The mother of all parties
IT’S the mother of all Christmas specials, the passive-aggressive star twinkling on the tree, the harassed humdinger sent from heaven. Blasting away all the smugness of other festive editions, with their cute crafting and perfect bakes, this school-gate comedy is a welcome breath of fresh air.
Surely every parent will agree that, while Christmas is a time of cheer, it is also a time of wrapping hell, annoying in-laws and parental one-upmanship.
In this funny seasonal instalment, perfect mum Amanda, played by Lucy Punch, is hosting her Annual Seasonal Soiree.
The dress code is ‘Tinsel and Tiaras’. Everyone should bring a gift for Evil Santa – as if Secret Santa wasn’t bad enough.
Oh, and there are strict rules about where you can and can’t drink mulled wine in her whitecarpeted house.
Only Meg (Tanya Moodie) has an official party invitation but Julia (Anna Maxwell Martin), Kevin (Paul Ready) and Liz (Diane Morgan) tag along as her plus threes, fed up with their own not very merry Christmasses.
Julia is sick of playing
Christmas skivvy to her in-laws, Kevin needs to play all of Minecraft to check it for casual drug references, and Liz faces being alone as the kids are with their dad.
And that’s all before they all notice some disturbing graffiti on the neighbourhood’s living Nativity wall and Meg gets her hands on some eggnog.
Expect bad language, stressed-out mums, general chaos and too much booze.
Merry Motherland Christmas!