Chris gets more than she bargained for: that stag’s head is back and so her son Peter.

Radio Times: Mixed emotions at the party.

Characters: Brian, Christine, George, Janet, Jennifer, Lynda, Siobhán, Tim

• Christine, showing Jennifer one of George’s birthday ‘surprises’, is not a happy woman. The stag’s head has returned and seems to be taking up half the living room. Lynda pops in to re-invite herself to the party tonight and is equally taken aback by the stag, however she regains her composure enough to moan about Leonie’s change of plans. She won’t be arriving tonight after all. George, Chris and Jenny all mollify her by heaping praise on her (scathing) review of the Felpersham panto.
• Brian arrives at Honeysuckle cottage for a bit of afternoon delight and is welcomed by an enthusiastic Siobhán. They are just getting down to business in the living room it seems, when Tim arrives unexpectedly. They do an incredible job of composing themselves in about 20 seconds flat and spin a story about Hungary / translations etc. Tim is in a hurry to pick up some documents and fails to spot anything amiss. Brian legs it.
• Chris is anxious about the house, the decorations, the food, but George as usual is heartily reassuring. She admits that she is really looking forward to the first Christmas in their new home. There’s only one thing that she’s really like though …
• Janet and Tim bump in to each other yet again at the party and are rather awkwardly discussing the talking point that is the stag’s head obliterated by tinsel and misteltoe. After embarrassing her with a silly remark he confesses that he really misses her friendship and the chats they used to have.
• Siobhán and Brian are grabbing a few minutes together but are interrupted by Jennifer. They get around to the subject of the Boxing Day shoot and he actually manages to get Jenny to invite Siobhán. Unfortunately its to help in the kitchen! Not quite what she had in mind.
• George makes a speech, thanking everyone for coming to celebrate their new home and his wife’s birthday. He then unveils the biggest surprise of the evening, Chris’s son Peter. She is ecstatic.