Betty is home from hospital. Derek Fletcher is playing the spoons in the Christmas festivities.

Radio Times: The Tuckers have a homecoming.

Characters: Betty, Elizabeth, Hayley, Lynda, Mike, Roy

• Roy and Hayley are getting ready for Betty coming home from the hospital. Hayley is blaming herself for letting Betty overwork. But at least her parents understand why they can’t go to Birmingham for Christmas.
• Lynda is making a nuisance of herself with rehearsals at Lower Loxley as well as at the village hall. But now she needs to do one-to-one rehearsals with Derek Fletcher – the most miserable man in Borsetshire. Lynda has persuaded him to play the spoons. Not box office dynamite but a certain novelty value. Nigel is enjoying the Christmas party but Titcombe is behaving very strangely, just standing dead still under the mistletoe.
• Betty is very impressed with the Christmas decorations. She didn’t know if she’d ever be coming back. Mike finds it all a bit emotional too. He’s just so happy. They realise how much they mean to each other. Even the cruise to Greece might be real one day – as long as Mike doesn’t have to wear a penguin suit.