MAYDAY, MAYDAY, MAYDAY!

IT'S ASYMMETRICAL WARFARE FOR DUMMIES WHEN THE JOLLY OLD ELF ACCIDENTALLY DRIFTS INTO A NO-FLY ZONE IN 'THE SANTA INCIDENT,' A HALLMARK CHANNEL ORIGINAL MOVIE PREMIERING DECEMBER 7

Ione Skye and Greg Germann Star in the Original Christmas Fantasy

Mmmmmistletoe! Homeland Security may have some 'splainin' to do when its agents engage to destroy the Jolliest Old Elf in the world in "The Santa Incident," a Hallmark Channel Original Movie World Premiere, Tuesday, December 7 (8 p.m. ET/PT, 7C). Ione Skye ("Private Practice," "Say Anything"), Greg Germann ("All I Want For Christmas," "Ally McBeal"), Michael McElhatton ("Your Bad Self"), Sean McConaghy ("The Task") and James Cosmo ("The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe") star in the film for Hallmark Channel, the biggest holiday destination in television.

Homeland Security's Asymmetrical Threats Division has unknowingly targeted Santa Claus (Cosmo) for piloting an unidentified aircraft and flouting national sovereignty. Before fully identifying the target, their agent Ross (McElhatton) fires a heat-seeking missile into Father Christmas' dash wings. His reindeer rocked, his jingle bells jangled, Santa crashes to Earth, where he is rescued by a couple of kids and nursed back to health by their mom Joanna (Skye). Erickson (Germann) and Cunningham (McConaghy), a pair of bumbling secret agents have also homed in on Santa's position, and they are determined to make Kris Kringle pay for their looking bad in a prior botched anti-alien interdiction.

The dumb luck duo repeatedly delay Santa, but he never takes his eye off the ticking clock. Christmas is coming -- and while Nick waits for a sign that his Elf Posse is coming to the rescue -- he busies himself doing work-in-trade around town. Bartering his time for batteries, microchips, and other materials, Santa magically makes stacks of toys with military precision and stashes them in a secret location. As the agents rush in to plunder Santa's ad hoc toy factory, they hear a faint sound: jingle bells. Santa's eyes twinkle and he smiles. He was never worried. He's been saving Christmas for children -- and loving it -- for centuries.

"The Santa Incident" is produced by Parallel Films on behalf of MNG Films in association with RHI Entertainment, which is also distributing. Robert Halmi, Jr., Alan Moloney, Mary Callery and Mark Grenside are executive producers. Susan Mullen is the producer. Yelena Lanskaya directed from a script by Jeffrey Scott Simmons.

Hallmark Channel, owned and operated by Crown Media Holdings, Inc., is a 24-hour basic cable network that provides a diverse slate of high-quality entertainment programming available in high definition (HD) and standard definition (SD) to a national audience of 90 million subscribers. The top tier program service is distributed through more than 5,450 cable systems and communities as well as direct-to-home satellite services across the country. Hallmark Channel is the nation's leading network in providing quality family programming with an ambitious slate of original TV movies, general entertainment and home and lifestyle content. Hallmark Channel's sibling network is Hallmark Movie Channel, also available in HD and SD, which focuses on the family-friendly movies with a mix of classic theatrical films, presentations from the acclaimed Hallmark Hall of Fame library, original Hallmark Channel movies and special events.