Helen is persuaded to join the family on Christmas Eve but that’s all.

Radio Times: Vicky is very worried and Tom is on a diplomatic mission.

Characters: Helen, Lynda, Pat, Susan, Tom, Vicky

• Lynda is shopping in Ambridge Organics – for five: Coriander, Justin and fourteen month old Oscar will be here tomorrow. Coriander is looking forward to a chin-wag with Helen about babies. More immediately, Lynda has the panto technical rehearsal tonight.
• Pat recruits Tom to undertake a diplomatic mission to Helen, to check that she is still coming on Christmas Eve. Lynda phones to say that she has bought some incorrectly labelled yoghurts.
• So in the dairy, Susan’s canapé plans are interrupted by the question how could this have happened? Vicky admits that she checked the top sheet of labels but not all the others. Maybe with a bit less gossiping …
• Tom’s mission is transparent to Helen. She is not sure about going to Bridge Farm: dad just cannot accept her baby; she wants a grandad her baby can love; babies know when people don’t love them and they somehow believe it’s their fault. Tom tries to tone down this extreme view; at least he persuades her to come to Bridge Farm on Christmas Eve – for mum’s sake. She agrees but she will not stay over.
• Alas, Underwoods have also had some wrongly labelled yoghurts, so Pat needs to make a trip to Borchester in rush hour; she could have done without this.
• Helen visits the rehearsal to present Lynda with some real strawberry yogurts and her thanks for bringing the problem to their attention. Vicky turns up convinced she will get the sack.
• Tom reports his partial success. Pat hates to think of Helen on her own on Christmas morning. At least it will be the last time: if all goes to plan, next year she will be hanging up a little stocking and getting up at the crack of dawn