Nativity 2: Danger in the Manger!

This spectacularly shoddy follow-up to the fairly dismal original replaces Martin Freeman – who has gone on to considerably bigger and hopefully better things – with David Tennant, who looks decidedly miffed to be appearing in a glorified school panto. He plays Donald Peterson, whose stewardship of a rambunctious and weirdly non-age-specific class at a primary school in Coventry is made more difficult by the intrusions of hirsute, worryingly ‘playful’ man-child Mr Poppy (Marc Wootton). But it’s not long before the two join forces to enter a national singing competition, heading off to Wales to sing forgettable, autotuned ballads, emote wildly in caves, chuck kids off mountains and behave in ways that would get any real teacher arrested.
With a plot that feels like it was jotted down on a beer mat, direction straight from the BBC daytime television school of visual splendour and a soundtrack crammed with saccharine festive pop, ‘Nativity 2’ offers roughly as many laughs as the Queen’s speech.