Nativity 2: Danger in the Manger! (2012)

A worried new teacher has to juggle a pregnant wife and a class of children on a road trip to the National 'Song for Christmas' Competition.

Director:

Debbie Isitt

Writer:

Debbie Isitt

Stars:

David Tennant, Marc Wootton, Jason Watkins

2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
David Tennant	...	Donald / Roderick Peterson
Marc Wootton	...	Mr. Desmond Poppy
Jason Watkins	...	Gordon Shakespeare
Joanna Page	...	Mrs. Sarah Peterson
Ian McNeice	...	Mr. Peterson's Dad
Jessica Hynes	...	Angel Matthews
Pam Ferris	...	Mrs. Bevan
Rosie Cavaliero	...	Miss Rye
Jake Rollins	...	Rhys
Olivia Romanello	...	Baby
Lily Romanello	...	Baby
Isabel Ford	...	Baby's Mother
George Potts	...	Supply Teacher 1
Claire Vousden	...	Supply Teacher 2
Amanda Lawrence	...	Supply Teacher 3

Storyline

This sequel to the popular British comedy sees a new teacher (David Tennant) take over. When he enters his school in the National 'Song for Christmas' Competition, he and his pregnant wife, and the schoolchildren, embark on an epic road trip that ends up with a birth and a donkey, where he must embrace his fears and become a hero.

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Plot Keywords:

christmas | road trip | teacher | sequel | f rated | 

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Genres:

Comedy | Family

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Certificate:

TV-PG

Did You Know?

Trivia

The competition scenes were filmed in the Courtyard Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon, the same theatre where David Tennant played his famous Hamlet (2009).

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Goofs

In the movie David Tennant plays twin brothers Donald & Roderick Peterson, but in the credits it lists Mr Tennant as playing David & Roderick Peterson.

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Connections

Featured in Projector: Nativity 2: Danger in the Manger! (2012)

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Soundtracks

Rehab
(uncredited)
Written by Amy Winehouse

User Reviews

It's on safe ground. This manger isn't wobbling.

After the pleasing (justified) reaction to 2009s Nativity!, it's not unsurprising to find that two further films would follow it, starting with this, the first of the sequels. Formula remains the same as the first film, here we have David Tennant (great coup by writer and director Debbie Isitt to get him in a dual role) as an harangued teacher out on the road in charge of kiddies as they head towards the National 'Song for Christmas' Competition. Along side him, pulling the the emotional and cunning mental strings, is man-child Mr. Poppy (Marc Wooton once again on film stealing form), enter mirth, poignancy and a raft of engaging kiddies guaranteed to warm the cockles during Yuletide.

This is undeniably Isitt and her team treading on safe ground, which is both a blessing and a curse. For although the finale here - as regards the competition - has a different twist to the first film, it still feels like a redux of that picture - this is because it is. There's also a problem in that the last third is crammed packed with the competition song entries, not to say the songs and routines aren't great (Isitt and editor Nicky Ager co-writing), they are, and it's a nice cross reference of different styles of music. It's just that there comes a point when it veers close to being filler to pad the pic out to over 100 minutes of film, where much of the comedic human drama gets lost in the mix.

However, it's still a warm film, and a real foot tapper that's nice to get involved with at Christmas time. 6/10

Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

23 November 2012 (UK)

Also Known As:

Nativity! 2

Filming Locations:

Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England, UK

Box Office

Budget:

GBP3,000,000 (estimated)

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$14,433,981

Company Credits

Production Co:

Media Pro Six, Mirrorball Films, Moviehouse Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

105 min

Color:

Color