12 Nov 2025
- The new Waitrose Christmas campaign hits screens today with a mini-movie showcasing the latest love story of beloved British actress and author, Keira Knightley and award-winning comedian, Joe Wilkinson.
- The first-of-its-kind four-minute short was directed by BAFTA-award winning Molly Manners [One Day] and follows the pair’s unexpected relationship as it blossoms over a shared love of food
- The iconic romcom writer and director, Richard Curtis, calls the campaign “sweet as pie”
Waitrose has today unveiled The Perfect Gift; a first of its kind romantic comedy ‘short’ celebrating the supermarket’s 2025 festive offering.
Providing a fresh take on the classic Christmas campaign, the four minute film stars beloved British actress, Keira Knightley, as the female lead; matched with ‘everyman’ lovable comedian, Joe Wilkinson - who reprises his role as Phil, from the grocer’s 2024 ‘whodunnit’ festive advert.
We watch as the pair encounter the ultimate ‘meet cute’ moment at a Waitrose cheese counter, as they share a love for Sussex Charmer Mature Cheddar. Akin to their favourite cheese, our male lead lives in Sussex and turns out to be a bit of a charmer himself.
Their romance unfolds, not without hiccups, in front of our eyes; before Phil says the ultimate ‘I love you’ by recreating Keira’s Nan’s pie recipe* - which inspired the Waitrose No.1 Festive Turkey Pie - as for food lovers, food is the greatest love language.
The mini movie highlights the importance and ease of “saying it with food”, amplifying the key role food plays in bringing people together, and communicating messages of love and care - because if you can't say it at Christmas, when can you, eh?
Keira Knightley comments, “I love food, and so when I received this script where I get to fall head over heels in love over a shared love of cheese, I couldn't turn it down! I adored working on this silly, fun and delicious film with Joe and I hope those watching it fall in love too.”
Joe Wilkinson adds, “It was great to be back with Waitrose for their 2025 Christmas campaign. This year, Phil got to enjoy both the love and the food he truly deserved. As you can imagine, it was tough having to eat the delicious Waitrose food and falling in love with Keira, but I just got on with it, like the trooper I am!”
Created by Wonderhood Studios and directed by Molly Manners, who directed the popular Netflix romcom; One Day, the campaign pays homage to the romantic comedy genre, providing viewers with a sense of comfort, calm and magic.
The soundtrack, featuring ‘She’s a star’ by British Indie rock band, James, amplifies the empowering and uplifting feelings of the campaign; and nods to Keira Knightley, playing herself, as one of Britain's biggest stars.
The first-of-its-kind campaign ‘short’ will premiere on YouTube at 12.01am on 12 November.
This will be supported by shorter ‘movie style’ trailers, teasing the longer film, across all stations encouraging viewers to head online to experience the full feel-good of The Perfect Gift.
The festive short received the ultimate seal of approval, as romantic comedy royalty Richard Curtis, who counts Four Weddings and a Funeral, Notting Hill, Bridget Jones, Love Actually and About Time as just some of his writing and directing credits, has labelled it, “sweet as pie”.
Nathan Ansell, Waitrose Chief Customer Officer, says: “When it comes to Christmas, delicious food and drink play a central role in bringing people together and helping us show affection. This year, we welcomed British heroine, Keira Knightley, and Waitrose’ favourite, Joe Wilkinson, to help us show Food Lovers how to ‘say it with food’.
“Our four minute Christmas film - an industry first - pays homage to the seasonal romantic comedy tradition, celebrates the exciting and elevated Waitrose festive food offering, and adds a little more of that warm, fuzzy feeling to the holiday season. It’s the perfect gift from Waitrose, to you.”
Molly Manners, director, adds: “What a privilege to be invited in by Waitrose and Wonderhood to tell this emotional rollercoaster of a love story. We had such a great time making the perfect miniature romcom with food as a love language deep at its heart. The combination of Keira Knightley and Joe Wilkinson is magical in such an unexpected way. I hope they knock your socks clean off, as they did mine."
The film and trailer will be supported by a series of product-specific ads, with our hero talent and wider cast celebrating Waitrose delicious festive range, including:
- Waitrose No.1 Golden Mince Pies With Limoncello
- Waitrose Hickory Smoked Salmon
- Waitrose No.1 Free Range Turkey Bauble
- Waitrose Party Food
- Waitrose No1 King Prawn Toasts
- Waitrose No.1 Party Polar Bao Buns
- Waitrose No.1 Wagyu Beef Mini Pie
- Waitrose No.1 Vintage Cheddar Bake with Turkey, Bacon and Sage
To view the supermarket’s innovative four-minute romcom short, visit the Waitrose website at: www.waitrose.com/theperfectgift
ENDS
Notes to Editor
For more information please contact [email protected]
Please note that Richard Curtis is not available for comment or interview.
Paid media was planned and brokered by MG OMD.
Waitrose products featured in the short, in order of appearance:
- Waitrose Sussex Charmer Mature Cheddar Cheese
- Waitrose No.1 Party Polar Bao Buns
- Phil’s recipe that inspired the Waitrose No.1 Festive Turkey Pie
*Phil’s pie recipe: Here’s the perfect comfort food for a cosy, romantic night in. The combination is hard to beat – slow-cooked turkey thighs, mushrooms, leeks and onions in a rich gravy topped with crisp shortcrust pastry
Serves 2
Prepare 15 minutes
Cook 40 minutes
1 tbsp olive oil
1 small leek, thinly sliced
1 small onion, thinly sliced
200g pack button mushrooms, halved
495g pack slow cooked turkey thigh with turkey gravy
1 tbsp cornflour
25g pack flat leaf parsley, leaves only, coarsely chopped
4 sprigs thyme, leaves only
½ x 320g pack ready-rolled shortcrust pastry
1 medium free range egg, beaten, to glaze
- Preheat the oven to 180ºC, gas mark 4. Heat the oil in a large nonstick frying pan, add the leek and onion with a pinch of salt and cook for 8-10 minutes, stirring often, until softened and starting to turn golden. Stir in the mushrooms and cook for 2-3 minutes more.
- Open the turkey pouch and pour the liquor into the frying pan. Cut the meat into 2cm chunks, transfer to a plate and set aside.
- Put the cornflour into a small bowl and gradually stir in the pouch of gravy from the turkey pack, forming a smooth paste with a little of it, before adding the rest. With the pan off the heat, stir the mix into the vegetables, then add the turkey chunks, the parsley and thyme. Season with black pepper. Spoon into a 16-17cm round ovenproof soufflé dish or a 16cm pie dish (about 4-5cm deep), and allow to cool slightly.
- Meanwhile, unroll the pastry sheet and cut a 20cm-diameter circle. Brush the edge of the circle with the beaten egg, then place the pastry, egg-side down, over the edge of the dish. Crimp the edges using your fingers and thumb. Decorate the top as you wish with the excess pastry, then generously brush it with the beaten egg.
- Bake for 25-30 minutes, until the filling is piping hot throughout and the pastry is golden. Great served with mashed potatoes, Brussels sprouts, carrots and extra turkey gravy, if liked
Check it out online at www.waitrose.com/turkeypie
The majority of the homeware and clothing featured in the campaign is available from John Lewis and johnlewis.com.
About Waitrose
Run by over 45,000 passionate Partners, Waitrose has been serving customers for 120 years and offers extraordinary products in our 317 shops and on Waitrose.com. Inspiring food discovery, our expert Partners run almost 800 specialist food service counters in store, where customers can shop a variety of the best quality meat, fresh fish, dry aged beef, sushi, as well as cheese. Our Beer, Wine and Spirits team features the largest number of Masters of Wine of any UK supermarket and we sell nearly 3,000 different wines, beers, ciders, spirits as well as no and low drinks in our shops, on Waitrose.com and Waitrose Cellar. We are committed to selling products which have been responsibly sourced, grown using the very best sustainable farming methods, some of which are grown or trialled on our very own farm, the Leckford Estate. In 2024, Waitrose was granted the Royal Warrant of Appointment to be Grocers and Wine & Spirits Merchant to His Majesty King Charles III.
