General · EdgepediaOctober 3, 20265 min read

Home for Christmas

Home for Christmas (Hjem til jul) is a Norwegian romantic comedy-drama series that premiered on Netflix on 5 December 2019, created and directed by Per-Olav Sørensen and starring Ida Elise Broch as Johanne, a single nurse hunting for a partner to bring home for Christmas Eve¹^•². It was Netflix's first Norwegian original series and ran for three seasons between 2019 and 2025³.

Key fact	Detail
Original title	Hjem til jul (Norwegian language)¹
Creator / director	Per-Olav Sørensen, also co-writer; season 1 co-directed by Anna Gutto¹
Lead	Ida Elise Broch as Johanne, a 30-year-old nurse in season 1¹
Premiere dates	Season 1: 5 December 2019; Season 2: 18 December 2020; Season 3: 12 December 2025²^•⁴^•⁵
Episodes	Three seasons, twenty half-hour episodes (6 + 6 + 8)⁶
Filming locations	Røros (especially its main street) and the Kampen neighborhood of Oslo⁶
Production	The Oslo Company; season 3 made with Sørensen's The Global Ensemble Drama⁷

Spoilers

Premise and story

The first season follows Johanne, who finds herself at 30 the only one among friends and family without a partner. Worn down by comments on her single life and by society's expectations of the perfect family Christmas, she starts a 24-day hunt for a boyfriend to bring home for Christmas¹. Her love interests are played by Felix Sandman, Kingsford Sayor, and Mads Sjøgård Pettersen¹. The large supporting cast includes Ghita Nørby, Dennis Storhøi, Anette Hoff, Hege Schøyen, Line Verndal, and Herbert Nordrum, among others¹. In the main family circle, Gabrielle Leithaug plays Johanne's best friend Jørgunn, and Anette Hoff and Dennis Storhøi play her parents Jorid and Tor².

Season 2 premiered on 18 December 2020⁴. After it, Netflix said there would be no more seasons⁷.

Season 3. At a press conference in Stockholm in September 2024, Netflix reversed that decision and confirmed a third season. Sørensen explained that the season 2 ending had been fairly definitive and hard to build on, but that Johanne, five years older and at a new place in life, gave the writers a chance to start fresh; at that point the new season had no script yet⁷. The season launched globally on 12 December 2025, picking up five years after season 2 with Johanne now 35, single after a breakup with Jonas, helping her siblings and her lonely father, and holding a new leadership position at work while wondering whether she dares to love again⁵^•⁸. Returning cast members include Dennis Storhøi, Anette Hoff, Helga Guren, Hege Schøyen, Christian Ruud Kallum, Audun Sandem, Iselin Shumba, and Felix Sandman; new cast members include Gard Løkke, John Carew, Herman Tømmeraas, Felicia Danielsson, Bjørn Sundquist, and Janne Heltberg⁵. Sørensen directed, co-directed by Aurora Gossé⁵.

Production and setting

Production began in Røros, Norway, in March 2019¹, and the series was also filmed in the Kampen neighborhood of Oslo⁶. Sørensen has described Røros, a historic mining town whose December streets and Christmas market feature prominently, as an essential part of the show's "fantasy town": the geography is deliberately loose, because Netflix wanted a show with global appeal, and Røros's main street became a signature element that the production kept for later seasons⁶.

The writing team on season 1 comprised Miriam Larsen, Mattis Herman Nyquist, Julie Skaufel, Fredrik Høyer, and Sørensen, working from an idea by Amir Shaheen and Kristian Andersen; producers were Trond Kvernstrøm, Christian Steen, and Anders Tangen at The Oslo Company¹.

Reception and international reach

Sørensen has said season 1 was an experiment: Netflix did not know how a Scandinavian Christmas comedy would land globally, but the show became a global success, and Netflix then ordered season 2⁹. After the second season, media reported that the series appeared on Netflix's global top-ten list, and Broch said she had received many messages from international fans praising her character³.

The series has become a recurring part of Norwegian Christmas viewing: each December it climbs the Norwegian Netflix popularity charts near the top, despite having gone years without new episodes³. It also inspired remakes in Italy and South Africa³. Critics have noted its adult take on holiday romance; a parental-review service describes it as a realistic romantic dramedy about the gap between the life you have and the life others expect by 30, with mature content rather than family fare¹⁰.

Other works titled Home for Christmas

The title has also been used for unrelated works. A 2010 Norwegian feature film directed by Bent Hamer, based on short stories by Levi Henriksen, follows intersecting lives in the fictional small town of Skogli over a couple of hours on Christmas Eve; it won the Best Script award at the San Sebastián festival in 2010¹¹. Hannah Waddingham: Home for Christmas is a 44-minute 2023 Apple TV+ music special in which the Emmy-winning actress performs festive classics with a big band and guests at the London Coliseum¹². Susan Boyle released a Christmas album titled Home for Christmas in October 2013, and Celtic Woman released one of the same name in 2012¹³^•¹⁴.

References

Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026