Redding Weddy

The Captain's flashback

**Redding Weddy** is the third episode of Series 2 of *Ghosts* and the 9th episode overall. It premiered on 5 October 2020.

## Plot

The episode begins with a flashback to the Captain's past during World War II. The Captain is training a group of soldiers using Button House as their base. His second-in-command, Lieutenant Havers informs the Captain that he has put in for a transfer because he wants to fight at the front line. This upsets the Captain who supports Lieutenant Haver's decision.

Back in the present, Pat, Julian, Thomas, Mary and Robin are trying to find something to talk about before 'film club'. They have run out of subjects until Mary volunteers to finally talk about her "witch trial". Meanwhile Alison and Mike are giving a wedding planner named Martin a tour of Button House. It is also revealed that Isabelle from Belle's Weddings lost interest in the property after the couple's disastrous first impression (see About Last Night). The couple become ecstatic when Martin tells them that he likes the house, claiming that it might suit one of his upcoming clients. However, he soon becomes dismayed when he sees the back garden which has become a dumping ground. Martin asks the couple if they could clear the back garden by this afternoon, and adds pressure by informing them that he was planning to show Button House to his upcoming client, a woman named Claire later today. Determined to get their first wedding booking, Alison agrees to clear it. Their determination and motivation impresses Martin who offers to do his part by stalling Claire for as long as he can before leaving, giving them until four o'clock in the afternoon.

Inside, Julian and Thomas argue over whose turn it is to choose the film for 'film club'. Pat suggests they put it to the vote, but not all of the ghosts are present. Elsewhere, Fanny becomes engrossed in the novel 'Lady Chatterly's Lover' after seeing Kitty reading it. Outside, the couple are preparing to clear the back garden, but Alison is interrupted by the ghosts. Pat offers to help Alison by keeping his ghostly companions at bay, so she and Mike can tidy up the garden. Alison sets up her laptop to play them a YouTube video about moon landings when the ghosts express interest in the moon, after hearing Mike comment that tidying up the garden to fit the marquee is like "putting a man on the moon". After Alison leaves, the Captain passes by and is informed by Pat that the couple are clearing the back garden. This makes the Captain become paranoid as he hurries to the garden to stop the couple.

The Captain tells Alison to not dig in a certain part of the garden, because something 'explosive' will come out if it gets exposed to the outside air. Alison reluctantly complies. Meanwhile, Fanny starts experiencing a conniption fit when she finds herself feeling attracted to Mike. Back inside, the YouTube video ends prompting Julian and Thomas to go back to their arguement about 'film club'. The ghosts disperses while Robin remains after becoming engrossed in a video about moon landing conspiracies. Outside, the couple have managed to clear up most of the garden which gives Alison motivation to succeed. They experience another problem when they find a female statue which Kitty recognises as 'Florence'. Pat apologises to Alison for being unable to keep the ghosts at bay, before deciding to settle Julian and Thomas's argument with a game of volleyball using Humphrey's head. Kitty forces Alison to play hide-and-seek with her, but Alison tricks her in order to continue working on the garden. Mary awkwardly joins in the game.

A while later, the couple are exhausted but they quickly regain their confidence since they successfully cleared most of the garden. Mike offers to get rid of the garden waste and they will use the remaining time to re-decorate the garden. The ghosts suddenly show up to confront Alison about their problems, only to be distracted when they see Mike setting fire to the garden waste. The sight of the fire terrifies Mary, causing her to scream and run away. The Captain yells at Alison to get back because there is a bomb where Mike has set the fire to. Alison manages to yell at Mike to get back on time, just as the Captain runs to cover it up. There is a huge explosion which creates a crater in the garden, and one of the stones knocks over Florence the statue (which the couple were trying to move).

The Captain reveals to Alison that there was a war at Button House. He and his second-in-command, Lieutenant Havers knew about a prototype limpet mine which they called 'Operation William'. He buried it in the back garden along with the blueprints in order to keep it a secret. Alison suddenly hears Martin returning with Claire and she frantically tells Mike to do whatever he can with the garden while she stalls their visitors. The Captain then tries to explain to the other ghosts about the limpet mine, but they leave and only Robin remains out of interest. Meanwhile, Alison gives Martin and Claire a double tour of Button House until Claire insists that she wants to see garden. Despite her initial worry, Alison, Martin and Claire go to the garden where they find it successfully transformed by Mike. This is just enough to impress Claire who exclaims that she loves it.

Later that evening, the ghosts prepare to hear Mary talk about her "witch trial", but she has clammed up about it due to the fire Mike had set in the garden. Pat then announces that because the volleyball game between Julian and Thomas ended in a draw, he has decided to choose the film for their 'film club', *2001: A Space Odyssey*. Alison plays the film and while the ghosts watch, the couple celebrate their first wedding booking with champagne. Fanny also loses interest in Mike after seeing him eat sloppily, while Kitty reveals to Alison that she was not really fond of Florence the statue because she considers Alison a better friend. The episode ends with the Captain seeing the ghost of Lieutenant Havers leaving through the main gates of Button House.

## Trivia

* "Redding Weddy" refers to Mike struggling to say "Wedding Ready" throughout the episode.