Enredo

Separated from his wife, Howard volunteers as a stand-in Santa at the shopping mall--and ends up getting invited to represent England at an international Santa competition in Lithuania. He gets to take an elf with him, and Colin agrees to fill the role.—Anonymous

Colin loves Christmas. It's his favourite time of the year. He loves everything about it - the food, the telly, the presents... everything. But most of all he loves Santa and he particularly loves being Santa at his childrens' school.

Meanwhile, Howie hates Santa and thinks it's all a waste of time. His marriage has broken down and he won't get to see his four-year-old daughter on Christmas morning. The whole idea of Christmas just makes him feel sad and lonely - and Santa, with his stupid grin, big red coat and ho ho ho just rubs salt in the wound.

But this year things are different. This year the school don't need Colin to be Santa for the kids - they're doing a PC friendly 'Caribbean Carnival' instead. And at home his eldest son Leyton is trying to convince Liam that Santa doesn't really exist.

This year it's Howie who is dressing up as Santa, first as a last minute replacement in a massive shopping centre grotto and then, as a result of that success, he's asked to represent England at the World Santa Championships in Lithuania.

Colin is gutted but manages to tag along as Howie's supporter. But there's a catch: the only way he can go is if he goes as an elf, a girl elf with bells on his shoes. But embarrassing costumes are the least of Colin's problems.

The Santas of the world are a strange bunch - competitive Aussies, kamikaze Japanese, drunken Welshmen, wrestling Iranians and humourless Germans. To make matters worse, Howie keeps losing, he's letting himself down, letting Colin down, but most importantly letting England down.

Their friendship reaches breaking point, but the biggest threat comes in the shape of the enigmatic Rainbow Santa who, along with his supporters, seems to have a very different attitude to the event - one that places all the Santas, including Colin and Howie, in mortal danger.

If Howie and Colin are to save the day, they've got to patch up their friendship and start working together again. And if they're going to get back home in time for Christmas Howie is going to have to get his faith back in Santa Claus.