With farting reindeer and frugal budgets, Christopher Smith, the man behind Triangle and Severance, has forged something almost as terrifying.

There are enough welcome details in the margins to keep viewers from fidgeting: a likeable if unevenly paced story, some inventive Lapland-related steampunk, and character actors one would happily crawl over jagged holly to see.

[A]s they say in merry old England, a curate's egg, good in parts. Some parts - the solid cast, a few well-turned one-liners - are really quite good indeed, although viewers have to wade through a moderate fug of reindeer fart jokes to get to them.

A starry cast and family-friendly humour make this British comedy an enjoyable - and sometimes unique - yuletide offering.