Director celebrates Nativity! 15 years on

Debbie Isitt wrote Nativity! after being inspired by her daughter's Christmas play

The Birmingham-born writer and director of the Christmas musical comedy film, Nativity! has said it is "amazing" how many people still know and love it.

It has been 15 years since the release of the film, largely shot in Coventry, which follows a primary school teacher who lies about Hollywood bigwigs coming to watch his nativity play.

Debbie Isitt, from Harborne, said the film found new families every year, as well as being a traditional re-watch for many.

"Because it’s on Netflix every Christmas and on the BBC a lot, it just seems to find a new audience," she said.

Ms Isitt said the idea for the film came when she went to see her daughter's nativity.

"I thought, this could make a really good film, because the children were just hilarious."

Jason Watkins, Marc Wootton, Debbie Isitt and Martin Freeman at the Nativity! premiere on 25 November 2009

Despite Martin Freeman starring as miserable-but-loveable teacher Paul Maddens, the real stars are arguably the dozens of school children who audition for a place in his nativity.

Those audition scenes, where the children battled it out for the chance to play Mary, Joseph, or a variety of other characters including singing stars and wise men, were real.

"I didn’t want them to learn any lines or have to act really," Ms Isitt told BBC Radio WM.

"I wanted it to be life imitating art, imitating life, so we recruited real ordinary primary school kids."

She added that some of the children did not even realise they were in a film.

"They were just calling Martin Freeman 'Mr Maddens', they thought he was a teacher."

Following the success of the first film, Ms Isitt wrote and directed a further three in the franchise, as well as a stage musical.

"I love them all, but I think the original is probably always going to be close to my heart," she said.