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M31N 2008-12a is a remarkable recurrent nova within the Andromeda Galaxy. With twelve eruptions now identified, including nine in the past nine years, the system exhibits a recurrence period of one year, and possibly just six months. This short inter eruption period is driven by the combination of a high mass white dwarf (1.38M$_\odot$) and high mass accretion rate ($\sim$1.6$\times$10$^{−7}$M$_\odot$yr$^{−1}$). Such a high accretion rate appears to be provided by the stellar wind of a red giant companion. Deep H$\alpha$ observations have revealed the presence of a vastly extended nebula around the system, which could be the `super-remnant' of many thousands of past eruptions. The most recent eruptions have shown evidence of short-lived jet-like outflows. With a prediction of the white dwarf reaching the Chandrasekhar mass in less than a mega-year, M31N 2008-12a has become the leading pre-explosion type Ia supernova candidate. But the most recent eruption, in December 2016, was very peculiar indeed.