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How To Ruin Christmas returns with a little bit of sincerity

New season has more heart and healing, says producer

Cast members of How To Ruin Christmas: The Funeral.
Cast members of How To Ruin Christmas: The Funeral.
Image: Supplied.

Following the success of the first season last holidays, How To Ruin Christmas – starring Thando Thabethe, Rami Chuene, Motlatsi Mafatshe, Yonda Thomas and Busisiwe Lurayi – returns.

The four-part series premiering on Netflix tomorrow is produced by Rethabile Ramaphakela and her brothers Katleho and Tshepo. Rethabile gives us an exclusive preview into the new season: 

Was there any pressure to maintain the same standard as the first season?

Yes, the pressure of the new season was crazy because we pitched the last season beyond our limits… we were a bit anxious and wondering where do we go from here? I’d like to think we did a good job with this new season.

What do you like about the new season?

It has more heart and healing. We get to see the characters touch on a little bit more serious things that we don’t get to see in a comedy… it’s not just a laugh a minute, there’s a little bit of sincerity.  

How has it been producing the series?

Seeing that I don’t have any children, I like to think of this series as my child. Season one was more like a baby and everyone liked it and now the baby is a bit grown up, it’s more like a toddler with a little bit of personality who goes on an adventure. This series is a continuation that makes sense that follows through so seamlessly. Now that everyone is in tune with their characters, we plan to show you more.

Was it challenging shooting both these seasons?

With the pandemic and KwaZulu-Natal riots, I can say it was quite challenging because everything was just thrown at us. We started production when the third wave began, it was insane. We had to ensure to implement Covid-19 precautions and had to do weekly tests.

Things got a little bit complicated when we reached KZN with the riots because places we wanted to shoot at suddenly became unavailable to us. Seeing that we didn’t want to lose what was already on the page, our main focus was how to pivot in the moment. I think it’s complete madness that we shot a series in July and it’s out in December – that to me is a testament to everyone working and supporting it.

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