Admit it, you’d always assume that any Christmas film that James Corden was going to star in would involve him donning the famous red suit and white beard of Santa Claus. Excitement for us all then to find out that Corden is indeed going to appear in a new festive film, and from the sounds of it he could well be representing the rotund, whisky and mince pie-addicted one.

The BBC reports that the former Gavin & Stacey man will be playing a down-on-his-luck dad in new feature School For Santas “who needs to find his inner Father Christmas to win back his kids”. We’ll bring those reindeer round the front for you, Mr. Corden. There’s something far more exciting behind this all though, as it signals the reuniting of Corden with the writer of hit stage farce One Man, Two Guvnors! Crikes what a thrill. Richard Bean is writing for the new film, and the pair will be confident of success, given that they’re stage endeavors saw Corden win the best actor prize at the Tony Awards in June for his role in One Man, Two Guvnors.

"All my life I've wanted to make a big family Christmas movie," Corden said. The project will also see another collaboration between the actor and producer Kris Thykier; the pair are currently working together on One More Chance – about Britain’s Got Talent winner Paul Potts. "Re-teaming with Richard Bean and Kris Thykier is like all my Christmases have come at once. I can't wait to start," Corden said.