BritBox must not have advertised this 2024 Christmas special at all, or I always thought it was the 2023 one. Thus, I only discovered it this weekend. It's a very good special, too. The script is much better than the usual ones in the 30-minute episodes, and you don't feel aloof from the characters, as so often happened in past seasons of the series.
Once again, though, just like in "Father Brown" episodes, the story involves putting on a play, namely a pantomine play. What is a pantomine play? It's a very British thing that includes audience participation. I always feel so American watching these play episodes, and so glad of '50s-'60s American entertainment. That's not meant as a put down, only a fact.
This story has a main character who has Down Syndrome, and he adds a whole lot of sensitivity to the film. It also has someone abused as a child who wants revenge. The "Cinderella" story being acted out is not the Disney story, nor is the one being read to a child throughout the movie. It's a much darker version of "Cinderella", and I, for one, never knew there were darker versions.
A subplot in the film involves a turkey named Terry. One of the older sisters raised him since the day he hatched, was expected to fatten him up, and butcher him for the nun's Christmas dinner. This is causing great distress to the sister. Fortunately, the turkey story is not one of the darker versions of holiday turkey stories. :)
