Neil has a change of heart. Alan wins Usha’s heart. Susan’s heart is full. Well … it’s Christmas Day.

Radio Times: Neil shows some Christmas spirit.

Characters: Alan, Christopher, David, Ed, Emma, Heather, Neil, Ruth, Susan, Usha

• Betty’s death has caused Neil to rethink family relationships, and after church, without telling Susan, he calls at the caravan to ask Emma and Ed to come to Ambridge View for Christmas dinner.
• The Brookfield Christmas dinner looks set to be something of an improvement on Ruth’s cooking, with Heather in charge. After ploughing their way through a huge turkey, they’re off to Lower Loxley, where Kenton has arranged an afternoon of games along the lines of Hunt the Ancestor.
• Ed and Emma are wrestling with the caravan cooker and a small chicken when Neil calls round. Rather stiffly, he tells Emma that he can’t sit in his big house while his ‘little girl’ is stuck in the caravan. If Ed means that much to her, he’d better join the family and come to lunch. Emma and Ed are delighted.
• When Susan hears the news, she’s in a panic; will there be enough food to go round? Neil tells her that Emma and Ed will bring what they were intending to cook. Christopher is prepared to give his new computer game to Ed, and Neil will buy him another one. In fact Christopher does more than that; he breaks the ice by pouring the drinks and then dragging Ed off to play the new game.
• Usha spends the day helping Alan and Amy serve food at the shelter for the homeless, and finds it an interesting and rewarding experience. Amy stays over with a friend, so they have the Vicarage to themselves. As Alan prepares to make a romantic cup of tea, Usha tells him she’s had a brilliant day… and he’s brilliant, too. They kiss on the Vicarage sofa.
• With Ed and Christopher getting on well, Susan’s fears are over, and when Will brings George back, her cup runs over; her family is complete.