The Last Dragonslayer, Sky1

Christmas day may be magical, but no matter how good the turkey and how expensive the gifts, few things will be as sparkly and exciting as Sky1's big-budget seasonal treat: The Last Dragonslayer, adapted from Jasper Fforde’s acclaimed series of novels. Scheduled at exactly the same time as Doctor Who on BBC1 (practically a declaration of war) Sky must be pretty confident that it's onto a winner.

Inspired, perhaps, by the recent re-birth in Dragon-based imaginative stories amongst youngsters (The Hobbit, How to Train Your Dragon, Pete's Dragon) this feature-length drama adapts the first in Fforde's series for young adults, of which there have been three so far with a fourth planned for publication in 2017.



The story follows the the exploits of orphan Jennifer Strange (Ellise Chappell), who discovers her destiny is to become the last dragonslayer. A magical blend of past and present, modern and medieval (imagine a PG Game of Thrones with a dollop of humour thrown in) the trailer promises us a cinematic epic adventure ready to set Christmas day ablaze.