Keira Knightley is about to marry the wrong man, and only a beef Wellington can stop the wedding.
Waitrose has finally released "The Perfect Gift 2" on Nov. 10, a six-minute sequel to last year’s Christmas romcom.
Knightley, comedian Joe Wilkinson and director Molly Manners all return, and Alex Hassell joins as Hugo Bunty-Griffin, a groom who loves his own reflection.
Waitrose says the film is the longest advert produced by a UK supermarket.
Chief Customer Officer Nathan Ansell said the sequel was an answer to viewer demand.
"Last year’s The Perfect Gift sparked a huge reaction, and our customers were clear: they wanted to know what happened next," he explained.
And for Knightley, she felt last year's love story was deserving of another chapter.
Wonderhood Studios took over Waitrose’s Christmas ad from Saatchi & Saatchi in 2025, and this is its second holiday film as lead creative agency.
MG OMD handled media, and Biscuit Filmworks produced the film.
The 2025 original ran just under four minutes.
It opened with a meet-cute at the cheese counter, where Knightley, playing herself, met Phil, a character Wilkinson first played in Waitrose’s 2024 holiday ad "Sweet Suspicion."
The film ended with Phil delivering a turkey pie, which directly referenced Knightley’s doorstep scene in "Love Actually."
A Beef Wellington Races the Clock
The sequel opens with Phil heartbroken, wearing a dressing gown and keeping company with a pack of Waitrose No.1 Handmade Polar Bear Bao Buns.
His friends arrive with Waitrose bags and a plan to bake a beef Wellington, which sends Phil running, or run-walking, to the stately home hosting the wedding.
A flat tyre, a dog that smells the pastry, and a maze of staircases slow him down.
When he bursts in, the Wellington slides down the aisle to Knightley’s feet, followed by a jar of homemade sauce labelled "Marry Me Instead?"
Knightley leaves the wedding and proposes to Phil with a cheeseboard ring, using the jar as the diamond.
Manners shot the chase with snow-dusted country house locations, sweeping tracking shots and an original score recorded by the Prague Philharmonic Orchestra.
Gary Martin, the voice of the Honey Monster, narrates the trailer, and the film ends on Jennifer Rush’s "The Power of Love."
The film premiered at 6:30 AM on Nov. 10 on Waitrose channels, including YouTube.
Waitrose supports it with 60-second and 30-second trailers, romcom-style movie posters and product ads.
The Original’s Scores Set the Bar for the Sequel
For Waitrose, a sequel makes all the sense.
System1 gave the 2025 original its top rating of 5.9 stars, which it says just 1% of the Christmas ads it tests earn five stars.
Ipsos’ Race to Christmas tracker named it the nation’s favorite ad for a third straight week, with 14% of respondents recalling it unprompted.
Waitrose’s approach to brand stories offers three lessons for brands hiring agencies.
Keep the Team After a Hit
Brands should keep the agency behind a high-scoring film for the follow-up.
Wonderhood’s 5.9-star original earned it a second Waitrose Christmas film.
Brief Media Before the Edit Is Locked
Brands should bring media planners in while the film is still in progress.
Waitrose shared an early cut a month before the 2025 launch, and ITV scheduled the film as a programme with its own idents and end credits.
Let Viewer Demand Set the Length
Brands should treat audience reaction as the brief for the next chapter.
Waitrose answered viewers who asked what happened next with a film two minutes longer than the original.
System1’s Christmas testing will show whether the six-minute sequel can match the original’s 5.9 stars.
Our Take: Can a Christmas Ad Get Better With a Sequel?
We think a sequel is the cheapest way for a supermarket to buy attention it has already earned.
Aldi is the proof.
Kevin the Carrot is now on his 11th Christmas with McCann Manchester.
Additionally, Aldi’s 2023 Grand Effie case credited it with £618 million in incremental revenue over six years and a 241% return on marketing investment.
Waitrose is early in the same approach, with Knightley, Phil and the cheese counter already familiar to viewers on Nov. 10.
Wonderhood gets the same head start, because it knows what this cast can do and can spend its time on the story.
A new agency would have to learn Phil’s voice and Knightley’s comic timing from scratch.
Wonderhood already has both, which makes it the best team to write the next chapter.
Overall, the proposal narrative hands Waitrose a ready-made next story, and we expect the brand to keep this team on it for as long as the scores hold.
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