Clash of the Santas!

James Nesbitt and Timothy Spall both become Father Christmas in a comedy-drama about a boy caught up in a crime...

More than 20 years after they appeared together in the film Lucky Break, James Nesbitt and Timothy Spall are reunited in Sky’s festive fable The Heist Before Christmas, which, like their previous collaboration, starts with a bank robbery.

Set in Nesbitt’s native Northern Ireland, the feature-length story centres on troublesome lad Mikey (Bambe Todd) and his more innocent younger brother Sean (Joshua McLees), who live with their hard-up single mother Patricia (Laura Donnelly). When they encounter two chalk-and-chees Santas in the woods near their home, the siblings are in for a Christmas adventure they will never forget. 

One, played by Nesbitt, has just robbed a bank, while the other, played by Spall, claims to be the real Santa Claus and says he has fallen out of his sleigh. But with Mikey keen to get his hands on the robber’s cash and Sean still a true believer in Father Christmas, which Santa will come out on top?

We caught up with Bloodlands actor Nesbitt, 58, to find out more…

How would you describe your character?

My character is ‘The Bank Robber’. He’s desperate and has come up with what he thinks is an ingenious plan to rob a bank dressed as Santa Claus. Although he’s got real menace, and his intentions are bad, he’s also a bit of a klutz and very accident-prone.

How do young Mikey and Sean get tangled up with your bank- robbing Santa?