Debbie Isitt (born 7 February 1966) is an English

comic a medium used to express ideas with images, often combined with text or other visual information. It typically the form of a sequence of panels of images. Textual devices such as speech balloons, captions, and onomatopoeia can indicate ...

writer,

film director A film director controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfilment of that vision. The director has a key role in choosing the cast members, ...

, composer and performer.

Early life and education

Isitt was born in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the We ...

. She went to Our Lady of Fatima Primary School and Lordswood Girls Secondary School and is a cousin of the footballer Darren Wassall.

Career

Isitt's work includes her Christmas comedy films '' Nativity!'', '' Nativity 2: Danger in the Manger'', '' Nativity 3: Dude, Where's My Donkey?'' and '' Nativity Rocks!''. She is also known for her Bafta award-winning teleplay ''The Illustrated Mum'', the stage play ''The Woman Who Cooked Her Husband'' and the feature films ''Nasty Neighbours'' and ''

Confetti Confetti are small pieces or streamers of paper, mylar, or metallic material which are usually thrown at celebrations, especially parades and weddings. The origins are from the Latin ''confectum'', with ''confetti'' the plural of Italian ''co ...

''. Most recently Isitt directed the ITV series '' Love and Marriage''. '' Nativity!'', Isitt's third feature film, starring

Martin Freeman Martin John Christopher Freeman (born 8 September 1971) is an English actor. Among other accolades, he has won an Emmy Award, a BAFTA Award and a Screen Actors Guild Award, and has been nominated for a Golden Globe Award. Freeman's most not ...

, was released in November 2009 and became the most successful British independent film of the year. The sequel, and her fourth film, '' Nativity 2: Danger in the Manger'', starred

David Tennant David John Tennant ('' né'' McDonald; born 18 April 1971) is a Scottish actor. He rose to fame for his role as the tenth incarnation of the Doctor (2005–2010 and 2013) in the BBC science-fiction TV show '' Doctor Who'', reprising the ...

. Released in November 2012, it was a financial success, making twice the amount at the UK box office as the original film. '' Nativity 3: Dude, Where's My Donkey?'' was released in 2014. A fourth entry, '' Nativity Rocks!'', was released in November 2018. In 2017, Debbie released a stage musical based on the first film in the Nativity! series called Nativity! The Musical. The show, that she wrote, directed and composed the music for alongside her partner Nicky Ager, ran from 20th October until 6th January and starred Daniel Boys, Simon Lipkin and Sarah Earnshaw as Paul Maddens, Desmond Poppy and Jennifer Lore retrospectively. After the success of this run, the show returned for a second tour in 2018. Again, Simon Lipkin starred as Mr. Poppy but this time round he was joined by

Scott Garnham Scott Garnham (born 22 February 1985) is an English professional actor. Notable credits include 'Christmas on Mistletoe Farm' for ''Netflix'', ''Billy Elliot The Musical'', ''Les Misérables'', '' Made in Dagenham'' directed by Rupert Goold, ...

and Ashleigh Gray as Mr. Maddens and Jennifer. Garnham and

Gray Grey (more common in British English) or gray (more common in American English) is an intermediate color between black and white. It is a neutral or achromatic color, meaning literally that it is "without color", because it can be composed ...

returned once again for a third tour in 2019. Scott Paige was the actor who played the show's comic lead of Mr Poppy on this tour. However, Simon Lipkin returned to reprise his role for the

Hammersmith Apollo The Hammersmith Apollo, currently called the Eventim Apollo for sponsorship reasons, and formerly known as the Hammersmith Odeon, is a live entertainment performance venue, originally built as a cinema called the Gaumont Palace. Located in Ha ...

run of the show. Debbie is due to take her hit musical back to the venue where it all started,

The Birmingham Rep Birmingham Repertory Theatre, commonly called Birmingham Rep or just The Rep, is a producing theatre based on Centenary Square in Birmingham, England. Founded by Barry Jackson, it is the longest-established of Britain's building-based theatre c ...

, for the 2022 Christmas season after the run was postponed from 2020 and 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. On November 23rd, Debbie is due to make her

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a ...

debut with a feature-length Christmas film she has written and directed called Christmas On Mistletoe Farm. The film will star

, Scott Paige and

Kathryn Drysdale Kathryn Drysdale (born 1 December 1981) is an English actress. She gained prominence through her roles in the BBC sitcom '' Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps'' (2001–2009) and the films '' Vanity Fair'' (2004) and '' St Trinian's'' ( ...

among others.

References

External links

* Living people English radio actresses English women film directors 1966 births English television actresses English film actresses People from Birmingham, West Midlands {{UK-film-director-stub