Here We Go: Our New Year’s Fireworks Fantasaganza marks the triumphant return of BBC Studios Comedy’s beloved family sitcom with a festive special that captures everything viewers adore about the series: chaotic family dysfunction, relatable domestic disasters, and the kind of comedic writing that transforms mundane life events into comedy gold.
The special follows the Jessop family as they attempt to celebrate New Year’s Eve with wildly incompatible visions of the perfect celebration. While Rachel Jessop (Katherine Parkinson) dreams of hosting a “massive party,” her husband Paul (Jim Howick) schemes for a “nice quiet holiday cottage with a sauna” to address an embarrassing medical problem—a massive boil on his cheek.
This New Year’s special arrives as the BBC simultaneously announces the renewal of Here We Go for a fourth series, a testament to the show’s critical acclaim and growing audience appeal. Series three achieved a 70% uplift in iPlayer viewership compared to series two, while simultaneously doubling the viewership among 16-34 year-olds, indicating the show’s particular resonance with younger audiences.
Plot Summary: Holiday Chaos Across Multiple Storylines
The Christmas special’s premise is deceptively simple but yields perfectly calibrated comedic complications. New Year’s Eve approaches, triggering fundamentally different visions of celebration within the Jessop household and beyond.
Rachel’s Party Ambitions vs. Paul’s Quiet Fantasy: Rachel is “very keen to throw a massive party,” suggesting elaborate decorations, extensive guest lists, musical entertainment, and the kind of over-prepared hostessing that invariably creates stress and mishaps. In stark contrast, Paul “would much prefer a nice quiet holiday cottage with a sauna” where he can “sweat out the massive boil that’s recently appeared on his cheek.”
This setup captures the essence of Here We Go’s comedic genius. The show finds humor not in elaborate situational setups but in the collision between reality and expectation—in this case, the collision between Rachel’s desire for social triumph and Paul’s desire for solitude and medical relief. The boil subplot adds delightfully specific detail that elevates the premise from generic couple conflict to genuinely character-driven comedy.
The Road Trip Disaster: As the family attempts to navigate between these competing desires, they embark on “a road trip” that immediately becomes complicated. Road trips are inherently comedic in family comedies—confined spaces, time pressure, unforeseen complications, and nowhere to escape. The potential for disaster is enormous.
Missing Dummy Crisis: Adding another layer of chaos, the family faces “a missing dummy” (infant pacifier). For viewers unfamiliar with British terminology, a “dummy” is an American “pacifier”—a small silicone device essential to infant peace. When the family includes a baby (Atlas, as the query indicates), a missing dummy becomes a genuine crisis that triggers emotional meltdown.
This detail perfectly exemplifies Here We Go’s approach to comedy. The dummy isn’t the setup for an elaborate scheme; it’s a genuine problem that creates real stress and unexpected complications.
Unlicensed Fireworks Subplot: Most absurdly, Paul has acquired “a large crate of unlicensed fireworks…from a police auction,” suggesting he bought seized illegal pyrotechnics. This detail raises immediate concerns: What does Paul plan to do with these? Will they explode prematurely? Will they cause property damage? Will the family face legal consequences? The unlicensed status adds an edge of potential genuine jeopardy alongside the comedy.
Together, these plot elements—party vs. quiet; boil; road trip; missing dummy; illegal fireworks—create the “typically chaotic Jessop Family holiday” the BBC promises, with the special promising that viewers will experience “the kind of neighbourly chaos that only Latimer Crescent can provide.”
The Ensemble Cast: A Dream Team of British Comedy Talent
Tom Basden (Paul Jessop) – Born November 30, 1980, in Sutton, Greater London, Tom Basden is a multitalented performer who combines acting, writing, comedy, and musical abilities into a distinctive creative voice.
Basden first gained prominence with his one-man show Tom Basden Won’t Say Anything, which won the if.comedy award for Best Newcomer at the 2007 Edinburgh Festival Fringe—establishing him as an emerging comedic talent. He subsequently co-created and starred in the critically acclaimed ITV ancient Rome sitcom Plebs (2013-2019), which won the Royal Television Society Award for Best Scripted Comedy in 2014.
More recently, Basden achieved wider recognition through a starring role in Netflix’s After Life, where he portrayed Matt alongside Ricky Gervais. In Here We Go, Basden created the character of Paul Jessop and has maintained creative control through his role as creator and executive producer, ensuring the show reflects his comedic sensibilities.
Regarding his continued investment in the franchise, Basden expressed genuine enthusiasm: “The Jessops are like a second family to me, so I’m utterly delighted to be bringing Here We Go back on the BBC for a catastrophic New Year’s special and I can’t wait to start work on series 4!”
Katherine Parkinson (Rachel Jessop) – Born March 9, 1978, Katherine Parkinson is a decorated British actress best known for her iconic role as Jen Barber in Channel 4’s The IT Crowd (2006-2013), where she won the BAFTA Television Award for Best Female Comedy Performance in 2014 and received nominations in both 2009 and 2014.
Parkinson trained at the prestigious London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA), where she famously met her future IT Crowd co-star Chris O’Dowd before dropping out to pursue stage roles. Beyond comedy, Parkinson has established herself as a versatile stage actress, appearing in acclaimed productions including The Seagull (2007), Cock (2009), and Home, I’m Darling (2018), for which she received an Olivier Award nomination for Best Actress in a Play.
In Here We Go, Parkinson portrays Rachel—the driven, ambitious, party-prone Jessop wife whose grand visions for celebration invariably collide with reality. Rachel represents a distinctly modern parental archetype: someone balancing professional ambition, social expectations, and domestic chaos with occasional success but frequent comedy disasters.
Jim Howick (Paul Jessop) – Born May 14, 1979, in Chichester, West Sussex, Jim Howick is a multitalented actor, writer, and comedian best known for his creative work with the British comedy collective Them There.
Howick first achieved critical recognition through his appearances in numerous television dramas and comedies, including Peep Show (2007-2012), where he portrayed Gerard, and Broadchurch (2017), where he played Aaron Mayford in the acclaimed ITV thriller. Most significantly, Howick is the co-creator, co-writer, and co-star of the BBC One supernatural comedy Ghosts (2019-2023), where he portrayed Pat Butcher, a 1980s Scout Master killed in an archery accident.
Beyond Ghosts, Howick has appeared in Netflix’s prestigious Sex Education (2019-2022) as Colin Hendricks, a high school science teacher, and has maintained an ongoing presence in acclaimed British comedy including the wildly successful children’s educational program Horrible Histories (2009-2013).
In Here We Go, Howick’s Paul embodies the archetypal reluctant family man—someone who loves his family fundamentally but yearns for peace, privacy, and freedom from constant minor crises. His performance captures the emotional truth of Paul’s boil-related desperation while maintaining comedic energy.
Alison Steadman (Sue Jessop) – Born August 26, 1946, Alison Steadman is a venerable British actress with a career spanning over five decades. She won the 1991 National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Actress for the Mike Leigh film Life Is Sweet and received the 1993 Olivier Award for Best Actress for the original production of The Rise and Fall of Little Voice.
Steadman established her reputation in Mike Leigh’s groundbreaking 1970s television plays Nuts in May (1976) and Abigail’s Party (1977), works now considered classics of British television. She has since appeared in prestigious films including Clockwise (1986), Confetti (2006), and most recently Better Man (2024).
Most recognizably to modern audiences, Steadman plays Pam Shipman in the BBC sitcom Gavin & Stacey (2007-2010, 2019, 2024), where she became beloved as Gavin’s warm but bewildered mother. In Here We Go, Steadman portrays Sue Jessop—Paul’s mother, who presumably brings her own complications to family gatherings.
Supporting Cast Breadth and Diversity
The special also welcomes guest and recurring cast members including:
- Freya Parks (The School for Good and Evil, This Town) as a character in the New Year special
- Jude Morgan-Collie (Good Girl’s Guide to Murder, A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder)
- Tori Allen-Martin (London Kills, Unforgotten)
- Ed Kear (The Batman, Stag)
- Ivy Wear and Sky Wear as baby Atlas
- Mica Ricketts, Jon Furlong, Marelyn Pielago, Christina Ngoyi, Ninette Finch, and Yasmin Al-Khudhairi in additional roles
This depth of casting reflects the show’s commitment to creating a fully realized world rather than depending on star power alone.
Production Details: BBC Studios Comedy’s Commitment
Here We Go: Our New Year’s Fireworks Fantasaganza is produced by BBC Studios Comedy for BBC One and BBC iPlayer, demonstrating the BBC’s confidence in the franchise.
Tom Basden serves as creator, writer, and executive producer—maintaining comprehensive creative control over the material. Steven Canny and Josh Cole serve as executive producers for BBC Studios Comedy, roles that place them among the most prominent comedy producers in British television.
Will Sinclair directs the special, having helmed multiple Here We Go episodes and maintaining continuity across the franchise. Gregor Sharp serves as the BBC Commissioning Editor.
The commissioning structure reflects significant BBC confidence. Jon Petrie, Director of BBC Comedy Commissioning, emphasized the show’s achievement: “With its stellar cast and Tom Basden’s pin-sharp comic writing, Here We Go has pulled off something rare in a space that’s notoriously hard to crack. It continues to keep audiences chuckling and the BBC is delighted to be bringing back more of the glorious Jessop family chaos.”
The Show’s Evolution: From Concept to Critical Success
Here We Go premiered on BBC One in 2020, establishing itself as a distinctly modern family sitcom that combines the observational comedy approach of shows like The Royle Family with the specific character work of ensemble comedies.
The show’s format captures the Jessop family—a ordinary middle-class British family navigating everyday complications—through five seasons across multiple years. Rather than relying on dramatic plot escalation or situational chaos, the show mines comedy from authentic family dynamics and the way minor inconveniences cascade into elaborate complications.
Series 3 (2024) demonstrated the show’s sustained creative power. The series achieved 70% increased iPlayer viewership compared to series 2, while the audience among 16-34 year-olds doubled compared to previous seasons. This demographic shift is particularly significant in an era when traditional broadcast television viewership skews older. Here We Go’s appeal to younger audiences demonstrates its relevance to contemporary family experiences and its comedic approach transcends generational barriers.
The show’s critical reception has been consistently positive. Television critics have praised Basden’s writing for its emotional authenticity alongside its comedic precision. Rather than sacrificing character reality for joke density, the show maintains the Jessops as genuinely sympathetic humans dealing with complicated life circumstances.
Viewership and Cultural Impact: A Rare Comedy Success
Here We Go represents a rare television achievement in the 2020s: a traditional sitcom that generates significant viewership in an era of streaming fragmentation and declining broadcast television audiences.
While specific consolidated viewership figures for earlier series vary, the trajectory is unambiguously positive:
- Series 1-2: Established baseline audience among core BBC One viewership
- Series 3: Achieved 70% uplift in iPlayer engagement, indicating significant growth among streaming audiences
- Series 3 Demographics: Doubled viewership among 16-34 year-olds, demonstrating exceptional cross-generational appeal
This viewership success places Here We Go among BBC One’s top comedies and explains the decision to commission both a New Year special and a fourth series simultaneously.
When and Where to Watch
Here We Go: Our New Year’s Fireworks Fantasaganza will air on BBC One and BBC iPlayer during the 2025/2026 New Year period, with the exact broadcast date to be confirmed by BBC scheduling.
The special will remain available on BBC iPlayer for on-demand streaming following its initial broadcast, allowing viewers to watch at their convenience.
Series 4 will premiere later in 2026, with specific scheduling to be announced following the success of the New Year special.
All previous episodes of Here We Go (series 1-3) are currently available on BBC iPlayer for viewers who want to catch up before the special airs.
Frequently Asked Questions
When does Here We Go: Our New Year’s Fireworks Fantasaganza air?
The exact broadcast date will be announced by the BBC. It will air on BBC One and BBC iPlayer during the 2025/2026 New Year period.
What is the plot of the New Year special?
Rachel wants to throw a massive New Year’s Eve party while Paul prefers a quiet cottage with a sauna to address a boil. The family embarks on a road trip with complications including a missing dummy and a crate of unlicensed fireworks.
Will the full cast return?
Yes, all regular cast members including Katherine Parkinson, Jim Howick, Alison Steadman, Tom Basden, and supporting cast are confirmed to return.
Is series 4 confirmed?
Yes, Here We Go has been commissioned for a fourth series, announced alongside the New Year special.
When will series 4 air?
Series 4 will premiere later in 2026, with specific broadcast dates to be announced.
How long is the New Year special?
The exact runtime hasn’t been specified, but Here We Go typically produces 30-minute episodes, consistent with BBC sitcom format.
Will the special be available to stream?
Yes, the special will be available on BBC iPlayer following its initial broadcast.
What makes Here We Go different from other family comedies?
Here We Go combines observational comedy about authentic family life with the high production values and ensemble cast depth typically reserved for dramas. The show finds humor in mundane complications rather than elaborate situational setups.
What was the viewership for series 3?
Series 3 achieved a 70% uplift in iPlayer viewership compared to series 2, with doubled viewership among 16-34 year-olds.
Can I watch previous series before the special?
Yes, all episodes from series 1-3 are available on BBC iPlayer
