''Nativity!'' is a 2009 British

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a Religion, religious and Culture, cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by coun ...

musical comedy film directed by

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 ...

and released on 27 November 2009 and the first instalment in the ''Nativity'' film series. The film stars

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 ...

and

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� ...

. In the film, teacher Paul Maddens (Freeman) lies to his rival that

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood ...

are coming to watch his school's

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 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 centurie ...

, 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! ''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 ...

'' (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 state-funded

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

primary school A primary school (in Ireland, India, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, South Africa, and Singapore), elementary school, or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ...

. He once had ambitions of being successful as an actor, producer or director in

musical theatre Musical theatre is a form of theatre, theatrical performance that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance. The story and emotional content of a musical – humor, pathos, love, anger – are communicated through words, music, ...

, but gave it up after negative reviews in the press. Mr. Maddens grew to hate Christmas after his girlfriend at drama school, Jennifer Lore, broke up with him at Christmas time. Every year, St Bernadette's competes with Oakmoor, the local posh

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

private school A private school or independent school is a school not administered or funded by the government, unlike a State school, public school. Private schools are schools that are not dependent upon national or local government to finance their fina ...

, to see who can produce the best

nativity play A Nativity play or Christmas pageant is a play which recounts the story of the Nativity of Jesus. It is usually performed at Christmas, the feast of the Nativity. For the Christian celebration of Christmas, the viewing of the Nativity play is o ...

. The headteacher at St Bernadette's, Patricia Bevan, tasks Mr. Maddens with running their nativity this year and assigns him a new classroom assistant named Desmond Poppy, who is actually Mrs. Bevan's extremely childish, immature

nephew In the lineal kinship system used in the English-speaking world, a niece or nephew is a child of an individual's sibling or sibling-in-law. A niece is female and a nephew is male, and they would call their parents' siblings aunt or uncle ...

searching for work. While out shopping with Mr. Poppy for a new school

Christmas tree A Christmas tree is a decorated tree, usually an evergreen pinophyta, conifer, such as a spruce, pine or fir, associated with the celebration of Christmas. It may also consist of an artificial tree of similar appearance. The custom was deve ...

, Mr. Maddens bumps into his old rival from drama school, Gordon Shakespeare, who runs the nativity plays at Oakmoor. Desperate not to be seen as a failure, Mr. Maddens lies to Mr. Shakespeare about how a supposed

producer, Jennifer, will be turning his production into a Hollywood film (although in reality, he hasn't spoken to her in five years). Mr. Poppy overhears this and gets so excited that he spreads the story to the press. Mr. Maddens finds his lie spiralling out of control, and all he can do is go along with it as media attention mounts and the children get very excited. The children at St Bernadette's are nowhere near as talented as the Oakmoor students, and Mr. Maddens has little confidence in their abilities. The enthusiastic Mr. Poppy helps him and the class to create an energetic, interesting nativity which showcases all of the children's unique (and often strange) talents. Mr. Maddens tries to contact Jennifer to make the lie come true, even getting on a flight to America to persuade her to visit in-person. It turns out she is only the secretary to a film producer, and he returns home disappointed. Amid continuing media attention and the Mayor's kind offer to allow the play to be performed in the historical ruins of

Coventry Cathedral The Cathedral Church of Saint Michael, commonly known as Coventry Cathedral, is the seat of the Bishop of Coventry and the Diocese of Coventry within the Church of England. The cathedral is located in Coventry, West Midlands (county), West Midla ...

, Mrs. Bevan discovers that the Hollywood story was a lie and cancels the play, advising Mr. Maddens to start looking for another job and firing Mr. Poppy in the process. This causes Mr. Maddens to snap at Mr. Poppy about everything going wrong, but when facing his disappointed class, he decides that the show must go on. The play is performed at the cathedral to an audience of the children's parents and family friends. The children, initially anxious but motivated and encouraged by Mr. Poppy's childlike spirit and optimism, actually put on a decent performance, to the surprise of everyone involved. Halfway through, Mr. Shakespeare climbs on stage to tell everybody that there is nobody from Hollywood there and the entire story was a lie. Luckily, a helicopter flies over and Mr. Poppy declares that it's Hollywood arriving; the show continues, and Jennifer and her boss, Mr. Parker indeed appear at the back to watch. Mr. Maddens joins them and, still in love, kisses Jennifer. The play ends with everyone, including Mr. Shakespeare and Mrs. Bevan, who have a change of heart after seeing the children's talents, united onstage to celebrate the children's success. As the film closes, Mr. Maddens and Jennifer are shown decorating his house together for Christmas, reunited at last.

Cast

as Paul Maddens, a primary school teacher trying to produce and direct a nativity play that will for once outdo a rival school *

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'', ...

as Desmond Poppy, the immature nephew of Mrs. Bevan, whom she appoints as a classroom assistant *

Jason Watkins Jason Peter Watkins (born 28 October 1962) is an English stage, film and television actor. He played the lead role in the two-part drama ''The Lost Honour of Christopher Jefferies'', for which he won the British Academy Television Award for Bes ...

as Gordon Shakespeare, a

private Private or privates may refer to: Music * "In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation'' * Private (band), a Denmark-based band * "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorded ...

primary school teacher and long-time rival of Paul *

as Jennifer Lore, formerly a

secretary and Mr. Maddens' girlfriend at the end of the film *

Alan Carr Alan Graham Carr (born 14 June 1976) is an English comedian, broadcaster, and writer. His breakthrough was in 2001, winning the '' City Life'' Best Newcomer of the Year and the BBC New Comedy Awards. In the ensuing years, Carr's career burgeo ...

as Patrick Burns, critic *

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 '' T ...

as The Mayor *

John Sessions John Sessions (born John Marshall; 11 January 1953 – 2 November 2020) was a British actor and comedian. He was known as a regular performer on comedy improvisation show '' Whose Line Is It Anyway?'', as co-creator, co-writer and co-star of the ...

as Mr. Lore *

Phyllis Logan Phyllis Logan (born 11 January 1956) is a Scottish actress, widely known for her roles as Lady Jane Felsham in ''Lovejoy'' (1986–1993) and Mrs Hughes in ''Downton Abbey'' (2010–2015). She won the BAFTA Award for Most Promising Newcomer for ...

as Mrs. Lore *

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), ''W ...

as Patricia Bevan, the headmistress of St. Bernadette's Primary School *

Clarke Peters Peter Clarke (born April 7, 1952), known professionally as Clarke Peters, is an American actor, writer, and director, who has spent much of his adult life in the United Kingdom. He is best known for his roles as Lester Freamon in the television ...

as Mr. Parker, a Hollywood director, Jennifer's boss during her time at Hollywood *

Geoffrey Hutchings Geoffrey Hutchings (8 June 1939 – 1 July 2010) was an English stage, film and television actor. Early life and career Hutchings was born in Dorchester, Dorset, England. After attending Hardye's School, he studied French and Physical Educat ...

as Father Tom * Rosie Cavaliero as Miss Rye *

Selina Cadell Selina Jane Cadell is an English actress. She is the younger sister of actor Simon Cadell and granddaughter of actress Jean Cadell. She is the great niece of the Scottish artist Francis Cadell. Biography Cadell was born in London. She has be ...

as Oakmoor Headmistress * Ashley Blake as himself

Production

The film was first announced in August 2008, when it was announced

would star.

Principal photography Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production. Personnel Besides the main film personnel, such as the ...

began in the same month.

Reception

Box office

When released in the United Kingdom, the movie opened at #5, taking £794,315 at the box office in the United Kingdom. In its third week, the movie rose to #4, and in the end, made £5,187,402.

Critical response

Sequels

* '' Nativity 2: Danger in the Manger'' * '' Nativity 3: Dude, Where's My Donkey?'' * '' Nativity 4: Nativity Rocks!

Stage musical

A stage musical adaptation of the film written and directed by Debbie Isitt and composed by Nicky Ager opened at the

Birmingham Repertory Theatre Birmingham Repertory Theatre, commonly called Birmingham Rep or just The Rep, is a producing theatre based on Centenary Square in Birmingham, England. Founded by Barry Jackson, it is the longest-established of Britain's building-based theatre ...

in October 2017. Since its world premiere the musical has toured the UK over the Christmas seasons, including runs at London's

Hammersmith Apollo The Hammersmith Apollo, currently called the Eventim Apollo for sponsorship reasons, and formerly and still commonly known as the Hammersmith Odeon, is a live entertainment performance venue, originally built as a cinema called the Gaumont Pa ...

which have featured guest star celebrities such as

Louis Walsh Michael Louis Vincent Walsh (born 5 August 1952) is an Irish music manager and television personality. He has managed Johnny Logan (singer), Johnny Logan, Boyzone, Jedward and Westlife, four of Ireland's most successful pop acts in the 1990s an ...

Danny Dyer Danial John Dyer (born 24 July 1977) is an English actor and presenter. Dyer's breakthrough role was as Moff in ''Human Traffic'' (1999), with other notable roles Billy the Limpet in ''Mean Machine (film), Mean Machine'' (2001) and as Tommy J ...

Dani Dyer Dani Charlotte Dyer-Bowen ( Dyer; born 8 August 1996) is an English television personality and actress. In 2018, she appeared on ''Survival of the Fittest'', and later that year won the fourth series of '' Love Island'' alongside Jack Fincham ...

Jo Brand Josephine Grace Brand (born 23 July 1957) is an English actress, comedian, presenter and writer. Starting her entertainment career with a move from psychiatric nursing to the alternative comedy stand-up scene and early performances on '' Satur ...

Rylan Clark-Neal Ross Richard Clark (born 25 October 1988), commonly known as Rylan Clark, is an English broadcaster and television personality. He came to prominence as a contestant on the ninth series of the television talent show ''The X Factor'' in 2012, in ...

and

Sharon Osbourne Sharon Rachel Osbourne (; born 9 October 1952) is an English-American television personality, music manager, and author. She is married to heavy metal singer Ozzy Osbourne and came to prominence while appearing on '' The Osbournes'' (2002–2 ...

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Nativity! (Film) 2009 films BBC Film films British Christmas comedy films Films set in schools Films set in Coventry Films shot in England Films shot in Los Angeles Films shot in the United States 2000s Christmas comedy films 2009 comedy films 2000s English-language films 2000s British films English-language Christmas comedy films