A FLINTSHIRE school could see its Christmas play taken from the school hall to millions of TV screens across the UK, after being named as a national finalist in Virgin Media's Christmas Stars competition.

St Mary's Catholic Primary School in Flint entered its festive play into the national competition to find the UK's best primary school play.

The school entered a Christmas play called A Wicked Good Christmas that follows the Wicked Witch who is sick of losing to the good guys all the time. She discovers that the root of the bad guys' problems all go back to the birth of Jesus, so the villains band together and set out to make the nativity story as boring as possible to stop Jesus' message of love spreading.

The school now has the chance to have its play professionally filmed and televised in the days leading up to Christmas after it was shortlisted as a finalist for the Virgin Media Christmas Stars competition.

As part of this money-cannot-buy prize, the winners will work with TV presenter, Stephen Mulhern, who will join the school's cast playing the role of narrator for a one-off performance.

In its entry, a spokesman for St Mary's said it deserved to win because "it has a strong message and is downright hilarious".

They added: "The script is incredibly inclusive and contains nearly 60 characters and I genuinely believe that the British viewing public would enjoy the show. We don't have a fancy stage or lighting, but we have some wonderfully talented pupils who I know would put on a truly memorable show."

As well as being shortlisted to have its Christmas play televised, the school is also guaranteed to win a prize.

The winners of the competition will unwrap £5,000 and receive unforgettable experiences thanks to Andrew Lloyd Webber's hit West End show, School of Rock the Musical.

A class from the school will be invited to the show's Gillian Lynne Theatre in London for a performance masterclass from the cast. Afterwards, the children will also be treated to tickets to watch the blockbuster show and see the talented cast in action.

To keep the Christmas spirit going, School of Rock the Musical will generously give the winning school 10 ukuleles, so they can strum their way into 2020.

And, as it will be the season of goodwill, there are plenty of other prizes. The runner up school will win £1,000 plus 15 ukuleles, while 22 regional finalists will win £100 and two ukuleles each.

David Bouchier, chief digital entertainment officer at Virgin Media, said: "A huge congratulations to Flint's St Mary's Catholic Primary School for being named as a finalist in our magical Christmas Stars competition. It's production has the perfect ingredients for a feel-good festive play which could be enjoyed by millions of Virgin TV customers this Christmas."

A panel of judges - including Stephen Mulhern, representatives from Virgin Media and School of the Rock the Musical - will preside over the shortlist and select the winner, runner up and 22 regional finalists.

Virgin Media will then film the school's production and make it available, on-demand, to millions of people this Christmas.