Claudia's lasting legacy 'I CAN'T TOP THIS!'

Why the actress feels the Bump festive special in her best work ever

- Words: Stephen Downie

There's a scene in Bump: A Christmas Film in which Claudia Karvan's character is patting a small baby aboard a plane. The infant is fake, but the plane ride, somewhat surprisingly, is not.

The actress, 53, recalls, "The other passengers were going, 'This is a bit weird. Why are you carrying that fake doll? What's going on here?'"

The Bump co-creator, famous for her roles in The Secret Life Of Us and Love My Way, will go to any lengths to bring the series – and her character – to life, including, it would seem, guerilla-style filming on a commercial flight.

When season five of Bump wrapped in December last year, many fans thought it was the end of the hit Aussie series. It was certainly assumed we'd seen the last of Claudia's beloved character Angie Davis, who tragically lost her battle with cancer.

Producers had wanted to make a Christmas film for ages, but Claudia says it was always too difficult to interrupt the sequence of storytelling. When the show finished, however, they saw an opportunity to tell a festive story that wouldn't "feel too cynical or opportunistic".

Claudia says, "It felt like the best possible way to say goodbye to Angie. We were able to revisit the last Christmas the family had together."