The Ghost of Christmas

**The Ghost of Christmas** is the special seventh episode of Series 2 of *Ghosts* and the 13th episode overall. It premiered on 23 December 2020.

## Plot

The episode begins with a flashback to Julian's past where he attends a Christmas party with his colleagues at Parliament. He is soon interrupted when he receives a phone call from his wife who is upset that he is not coming home for Christmas. Desperate to get back to the party, Julian comes up with the excuse of being unable to hear her by claiming that it's because of their baby who is crying in the background. He eventually hangs up deliberately after being enticed by a younger female office worker.

In the present, Mike is preparing the Christmas dinner for tomorrow as the ghosts observe him. Alison shows up in her Christmas sweater and she quickly adds Christmas carols to Mike's plan, but Mike insists that his family are not the carol-singing type. Mike then tells Alison that he is desperate to make this year's Christmas the best ever. He does not want them trying to do everything that's already been done.

Julian tells Alison that he does not enjoy Christmas as he used to due to being dead and retreats to his room. Mike's parents and two sisters eventually arrive and Mike is appalled to learn that his parents brought more dishes and necessities when he had told them not to. One of Mike's sister, Angela has brought her baby daughter, Nancy, who according to Mary can see ghosts until they can walk.

Alison allows Angela and Nancy to use the room where Julian usually sleeps in. Upon seeing Angela, Julian takes a fancy to her until he sees Nancy. This causes him to recall how he missed *another* Christmas with his family by lying to his wife of being in Brussels. It was all in order to avoid the crying baby. Downstairs, Mike's parents begin working on the dinner Mike had prepared earlier which annoys him. His sisters, Leila and Angela claim that he's going to lose his temper again like last year, calling him the 'Incredible Sulk'.

Fanny pesters Alison to get an actual tree after expressing her chagrin towards the miniature tree Alison had put up for a while. Mike goes to find a tree to cut down, but was beaten by his father. Later that evening, to prevent his parents from trying to do everything, Mike sends everyone to bed early. Everyone but Angela goes to sleep, since Nancy will not stop crying. This infuriates Julian who becomes overwhelmed with guilt of deliberately missing every Christmas with his family since his child was born.

The next morning, everyone exchanges their Christmas presents. Alison gifts Kitty a snow globe that resembles Button House, and the ghosts a game of Twister. Thomas is desperate to kiss Alison beneath the mistletoe while the Captain awaits the Queen's Christmas speech. However, things go out of control when the Captain and Thomas turn the game of Twister into a fighting match which infuriates Pat who turns sour.

Thomas accidentally ends up kissing Mike's mother under the mistletoe, and the Captain is appalled by the televised Queen's Christmas speech. Meanwhile, Angela returns to the room to put Nancy to sleep which annoys Julian. This causes him to complain until he notices that Nancy is amused by his temper. When he sees Angela fast asleep in bed, he decides to entertain Nancy to relieve Angela of her motherly duties. It is finally time for Christmas dinner and Mike becomes agitated when it appears that his parents have taken credit for his food preparations. This causes Mike to lose his temper and storm off. Alison tries to go after him, but his father, Errol tells her to let him talk to Mike.

Upstairs, the ghosts complain about Christmas until Julian reminds them that every Christmas is not perfect. He then opens up about his past, by revealing to the ghosts that he had a daughter whom he never got to spend Christmas with. Julian had deliberately missed every Christmas with his family in order to avoid his fatherly duties. His daughter was four when he died. Elsewhere, Mike has retreated to the TV room where he is engrossed in a video game. His father comes in and tells Mike that it is about time he told him the reason why he and his wife always want to do everything - because they're getting old, they're scared that they will eventually lose their abilities.

That's why they want to do everything they can before that time comes. They then hear the piano playing downstairs. Alison is playing the piano and singing *In the Bleak Midwinter* until she is joined by the ghosts. When she finishes, she is applauded by Mike and his family who appreciate her love for carols. Alison also sneaks a small kiss for Thomas which he doesn't notice. Later that day, Julian decides to find out what had happened to his daughter since his death with some encouragement from Pat. After entering his daughter's name (Rachel Fawcett) into the search engine, he is stunned to learn that she had followed in his footsteps by becoming an MP for the Green Party. The episode ends with everyone continuing to celebrate Christmas.