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A brown halter hangs from a blue suitcase beside two gold rings and a microphone. Tracks cross the snow towards a glowing city skyline, with a festive wedding arch on the right.

Essential Christmas · 2014

Nativity 3: Dude, Where's My Donkey?!

Name: Nativity 3: Dude, Where's My Donkey?!
Released: 2014-11-14
Duration: 105 min
Cast: Martin Clunes, Catherine Tate, Adam Garcia, Celia Imrie, Marc Wootton

82/100Festive FactorWhy it scores 82 ↓

UK certificate Universal105 min
Comedy · Family

The third one, and the formula has thinned.

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Explore this film 11 sections

The CineClaus Christmas score

Festive Factor

Christmas, right to its heart.

Three paper elves inspect a miniature snowy wedding scene on a workshop bench, adjusting a floral arch, holding a brown halter and studying the blue suitcase with a magnifying glass. — A little magic in the making.

Five ingredients make the Festive Factor.
Open an ingredient to find out more.

Christmas in the storyIt can't exist without Christmas.30/30

What we ask: Take Christmas out. Does the plot survive? Worth up to 30 of the 100 points.

A world dressed for ChristmasVisibly Christmas for effectively all of it.20/20

What we ask: How much of the running time is visibly Christmas? Worth up to 20 of the 100 points.

The little seasonal details6 of the 10 kinds of Christmas icon we count turn up on screen.9/15

What we ask: How many kinds of Christmas icon turn up on screen: trees, lights, snow, carols and the rest? Worth up to 15 of the 100 points.

A Christmas heartHow far the ending rests on goodwill, family and belief: substantially.15/20

What we ask: Does the ending depend on what Christmas means: goodwill, family, redemption, belief? Worth up to 20 of the 100 points.

A returning traditionA big December film (80,000+).8/15

What we ask: Is it actually watched at Christmas in the UK? Worth up to 15 of the 100 points.

80/100

Cosiness Rating Rating

How we score →

What do these scores mean?

Festive Factor measures how Christmassy a film is. Five ingredients add up to 100: story (30), setting (20), seasonal details (15), emotional heart (20) and returning tradition (15).

Cosiness is a separate score for warmth of tone, sense of safety, visual comfort, a reassuring ending and how easily you can settle into it.

How the Festive Factor works →

Your next film night

Where to watch

United KingdomChecked 23 Oct 2026

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The story

About Nativity 3: Dude, Where's My Donkey?!

The pupils of a Coventry primary school are back, this time with a new teacher who takes a knock to the head and loses his memory, along with any recollection of Christmas, his fiancee, or where the school donkey has got to. Mr Poppy and the children pile into a road trip to put him back together in time for a wedding. It is the third of Debbie Isitt's largely improvised Nativity comedies.

The CineClaus verdict

The third one, and the formula has thinned.

The improvised classroom material is still where the life is and the children remain the best thing in all three films, but the amnesia plot is a device rather than a story and the road trip drags.

If the first two went down well it will pass a wet afternoon; if you are starting here, do not. Coventry through and through, which counts for something.

The family desk

Can the kids watch?

Our take: fine for all ages. A great deal of shouting, slapstick throughout, and nothing that needs explaining afterwards.

BBFC advice: No material likely to offend or harm.

Content advice & accessibility

Where the advice comes from: The British Board of Film Classification (BBFC).
Our age guidance: Editorial, separate from the official U certificate, and never looser than it.
Subtitles: Check your chosen service and edition for supported tracks.

The series

The Nativity films

2 films, in release order

2012
The film before
Nativity 2: Danger in the Manger!
2012
The third film in the Nativity series.
Not in our catalogue yet
2014
You’re here
Nativity 3: Dude, Where's My Donkey?!
2014
You’re on this film’s page

A first look

Watch the trailer

Official trailer from eOne UK.

A blue paper suitcase with a brown halter stands beside wedding rings and a ribbon-tied microphone in the snow. A flower-covered arch and illuminated city skyline sit behind it.

Trailer

Nativity 3: Dude, Where's My Donkey?!

Watch on YouTubeNothing from YouTube loads until you press play.

The people behind the film

Cast and crew

The faces in front of the camera, and the people who brought the story to life.

Main cast

In billing order

Close portrait of a smiling grey-haired man in a grey jacket, blue shirt and striped tie, in front of a stone building.

Martin Clunesas Mr. Shepherd

Woman with long red-brown hair in a coral sweatshirt speaking into a microphone against a dark backdrop.

Catherine Tateas Sophie

Adam Garcia in a black dinner jacket and bow tie, with dark swept hair, smiling slightly at the camera.

Adam Garciaas Bradley Finch

Celia Imrie seated on stage in a patterned blue jacket over a pale green top, with short dark hair and a slight smile.

Celia Imrieas Mrs. Keen

Marc Woottonas Mr. Poppy

Duncan Preston

Susie Blake

Photo credits

Portraits via Wikimedia Commons, each under its own licence, approved for this page by a person. Sources and full photographer credits:

Martin Clunes · Millifanti · Source image (opens in a new tab) · CC BY-SA 4.0 (opens in a new tab).

Catherine Tate · Kevin Paul · Source image (opens in a new tab) · CC BY 4.0 (opens in a new tab).

Adam Garcia · Eva Rinaldi from Sydney Australia · Source image (opens in a new tab) · CC BY-SA 2.0 (opens in a new tab).

Celia Imrie · The Cambridge Union · Source image (opens in a new tab) · CC BY 3.0 (opens in a new tab).

Step into the story

Filming locations

The real places behind Nativity 3: Dude, Where's My Donkey?!. Choose one to explore.

Find it on the mapDrayton Manor Theme Park

Map shows the selected place. Drag to explore; use + and − to zoom.

Visitors on a paved square inside a theme park, with peach-coloured buildings and a red roller coaster behind.

Location photograph
Steve Daniels (Wikimedia Commons, opens in a new tab) · CC BY-SA 2.0 (opens in a new tab)

Filming location

Drayton Manor Theme Park

A Staffordshire theme park used as a filming location.

Open in OpenStreetMap ↗ (opens in a new tab)Scene source ↗ (Find That Location, opens in a new tab)

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Photographs of the real places

There’s more behind the film.
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Photo credits & location sources

These are photographs of the places, not film stills. Dates vary; photographs do not show current conditions or guarantee access.

Drayton Manor Theme Park · Steve Daniels · Source image (opens in a new tab) · CC BY-SA 2.0 (opens in a new tab) · Find That Location (opens in a new tab)

Birmingham Airport · Adrian Pingstone ( Arpingstone ) · Source image (opens in a new tab) · Public domain · Find That Location (opens in a new tab)

Golden Jubilee Bridges · CAPTAIN RAJU · Source image (opens in a new tab) · CC0 (opens in a new tab) · Find That Location (opens in a new tab)

Map pins mark the place, not a camera position or a route. Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), including any pin positions read from OpenStreetMap.

A little more Nativity 3: Dude, Where's My Donkey?!

Film facts &
behind the scenes

For the fans who stay after the credits.

On set

Improvised scenes and a lead chosen for his age

Director Debbie Isitt works with improvisation to spring surprises on her cast. She has said she first pictured a younger actor as the lead, then chose an older one because the character loses his memory. The Nativity films were made on modest budgets.

Read the story

Source: Birmingham Post ↗ (opens in a new tab)