The Heist Before Christmas - AD Introduction

This is an audio introduction for the Sky Original 2023 Christmas special, The Heist Before Christmas.

The film follows 12-year-old Mikey Collins, played by Bamber Todd as he stumbles across two Santa Clauses in the woods. One of which has just pulled off a bank robbery and the other claims to be the real Santa and has fallen from his sleigh.

Mikey lives with his Mum, Patricia played by Laura Donnelly and brother Sean played by Joshua McLees in a derelict estate in Northern Ireland. They are very poor white family, and we often see them wearing extra jumpers and padded jackets in their run-down house.

Mikey, a cheeky young lad has a brilliant sense of humour and glint in his eye. He is often found up to no good at school or in the streets, but we come to see that he has a very sensitive and caring side, especially for his younger brother Sean.

Sean is a gentle 7-year-old boy. He looks up to Mikey and strives for happiness within his family. He loves bikes and his eyes light up whenever he sees or speaks about them. He is filled with childhood innocence and magic, especially at Christmas time. His unwavering faith in Father Christmas is witnessed throughout the movie despite not receiving the bike he has wanted for the past few years.

Their Mum Patricia is a kind woman who you can see has been hardened over the years. Her face shows a faded beauty, weathered by the amount she carries and her circumstances. She puts herself last and works all hours she can find for her boys. She struggles to earn enough for food and tries to do whatever she can to keep them all going. Even making soup from a dog bone!

The stress is visible on her face.

Her boss, a slightly rounded bearded white male is nicknamed SPAM due to wording on his red baseball hat spelling it out. It reads Stuff for A Pound Area Manager. He carries himself with an air of arrogance and ignorance and is less than sympathetic to his staff. He is played by Lloyd Hutchinson.

James Nesbit plays the bank robber dressed as Santa, he is a tall 50 something year old white male with dark grey hair and medium length beard.

He has prominent dark eyebrows which give an angry expression. He has a rugged look and a Grinch like smile.

The other Santa, played by Timothy Spall has a gentle appearance with long flowing white hair and long beard. His caring nature is evident from the start. He claims to of fallen from his sleigh and hit his head on his fall when Mikey finds him underneath a tree in the forest.

He believes Rudolph is circling the sleigh back to pick him up. He has a somewhat vacant and confused look which is put down to the head injury.

Mikey doesn’t believe in Santa anymore and is only interested in trying to get his hands on some of the stolen cash so he can give his family the Christmas they all dream of.

The two Santas, Mikey and Sean find themselves thrown together in this unconventional Christmas tale.

There are two main police officers we see throughout the film, Wesley and Georgina. They are partners and are often seen in the car together searching for the bank robbing Santa. The female officer, Georgina, played by Bronagh Waugh is a tall woman with auburn hair and she seems to be aware of Mikey and his family. Her expression is usually stern, but it occasionally warms to certain situations.

Mikey risks a lot to try and get the money, but as he does so he learns what is truly important and what the true meaning of Christmas spirit is.
The Heist Before Christmas, a Sky original with Audio Description by Francesca Brown will be shown on Christmas Eve, 24th December 2023 at 8pm.