 26 November), Manchester Palace Theatre (29 November to 3 December), Plymouth Theatre Royal (6 to 10 December), London's Eventim Apollo (13 to 17 Decem ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Debbie Isitt
Debbie Isitt (born ) is an English comic writer, film director, screenwriter, composer, lyricist and performer. Early life and education Isitt was born in Birmingham. She went to Our Lady of Fatima Primary School and Lordswood Girls Secondary School. Later, she studied a two-year course at Coventry University, graduating in 1985. Career Isitt is best known for her Christmas comedy films, the '' Nativity!'' series, of which she has written and directed four to date. Prior to that, she wrote BAFTA award-winning television adaptation of Jacqueline Wilson's book, ''The Illustrated Mum'', the stage play '' The Woman Who Cooked Her Husband'', and the feature films ''Nasty Neighbours'' and ''Confetti''. Earlier in her career, just after her graduation, she joined the Cambridge Experimental Theatre company and toured Europe for a year performing Shakespeare. She then founded the Snarling Beasties company and spent the next 15 years writing, directing and performing in plays they took ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nativity (film Series)
''Nativity'' is a film series of British independent Christmas family comedy films written and directed by Debbie Isitt, produced by Mirrorball Films and Nick Jones and distributed by Entertainment One. Films Released films ''Nativity!'' (2009) Paul Maddens is a primary school teacher who once had ambitions of being successful as an actor, producer or director. Every year St Bernadette's Primary School in Coventry, where he teaches, competes with a local private school. Despite this, St Bernadette's headteacher Mrs Bevans tasks him with running their nativity play this year and gives him a new class teaching assistant called Mr Poppy, who turns out to be as much of a child as the rest of Paul's class. As every year, it is one of Paul's other friends from drama school, Gordon Shakespeare, who runs the nativity plays at rival school Oakmoor. Determined not to be seen as a failure by his old rival, Paul lies to Shakespeare about how a Hollywood producer, their old friend Jennifer ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
BBC Film
BBC Film (formerly BBC Films) is the feature film-making arm of the BBC. It was founded on 18 June 1990, and has produced or co-produced some of the most successful British films of recent years, including ''Truly, Madly, Deeply (film), Truly, Madly, Deeply'', ''Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa'', ''Quartet (2012 film), Quartet'', ''Salmon Fishing in the Yemen'', ''Saving Mr. Banks'', ''My Week with Marilyn'', ''Eastern Promises'', ''Match Point'', ''Jane Eyre (2011 film), Jane Eyre'', ''In the Loop'', ''An Education'', ''StreetDance 3D'', ''Fish Tank (film), Fish Tank'', ''The History Boys (film), The History Boys'', ''Nativity! (film), Nativity!'', ''Iris (2001 film), Iris'', ''Notes on a Scandal (film), Notes on a Scandal'', '' Philomena (film), Philomena'', ''Stan & Ollie'', ''Man Up (film), Man Up'', ''Billy Elliot'' and ''Brooklyn (film), Brooklyn''. BBC Film co-produces around eight films a year, working in partnership with major international and UK distributors. Eva Yates is ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Coventry
Coventry ( or rarely ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands county, in England, on the River Sherbourne. Coventry had been a large settlement for centuries. Founded in the early Middle Ages, its city status was formally recognised in a charter of 1345. The city is governed by Coventry City Council, and the West Midlands Combined Authority. Historic counties of England, Formerly part of Warwickshire until 1451, and again from 1842 to 1974, Coventry had a population of 345,324 at the 2021 census, making it the tenth largest city in England and the 13th largest in the United Kingdom. It is the second largest city in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, after Birmingham, from which it is separated by an area of Green belt (United Kingdom), green belt known as the Meriden Gap; it is the third largest in the wider Midlands after Birmingham and Leicester. The city is part of a larger ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Martin Freeman
Martin John Christopher Freeman (born 8 September 1971) is an English actor. Among other accolades, he has won two Emmy Awards, a BAFTA Award, and a Screen Actors Guild Award, and has been nominated for a Golden Globe Award. Freeman's most notable roles are that of Tim Canterbury in the mockumentary series ''The Office'' (2001–2003), Dr. John Watson in the British crime drama series '' Sherlock'' (2010–2017), young Bilbo Baggins in ''The Hobbit'' film trilogy (2012–2014), Lester Nygaard in the first season of the dark comedy-crime drama series ''Fargo'' (2014), and Chris Carson in '' The Responder'' (2022–present). He has also appeared in films including the romantic comedy ''Love Actually'' (2003), the horror comedy '' Shaun of the Dead'' (2004), the sci-fi comedy ''The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy'' (2005), the action comedy ''Hot Fuzz'' (2007), the semi-improvised comedy '' Nativity!'' (2009), and the sci-fi comedy '' The World's End'' (2013). Since 201 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ashley Jensen
Ashley Jensen (born 11 August 1969) is a Scottish actress and narrator. She is best known for her roles as Maggie Jacobs in '' Extras'' (2005–2007, for which she was nominated for an Emmy Award), Christina McKinney in ''Ugly Betty'' (2006–2010), Agatha Raisin in '' Agatha Raisin'' (2014–present), and DI Ruth Calder in ''Shetland'' (2023–present). Career Jensen trained in Drama at Edinburgh’s Queen Margaret University. Her first significant television role was as Clare Donnelly, daughter of Glasgow criminal Jo-Jo Donnelly (played by Billy Connolly) in the 1993 BBC drama '' Down Among the Big Boys''. In 1994, she played eccentric secretary Rosie McConnichy in the final series of BBC comedy '' May to December'', as a replacement for the character of secretary Hilary ( Rebecca Lacey), and Heather in '' Roughnecks'', a BBC television series about workers on a North Sea oil platform. Jensen had a small role in a '' Dangerfield'' episode "Contact" as the mother of a y ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Marc Wootton
Marc James Wootton (born 8 February 1975) is an English actor, comedian and writer. He is best known for his role as Mr Poppy in the '' Nativity!'' film series. He also starred in the television series '' High Spirits with Shirley Ghostman'', ''La La Land'', '' Nighty Night'' and voiced Max in '' Counterfeit Cat''. He Voiced 2015 In Wuassywat The Clusmy Cat & Hippopotamus Voiced United Animals Career Wootton made early television appearances on the Channel 4 comedy show '' The Eleven O'Clock Show'' and BBC Three's '' Cyderdelic'', E4 comedy '' The Pilot Show'' and the BBC Two sitcom '' Thin Ice''. His breakthrough role came with the Channel 4 comedy gameshow '' My New Best Friend'', in which contestants had to convince their closest friends and relatives that a series of awful characters (played by Wootton) were their new best friend, for a prize of £10,000. He then wrote and starred in the BBC Three sketch show '' Marc Wootton Exposed'', the first series of which started o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nativity Rocks!
''Nativity Rocks!'' is a 2018 British Christmas comedy film and the fourth and final instalment of the Nativity film series by Debbie Isitt. It stars Simon Lipkin, Celia Imrie, Craig Revel Horwood, Helen George, Ruth Jones & Daniel Boys. Like its predecessors, it was distributed by Entertainment One. The only people who reprised their roles in this film were Celia Imrie (who portrayed Mrs Keen, the headteacher of St Bernadette's who took over from Mrs Bevan after Pam Ferris did not reprise her role in Nativity 3: Dude, Where's My Donkey?) and Jessica Hynes (who portrayed Angel Matthews in Nativity! 2: Danger in the Manger), Simon Lipkin who previously played a grotto elf in Nativity 3: Dude, Where's My Donkey? plays a new character Desmond Poppy's younger brother Jerry Poppy who takes over from the latter after Marc Wootton did not reprise his role either. Plot Five years after Dude, Where's My Donkey?, Doru, a child refugee from Syria, is separated from his father as he arriv ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pam Ferris
Pamela Ferris (born 11 May 1948) is a British actress. She has starred in numerous British television series, including Connie (TV series), ''Connie'' (1985), ''The Darling Buds of May (TV series), The Darling Buds of May'' (1991–1993), ''Where the Heart Is (British TV series), Where the Heart Is'' (1997–2000), ''Rosemary & Thyme'' (2003–2006), and ''Call the Midwife'' (2012–2016). For her role as Peggy Snow in ''Where the Heart Is,'' Ferris was nominated three times for Most Popular Actress at the National Television Awards. Ferris is best known to younger audiences for her role as Miss Trunchbull, Miss Agatha Trunchbull in the film ''Matilda (1996 film), Matilda'' (1996). Ferris also portrayed Marge Dursley in ''Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (film), Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban'' (2004), Miriam in ''Children of Men'' (2006), Mrs. Bevan in ''Nativity!'' (2009) and ''Nativity 2: Danger in the Manger'' (2012), voiced Mrs. Bennett / Aunty Betty in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ricky Tomlinson
Eric "Ricky" Tomlinson (born 26 September 1939) is an English actor. He is best known for his television roles as Bobby Grant in the soap opera '' Brookside'' (1982–1988), DCI Charlie Wise in '' Cracker'' (1993–2006) and Jim Royle in '' The Royle Family'' (1998–2012). He also played the titular character in the 2001 football mockumentary '' Mike Bassett: England Manager''. Early life Eric Tomlinson was born on 26 September 1939 at Burleigh House in Bispham, Blackpool, Lancashire, and has lived in Liverpool nearly all his life. His father was a baker and he was born in Bispham because, just after the outbreak of World War II, his mother Peggy was evacuated there over concerns that Liverpool would be bombed. He attended Walton Technical College in Walton, after passing an exam when he was just 13. His favourite subject was English. In the late 1950s and early 1960s, Tomlinson played banjo in bands known as the Guitanjos, Hobo Rick & The City Slickers, and Hobo Rick a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Christmas Film
Many Christmas stories have been adapted to feature films and TV specials, and have been broadcast and repeated many times on television. Since the popularization of home video in the 1980s, these films are sold and re-sold every year during the holiday shopping season. Many television networks, film studios, and production companies, such as cable television channels Hallmark and Lifetime, produce and release new Christmas-themed films every year during or around December, all with different variations of similar plots and themes. Additionally, films revolving around the Nativity story of Christmas are regularly produced such as '' The Nativity Story'' (2006) and '' The Star'' (2017). One film that has become the flashpoint for "Is this a Christmas movie or not?" debates is ''Die Hard'' (1988), with some viewing the film as a Christmas movie intertwined with an action genre setting or a film that is simply set around the Christmas and holiday season The Christmas season o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
