Nativity 2: Danger in the Manger

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Nativity 2: Danger in the Manger
215px
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Debbie Isitt
Produced by Nick Jones
Written by Debbie Isitt
Starring David Tennant
Jessica Hynes
Marc Wootton
Pam Ferris
Ian McNeice
Joanna Page
Music by Nicky Ager
Debbie Isitt
Cinematography Sean Van Hales
Edited by Nicky Ager
Production
company
Mirrorball Films
Moviehouse Entertainment
Media Pro Six
Premiere Picture
Distributed by Entertainment One[1]
Release dates
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  • 23 November 2012 (2012-11-23)
Running time
 105 minutes[2]
Country United Kingdom
Language English
Budget £3,000,000
Box office £10,119,219

Nativity 2: Danger in the Manger is a 2012 British comedy film written and directed by Debbie Isitt, an improvised Christmas comedy and sequel to the 2009 film Nativity!.[3] The film stars David Tennant playing the dual role of twin brothers,[4] with Joanna Page as the wife of one of the brothers and Ian McNeice as the father of the brothers. Pam Ferris and Marc Wootton reprise their roles from the first film.[5] The film, which is the official Children in Need film of 2012, had its first public screening on 11 November 2012, when 42 Cineworld cinemas in the UK held one-off charity screenings with all proceeds going to Children in Need. The film's official premiere was at the Leicester Square Odeon on 14 November, and it went on a wide release on 23 November.

Plot

Donald Peterson is an anxious teacher who has just moved to a new house with his pregnant wife Sarah. He accepts a teaching job at St. Bernadette's primary school, taking over the class formerly taught by Mr. Maddens, who by this point has left for America - in the interim, the enthusiastic and child-like teaching assistant Mr. Poppy has been teaching the class unaided.

The class wants to enter in a competition called "A Song for Christmas", in which each school produces a Christmas song, with the winning song earning its school £10,000 and the chance at being a Christmas #1. However, headteacher Mrs. Bevan refuses the class permission to enter without a qualified teacher, and worries that Mr. Poppy's behaviour is so inappropriate that no teacher will stay in the job.

Donald lives in the shadow of his domineering father, and his estranged, 'golden boy' identical twin brother Roderick, who is a world-famous composer and conductor.[6] When Mr. Poppy decides St Bernadette's should enter the National 'Song for Christmas' competition, he persuades Donald to sign the entry forms, later kidnapping him for an impromptu road trip to Gastell Llawen ("Merry Castle", not a real place) in Wales, where the competition is being held.

However, Roderick is also competing in the competition, mentoring the choir of posh St Cuthbert's College. Mr. Shakespeare (Jason Watkins) from Oakmoor School, rivals of St Bernadette's, has also entered his class. Mr. Peterson and his class (accompanied by a baby and a stray donkey) become lost in the wilds of Wales, and must survive many challenges if they are to reach Merry Castle safely and win the competition.

Cast

  • David Tennant as Donald Peterson/Roderick Peterson, estranged twin brothers
  • Marc Wootton as Desmond Poppy, the primary school assistant and Mrs. Bevan's nephew
  • Jessica Hynes as Angel Matthews
  • Pam Ferris as Mrs Bevan, the school headteacher and Desmond's aunt
  • Ian McNeice as Mr Peterson Snr., Donald and Roderick's father
  • Joanna Page as Sarah Peterson, Donald's wife
  • Jason Watkins as Mr Shakespeare, the head of rival school Oakmoor

Mr. Peterson's Class

Appeared in the first movie:

  • Alexandra Allen as Cleo
  • Ben Wilby as Bob
  • Brandon McDonald as Oli
  • Caitlin Cronin as Lucy
  • Dominic McKernan as Dan
  • Ellie Coldicutt at Beth
  • Faye Dolan as Jade
  • Joe Lane as Edward
  • Joshan Patel as Bill
  • Maeve Dolan as Sam
  • Michael McAuley as William
  • Milly Webb as Neve
  • Morgan Brennan as Charlotte
  • Reece Stowe as Fraser
  • Sydney Isitt-Ager as Sadie

New children:

  • Jesse Donohoe as Jesse
  • Joseph West as Joseph
  • Kyle Johnson as Tommy
  • Louise Blunt as Little Lucy
  • Mason Daw as Mason
  • Mason Simpkins as Mason
  • Pixie Davies as Pixie

Mr. Shakespeare's Class

  • Adrianna Bertola as Adrianna
  • Eleanor Grant as Eleanor
  • Ethan Smith as Ethan
  • Freddie Watkins as Sebastian
  • Grace Hollis as Grace
  • Jessica Horton as Jessica
  • Jessica Mogridge as Jessica
  • Olivia Chu as Gracie
  • Samuel Waters as Sam
  • Samuel Young as Samuel
  • Scott Folan as Scott
  • Shannon Maguire as Shannon

Release

Nativity 2: Danger in the Manger was theatrically released on 23 November 2012 by Entertainment One and was released on DVD and Blu-ray on November 18, 2013 by Entertainment One.

Production

Nativity 2: Danger in the Manger! was filmed over the course of six weeks in October and November 2011, in England and Wales.[7] Prior to filming starting, writer/director Debbie Isitt and actor David Tennant spent a week in Coventry,[8] spending time in real classrooms and with school choirs and plays, and helping with the auditions for the child roles. Filming began in Coventry on 15 October 2011, and filmed there for two weeks. On 29 October the production moved to north Wales[9] for another two weeks, filming in various rural locations, including at Llanrhaeadr Falls and the stable scenes filmed at Avoncroft Museum in Bromsgrove, Worcestershire.[10] The production then moved to its final location in Warwickshire, where they filmed at Warwick Castle (standing in for St. Cuthbert's College) and in Stratford-upon-Avon.[11] The competition scenes were filmed in the Royal Shakespeare Company's Courtyard Theatre. Filming ended on 29 November 2011. The film was shot in the improvised style, with no proper script, and the actors not being told the narrative ahead of time, but having the plot revealed to them bit by bit as filming progressed.[3]

Sequel

A third film in the series began filming in November 2013, entitled: Nativity 3: Dude, Where's My Donkey?.[12] It was released on 14 November 2014.[13] Debbie Isitt confirmed the filming on Twitter.

Official soundtrack

The original songs were written by director Debbie Isitt and editor Nicky Ager. They feature on the film's official soundtrack.

  • Counting Down To Christmas - Shane & The Calendar Girls
  • Christmas Is For Crackers - The Christmas Puddings
  • Elfing Christmas - Oakmoor Children
  • Spirit Of The Trees
  • Christmas Fairies
  • Everybody's Got A Dad But Me - Mr. Poppy & Tommy
  • A Dickens Christmas - Oakmoor Children
  • Snow Angel - Lloyd & The Snowballs
  • Peace And Joy - St. Cuthbert's Choir
  • Hawaii In My Heart - St. Bernadette's Children
  • O Holy Night - Angel Matthews
  • Born In The Hay - St. Bernadette's Children
  • Yes We Can - St. Bernadette's Children

References

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  10. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  11. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  12. ↑ https://twitter.com/DeborahIsitt/status/379638745018138625
  13. ↑ "Nativity 3: Dude Where's My Donkey?", IMDB, Retrieved on 19 September 2014.

External links

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