Merry Christmas!
Hope Santa made it out alive.
I'm going to visit Denny's grave,
and then I thought we could do some presents
when Albie's back from Karen's.
Ian, go to bed.
Get some sleep.
How can I? You saw the threat last night.
Someone out there wants me dead today.
Ian, it's probably just a prank.
A prank?Yeah.
Was somebody whacking me over the head a prank?
Somebody sending bullets in the post, a prank?
Writing "Burn In Hell" on the doors?
All right! I'm sorry.
Look, the police think it's Tina.
And if it is, she's not going to try it again, is she?
I don't think it is Tina. She's not bright enough.
Then who?
Ian.
Ian!
# ..on the way
# Oh, well, I wish it could be Christmas every day... #
PATRICK CHUCKLES
You reckon The Vic is going to be open later?
Yeah! I heard they're doing a special... What's it?
Mystery murder event.
Yeah, that ends up with a real-life killing.
It's Christmas Day, no talking about murder.
Now, promise me you lot won't start drinking before lunch.
The timings for everything are right here on this table,
and don't forget Jack and the kids are coming.
You know, flirting with your ex-boyfriend is so not TCCV.
TCCV?
Traditional Christian Christmas Values.
Just rolls off the tongue.
KIM PURRS
Hey, have you heard from Isaac?
Met a girl last night, apparently.
Oh! And he stayed to unwrap her, did he?
A chip off the old block.
Ah, very Christmassy!
Oh, do me a favour.
Listen, listen, Pearl is in my boudoir at the moment,
and she's in charge of everything glitter,
So it's your turn in there now. Come on. Let's go.
Pearl! Patrick's coming.
Oh, here's the little man.
Oh, look at you.
Quick, let me take a photo of you and Mummy.
Come here, sweetheart.
No, I don't want to.
PHONE RINGS
Oh! There it is.
Chelsea.
Happy Christmas, darling.
Yeah! Listen, I'm just about to head out, so can I call you later?
Oh, I'm just going for a run.
Bit of exercise before we get stuck into lunch.
What about you?
Me? I'm spending the day with my new flatmate.
Yeah, she's really nice.
You'd like her.
Happy Christmas. Bye.
Don't look at me like that.
I don't like you lying to your mother.
She wouldn't get it.
Take it off in, three, two, one.
Woohoo!
Record me on my phone! I want to see it afterwards!
I can't. I ain't got any storage cos of you.
It's all right. I've got it. Come on, give us a spin!
Can I go back to bed? No, you can't!
Merry Christmas, darling. Look at that!
Was it you? Sent the bullets? Wanting me dead?
Get a grip, Ian.
What are they doing here?
There he is. That's Ben Mitchell. He's the one you want.
Peter Beale? Yeah. What's this?
We've matched the fingermarks on the bullet to the ones you provided us.
I'm arresting you on suspicion of attempted murder.
You do not have to say anything, but it may harm your defence
if you fail to mention when questioned
something which you later rely on in court.
I didn't do it, I swear, I just sent the threats.
Anything you do say may be given in evidence.
Why?
Because it was fun watching you squirm.
You seen the police outside? Eh?Must be to do with Ian.
Well, I hope they've caught them.
I mean, Ian's a prat, true,
but he don't deserve what's happened to him, does he?Look.
HE IMITATES FANFARE
Oh, nice wrapping.
All right. Don't judge a present by its cover,
it's what's inside that counts.
Is that right? Yeah.
Right, I've got to go.
Er, what time will you be back?
Just so I know when to order the pizza.
Yeah, are you sure you're happy just having a takeaway?
Yeah, course. Just not very special, though, is it?
You know, like, our first Christmas together.
Oh, you know me. I'm no princess.
Yeah.
Right, I will be an hour, yeah?
Er, two, tops. Love you.
See you.
Hi.
Yeah, he's gone, so you can come and start the prep.
Thank you.
Look. I'm wearing the dress you got Mummy, and I love it!
Aren't you clever for picking something so perfect?
Shall we get going?
Come on, then.
Do you know what? Let's not do the fake thing.
Fake what? We need to start getting used to doing things separately.
We might as well start now.
I'll take the little man over to see me mum and Tina
for the first half of the day. You can have him for the second half.
OK, if that's what you want.
Let's go, Ollie. See Mummy later.
Bye, darling.
Eurgh, parsnips.
The second most hated vegetable after sprouts.
Are you going to get dressed any time soon, or...?
It's Christmas Day.
Yeah, the kids are going to be here in an hour.
I'd rather you were decent.
Go and get dressed, lazy bum.
I have got you such a good present this year.
Oh, no.
It ain't that ashtray you nicked for me, is it, in the shape of a...
..parsnip?
Oh, my God, I can't believe how good that year was.
But, no, this year is even better.
DOORBELL RINGS
Going to go and open it, then?
Who've you invited?
Don't worry, I'll go down the garage and get some waffles to pad it out.
Ollie.
All right. Go on kids, go and hide. I'm coming.
You all right back here?
Yeah. I'm fine.
Honestly, go on, I'll be through in a sec.
Right. Ten, nine, eight, seven...
To Jean...
..from Jean? You been taking your meds?
Mock me if you like, I don't care.
It's a present from me to me, because I'm worth it.
Good for you, Mum.
I wonder what it is.
Oooh!
Oh, I love that.
Don't think it's too much? Course not.
Can I borrow it? No! It's all mine.
Right, I'm going to go and check on the dinner,
and then I'm going to get changed.
"To Stacey, from Martin".
Oh, I didn't think we were doing presents this year.
Well, I wouldn't get too excited.
Right, kids, I'm coming!
You like it?
Martin, that's expensive!
I... I love it. Thank you.
Er... You don't have to be embarrassed!
SHE GIGGLES
SHE GASPS
Looks beautiful.
Me and Ollie will swerve the parsnips, though, won't we, boy?
No worries.
I bunged some waffles in the microwave.
Waffles? With turkey?
It's yummy!
Thanks, Gray. We really appreciate it, don't we, Tina?
Yeah, really grateful.
What's this?
It's a little extra something for you.
It's before you played some game. Do you remember?
Can I see?
Thanks, Teen. It's lovely.
So where's her ladyship?
She's not coming. She's got the sniffles.
She's missing Christmas dinner for sniffles?
You two had a fallout?
Shirl, leave it. What?
What's the matter?
Will someone tell me what's going on?
SHE SIGHS
You all right?
Sorry, it's not you.
It just feels odd not being with Ollie.
You'll see him later, won't you?
But what if this is how it's going to be from now on?
You know, Christmases split up,
feeling like something's missing wherever I am?
Maybe we should go to New Zealand.
Everything will feel better once you've had a break.
I don't think I can go, Max.
I don't know if Mick could cope.
Mick.
Ain't got to talk about Mick today, have we?
ENTRYPHONE BUZZES
Yeah?
Who is it?
Is it true? About you and him?
Shirley, you can't just come in here shouting the odds.
It's all right, Max.
Is it true?
Yeah.
It's true.
Everything that you and Mick have been through,
and you repay him like this? It's not like that.
Mick don't even care. Care! Of course he cares!
That man would walk over hot coals for you.
No. No, not any more.
He says he can't be with me, you know, that he can't make me happy.
Look at it.
The cat that's got the cream.
I used to think a lot of you, Linda.
Now I just think you're a common tart.
Shut your mouth, Mother.
What?
You heard me.
He's sleeping with her under your nose. You don't understand.
Just leave them alone. Come with me.
She's nothing to me any more.
Maybe you're right about New Zealand.
I think a break's exactly what I need.
I hereby christen this cocktail the whiskey sourpuss
in honour of my sister.
Oh, look. Here he is. Oh, yes, yes, yes. The guest of honour.
Denise's very good, very platonic,
very much not-lying-down- taking-off-his-clothes friend.
Been drinking, have you?
MOCKING:"Been drinking, have you?"
Nice make-up, by the way. Hey! Nice jumper.
Yeah, very good.
Merry Christmas!Merry Christmas.
Pearl's upstairs in charge of make-up, yeah?
Might want to go upstairs, get your groove on.
Now, are you going to give me a proper hello,
Detective Inspector Branning?
Hello!
Patrick, your wife is flirting with Dee's not very ex-ex.
Oh, leave her now, man. She's having a good time.
Because I might need interrogating!
Well, I'll set the table first, I think, thank you.
Very liberal, Patrick. Very liberal indeed.
Good looking, but boring.
Just like Dee, innit?
Yeah.
# ..the glorious kingdom
# He comes from the glory
# He comes from the glorious kingdom
# Glorious kingdom. #
Thank you for a wonderful, wonderful start to our service.
Can I have an Amen?
ALL: Amen.
Our theme for today's service is new beginnings.
And our first speaker knows more about that than most,
but I'll let him explain why.
Please, come forward.
APPLAUSE
Hello. Thank you for having me.
My...
HE CLEARS THROAT
My name is Lucas Johnson.
The reason I'm here to talk to you today
is because I've done things that I'm not proud of.
IAN: I always thought Bobby was the problem, but now, I see it's Peter.
Have I really been such a bad father?
I can't believe he would do that to me.
I know we've had our ups and downs, but I thought underneath it all,
well, I always thought we loved each other.
He might call it a practical joke, but what he has done runs deep.
He has left me with severe emotional wounds.
Will you just shut up?
I'm here to visit my son.
Er, yeah, of course.
Ian, please, just go back to The Vic.
I'll make my own way home.
But I don't want to go back there on my own.Tough.
I want to be alone with Denny.
So that's when I realised that coming here today isn't about me.
Raymond.
Cos you don't need to like me... Raymond!
..or look up to me.
You can call me a monster.
Raymond.
Raymond. Come on.
Come on.
You can call me... a monster.
Sorry.
Just get your arm in.
That's it.
Good boy, good boy.
Dee!
Do not come any closer!
They let you out?
I'm following a rehabilitation programme...
What are you doing here? Pastor Lawrence is an old friend...
You have been stalking me. You've been following me...
No.
Mum.
Chelsea.
Chelsea, are you...? Are you here with him?
I think it's best not to jump to conclusions.
Have you planned this together to ambush me?
No! No way.
What are you even doing at church, anyway? Who's that boy?
He's been watching me, following me.
I know it's a lot to take on board, and I will explain everything
but right now, we should go inside.
"We"? What, you and him?
Yeah.
No. No, no, no, no, no, you're going to get in this car,
you're going to come back to Walford. No, I'm not.
Yes, you are, young lady.
You're going to get in this car right now.
Or what, you're going to count to ten?
I'm a 34-year-old woman. You can't tell me what to do.
BANGING ON WINDOW
Mummy? Mummy!
Ho-ho-ho!
HE BREATHES DEEPLY
LOCK CLICKS
TOY SQUEAKS LOUDLY
Why did Uncle Ian want the police to take Daddy away?
Cos he's still off his head on morphine.
What's morphine?
You going to explain that one, Phil?
Lexi, will you go and sit down now, please?
You thought the police were coming for you, didn't you?
I'll have a leg, Dad.
Is there something I need to know, Ben?
Just eat your stuffing.
PHONE BUZZES
LINE RINGS OUT
I need to see you.
I don't care if you're having lunch. This is more important.
LOUD LAUGHTER NEARBY
Oh, that looks nice.
What does? Your dress.
Oh! Yes. Mum. Look what Martin bought me.
Oh, Stacey! That's lovely.
I know! What do you think it means?
I think it means that you still love him, don't you?
Don't let him slip through your fingers, Stace. Life's too short.
PUB BELL RINGS DOWNSTAIRS
Sharon?
BELL RINGS AGAIN
Who is it?
Who's there?
BELL RINGS
Who are you?
I'm not scared of you.
Just show yourself.
Oh!
Stop it, please!
Please, just stop it. Stop...
DART THUDS, MONKEY CHITTERS
Hello, brother.
DENNY: Mum, I can't get through to you.
Ian's locked me in a room on the boat.
I need help. I can't get out.
Mum. I can't get through to you.
Ian's locked me in a room on the boat.
I need help. I can't get out.
You took your time.
Stopped to get these.
Denny don't need your flowers, Phil.
He needs justice.
My son died, locked in a room
while that dirty great river swallowed him whole.
And the man responsible, the man I have to pretend to like,
love, even, is still alive.
So you can keep your flowers, Phil.
I want Ian dead.
And I want it done today.
LOUD CHATTER AND LAUGHTER
That's it. Straight upstairs.
Lucas is back.
They've let him out.
I want this as much as you do, Sharon,
but we need to be careful. We need to wait until the heat dies down.
I'm sick of waiting!
Two months, we've waited on Denny's voicemail.
Two months of having to cosy up to Ian, and you mess it up.
Cos you got disturbed!
Ian should be dead by now.
Instead, I'm married to him!
That was down to you. That was never part of the plan, was it?
What choice did I have?
Now's the time to act.
Peter and Tina are both in the frame.
It's the perfect cover. The police haven't looked our way once.
All right.
All right, I'll do it tonight.
I'll do it after closing time.
No. You do it now.
He's back at The Vic. He's on his own.
You can be in and out within the hour.
It WAS you.
I knew it was you standing over me that night.
Must be tough, Ian, being so popular.
Who was it? Was it Tina? Was it Peter? Or was it me?
Was it you?
If I wanted you dead, Ian, you wouldn't be stood here
trying to hit a home run.
Then why are you here now?
I don't know. Guess I like watching you squirm,
just like Peter.
Now, you might be the kind of dad whose kids want to kill him,
but I intend to do a better job with Lexi,
so you watch your mouth when you are around her.
Say it!
OK.
OK, I'll watch my mouth around her.
Good.
Going to let you in on a little secret, Ian.
What?
I was here that night.
I found you lying on the floor, and I reckon if I was here,
I don't know, a minute earlier,
I'd have caught whoever it was red-handed.
You had it coming.
You left me here to die?
Yeah. I'm your brother!
And I'm yours, but that didn't stop you, did it?
No, no, no!
Please.
Please, just do it.
Just do it, please. Just...
What were you doing in there?
I saw you go in. I followed you.
Why? To stop you getting banged up, that's why.
I wasn't going to kill him.
So standing over him with a baseball bat in your hand,
that's a sign of affection, is it? I was angry!
Yeah, he betrayed me, and...
It doesn't mean that I want him dead.
He's my brother, Dad, and I'll always love him,
no matter how much of a pillock he is.
You said you went round there the night he was attacked
cos you were going to kill him. Yeah, I say a lot of things.
I don't always mean them, do I?
Just go home.
You coming?
Not yet.
HE SIGHS
Martin? Where the hell are you?
So am I a lady?
Debatable!
Oi!
Nan, no clues! All right.
And I'm not a celebrity?
DOORBELL RINGS
Are you drunk? You just asked that. Am I in this room?
Yes!
So I'm a debatable lady and I'm in this room.
It's obvious, innit?
Am I Stacey Slater?
LAUGHTER
Oi!
Hi.
Er, Rube.
Yeah, I called, but you weren't answering.
Oh, yeah, yeah. Just, the kids have been manic.
I didn't hear it.That's fine.
Are you ready to come home now? I'm getting impatient.
I want to open my present.
Oh, you can't go now.
No, no.
No, I think it's time I left.
Why don't you both stay? More the merrier, eh, Stace?
Yeah, the kids would love that.
Kush'll like it.
He might be banged up next Christmas.
Could do, couldn't we?
I mean, you haven't cooked anything, have you?
Please say yes. For me.
Yeah.
HE SIGHS
Nice to see you've made a start on the clearing up.
I can't believe Mick.
How could he let Linda have an affair right under his nose?
Shut up. You don't know nothing about it.
It's weak. I'd never have tolerated that from Chantelle.
"Tolerated"? Where do you get your idea of marriage? The 1920s?
If it's old-fashioned to believe in fidelity,
I'll wear that badge with pride.
From what I hear, your marriage weren't all roses either.
And what did you hear?
That Chantelle had her bags packed cos she was going to leave you.
Daddy? Is that true?
Was Mummy leaving?
Don't listen to her.
You not going to open that? Oh, I don't know.
No. Wait till you get home, eh?
Not got a PG rating, then?
You dark horse, Martin.
Pack it in, you two.
It's nothing like that... No, go on. Open it. Don't mind us.
All right. I will.
Ruby, wait.
It's a symbol.
You put that on a key.
To my heart.
KAT SCOFFS
That's the sort of rubbish Alfie used to try and pull on me.
Sure it ain't out of a Christmas cracker?
Should have gone with jewellery, mate. Every time. Yeah.
Yeah.
It was a dumb idea. Sorry.
No, no. It's, erm... It's cute.
I love it. Thanks.
Well, this food's blinding.
The lights ain't even on. Ian!
Hey, Beale! Come on, open up.
Maybe someone finally finished the job.
Don't! Sends shivers through me.
What, of pleasure?
Maybe we should go home, sort out this Lucas fella.
I'm not having you square up to a murderer.
We could go to another pub. Are you having a laugh?
Oh, here she is.
Shazza! What's happening? Why ain't Ian opening up?
I've no idea.
He should have done by now.
You're not going already?
Yeah. It was lovely, though. Thanks for having us.
Let's all go to the pub.
Did somebody say pub?
No. We'd better get back...
Could do?No. I'm a bit tired.
My treat.
Well, in that case, Jean... Yes!
Right, Marts, I'm just going to sort these dishes out.
I'll be right with you. Lovely.
Sorry, can you just give us a sec?
HE SIGHS
What's up?
This was supposed to be our first Christmas, and it's totally ruined.
Why? We was only going to have pizza.
MO FARTS
I got caterers in.
It was meant to be a surprise.
It's all laid out for us at home, waiting.
Could eat it tomorrow.
Leftovers are the best part of Christmas anyway, aren't they?
So come on.
Let's go and have a drink with everyone.I want to go home.
Could be Kush's last Christmas...
A key ring, Martin?
I mean, a key ring? Yeah.
I'm sorry about that. I will make it up to you.
Well, then, come home with me now. Or...
..how about I just stay for one?
Do you know what? You stay for a lock-in for all I care.
Rube!
Ruby, please.
Pub?
Pub.
You think he targeted Raymond's church on purpose?
Of course he did.
And by the looks of things, he's sucked Chelsea right in.
Listen, don't worry. I'm going to sort this.
DOORBELL RINGS
I'll get it.
She through there? Yeah.
Hi, Auntie Kim.
Now, there is not many people that will upstage me,
but I've got to give it to you, you look good.
How are you doing, Chelsea? I thought she'd chucked you.
Is Lucas with you?
Yes, he's got his invisibility cloak on again.
Look, I'm not joking. It's OK, Jack.
I'm just here to let you know that I've been spending time with Dad
and I've decided to give him a chance,
and before you pile in, it ain't happened overnight, OK?
OK. So, tell me,
how long exactly have you and him been in touch?
A few months.Months?
I speak to you every Sunday
and you didn't think to mention this, not even once?
And the boy in the car, the one who called you Mummy,
you never thought to mention that?
Oh, Chelsea, you cannot compare
me waiting to tell you about your sweet, innocent little brother
with you going behind my back with my psychopath ex-husband.
He's my dad! We're related by blood.
I don't choose that.
Oh, but you get to choose whether he's in your life or not.
Yeah, and I have.
He cares about me.
He actually wants to be involved in my life,
which is more than I can say for you.
Wow. That's...
That's...
Do you know what, Chelsea? I message you all the time,
and you never reply, you never...
But that's not even the point.
Whatever he has said to you, he is lying, he's manipulating you!
You're just jealous.
Jealous! He contacted me, not you.
And that burns, don't it? No! It terrifies me!
SHE SIGHS
The reason...
The reason that that man is so dangerous
is because he is so damned good at playing the opposite.
But I swear to you, one little trigger,
that's all it takes, and then the real monster comes out.
Where's Patrick?
I'll go.OK.
I knew it.
I knew you couldn't resist coming back here.
Patrick... Don't you dare.
Now, I don't know what lies you've been telling Chelsea,
but I'm going to tell you something -
as long as there is breath in my body, I'm going to make sure
she knows what a despicable piece of man you are.
And you can pray as much as you want,
but no god's going to wash away the blood from your murderous hands.
JACK: Patrick.
What?
Come home. Yeah.
What happened? Why ain't he dead?
I got there to find Ben standing over him
with a baseball bat in his hand.
I had to stop him.Why?
The old bill would be all over this, wouldn't they?
Ben's got a motive, he's got a history, he'd go down.
Why are you making this so complicated?
Because it is complicated, Sharon.
This ain't some stranger with no connections.
This is Ian we're talking about, you know, he's family.
Family? Dennis was family.
Now, you get over there and do it right now.
No.
No?
No!
This is mental, Sharon.
I know you want revenge, but maybe you've already had it.
Ian's on his knees. He's a wreck.
Are you serious?
Listen, I hate him.
I hate him as much as you do, but he's still my son's brother,
you know, he's a father, a son.
I...
I just don't want his blood on my hands.
So what are you saying?
I want out.
You coward.
You're grieving, Sharon.
You ain't thinking straight. You should get help.
How dare you?
I know what this is about.
It's cos Denny wasn't blood, innit?
Listen, I loved that boy.
Not like Ben. Not like Lexi.
Cos if it had been one of them, Ian wouldn't still be breathing.
Sharon, I'm here for you. Don't come near me.
Sharon, please... Where are you going?
To do it myself.
Tell your mum I've put a little something in there for her, yeah?
You reckon we should check on him? See if he's all right?
It's a free bar.
That's on the house, mate.
I'll have some of that.
Happy Christmas. Glad you had fun last night.
I'm getting too old for hook-ups.
Right, come on, then, what's everyone having?
I'll have a vodka tonic.
Triple, you say? Yeah!
Oh! Did not expect that!
Usual. And some crisps, please.
What the...? Where's Ian?
Round the back. He's round the back there.
Ian. What are you doing back here? They're all just helping themselves.
Ben was here.
What happened?
Did you know he found me that night?
He found me and he left me to die.
He swore to me he was nowhere near here that night!
You gave him an alibi?
Mum? I didn't know what to do, did I?
I mean, I knew he wouldn't have hurt you.
He left me here to die!
You protected him over me?
Get out.
Get out!
GLASS SMASHES
I want all of you out of here!
You're nothing but a bunch of liars and hypocrites!
Oh, did Santa forget to come down your chimney, Ian?
I reckon Sharon did.
You wouldn't laugh at Mick like that, would you?
You wouldn't laugh at Phil Mitchell.
So why are you laughing at me, eh?
Right, I'm out of here.
Ian, mate, it's all right, I'll get them under control.
I said, get out of my pub!
Get out! Get out!
You've lost the plot, Beale.
Ian, please! I'm your mum!
I don't care. Get out!
It's OK, I'm here.
You're safe now.
We need to have a word with him, I think.
Where's my mum? Eh?
Oh, she's on the old man's bench.
You know, where Daniel died.
All right, Mum?
Proper true love, that, wasn't it?
Erm, I'm going to get off.
Thanks for lunch. Come in, have a drink.
No, no. I'd better not.
Don't.
I know it's messy, but we'll figure it out.
The main thing is, I feel the same.
You've got this wrong.
The watch? Right? I know what that meant.
No, Stace...
You feel bad. I get it, Martin. But we'll...
We'll just take it slowly.
It wasn't meant for you.
What?
I got the presents mixed up.
The watch was for Ruby.
Stacey, I'm...
I'm sorry.
FOOTSTEPS APPROACH
Gray, I'm sorry. I went too far.
I shouldn't have said that about Chantelle.
But I've cleaned everything up, so if you want, sit down,
put your feet up.
They're the wrong way round.
Huh? The knives.
They go blade up.
Nice Christmas dinner.
I haven't had any either.
Chip?
Ruby!
Where you been?
I've been looking all over for you. I was worried.
I've even made it snow for you, look. Come on.
Dad!
Come on, let's go.
I told you it was a waste of time.
Raymond called me Mummy earlier.
That's great news.
That means you've got his trust.
Mm-hm. Yeah.
Just when the devil reappears.
# Silent night
# Holy night
# All is calm
# All is bright
# 'Round yon virgin, mother and child... #
DENNY: Mum, I can't get through to you.
Ian's locked me in a room on the boat.
I need help. I can't get out.
# Holy infant so tender and mild
# Sleep in heavenly peace
# Sleep in heavenly peace... #
Here you go. Oh, thanks.
You not having any?
Maybe later.
Mm.
# Sleep in heavenly peace. #