Episode 25th December 2021

This was the episode shown on the 25th December 2020.

## Synopsis

As the episode begins, George is walking up Hole Street, in the direction of the Tumpetty. He sees Matthew lying dead outside, and goes back home.

At No.1B, Rebecca, Maria, Gemma, Lucy E, Chloe, Lucy and Ariana are celebrating Christmas. Also visiting are Jade and Alice. Jade is excited about Tia coming to visit. Lucy E hears about Johnny getting arrested for Matthew's murder the following day. The conversation turns to the ongoing murder investigation. Johnny's arrest is mentioned, and everyone suspects that it's him. Chloe suddenly says that it wasn't him, and she knows who killed him. A flashback then shows the events of the night of Matthew's murder:

On the night of Matthew's murder, Matthew is shown breaking into the James house, and threating Johnny in his kitchen, terrifying him. Fiona threatens him with a knife, and he leaves. Matthew then goes down the road to No.7, and threatens Damian & John with a piece of wood with nails in. This is observed by Jennifer, who phones her mother, and tells her she won't be listening to her anymore. At the same time, George tells Lauren, Maisie and Alison about Ryan killing Morgan. Furious, Lauren, Maisie and Alison go out. Jennifer phones Matthew, and asks to meet up with him. Jennifer meets Matthew at Mrs C's Cafe, and tells him to leave John alone. Matthew refuses, and goes to leave. Jennifer pushes him up against the window, and tells him that she always hated him and Ryan, and that if he harms John again she'll taser him. Lauren, Maisie and Alison start smashing up Matthew's car. Matthew then descends on The Tumpetty, and is served by Julie. Damian tells Denzil to follow him. He goes to the bathroom, and is followed by Denzil. Matthew makes homophobic remarks about Damian, and Denzil loses it and violently beats up Matthew in the bathroom, and tells him that if he goes near Damian or John again he'll kill him. Matthew laughs in his face and leaves the bathroom. Jade returns to the bar, and spots Matthew there, telling him that he's barred. Matthew then subjects Jade to transphobic abuse, referring to her as a crossdresser and a tranny. Jade loses it, and punches Matthew in the face, making him fall into a table. He is thrown out by Dave and Shive Evans. John tells Damian that he has to do something. Damian leaves the house with a crowbar. At this point, Johnny snaps and storms out of the house, while Fiona tries to stop him. Denzil, who is back at No.7, comes downstairs, and asks where Damian is. John tells him that Damian had something to sort out. Denzil goes to look for Damian. Johnny takes Fiona's car out ot the garage and drives it down the road. He is seen by Lauren, Maisie, Alison, Jennifer, Damian and Denzil. Matthew is heavily drunk outside The Tumpetty. Johnny drives at top speed into Matthew, running him over, before driving away. Inside the Tumpetty, Julie and Alice hear this happening, and Alice goes outside to see what happened. She sees Matthew lying on the ground, and goes to phone an ambulance, however is reminded of all the people he's hurt in the last 10 months, and leaves him, telling Julie that there was nothing there. Chloe comes up the road, on her way to see Jade. She found out shes pregnant. She sees Matthew lying outside the Tumpetty, and assumes he's dead, but then Matthew wakes up and sees Chloe and realises she's pregnant. He tells her that he wants her to get rid of the baby. Chloe refuses, but Matthew says that if she doesn't he will kill both her and the baby. Chloe loses it, and strangles Matthew, who can't move due to the car accident, killing him. George then comes up the road, finally deciding to take down Matthew, and finds him dead.

Back on Christmas day, Chloe is comforted by Rebecca, Alice and Jade. Jade gets a phone call from Tia, saying shes arrived. Jade, Emma Kales, Amii and the children are waiting in the Tumpetty, when Tia arrives. Everyone in pleased to see her. Nicky tries to talk to Jade, however she is busy talking to Tia. Nicky then suddenly blurts out that he and Karen are moving to Scotland to stay with Nita. Jade is surprised, but doesnt take Nicky seriously. Later, Tia gets a phone call from Johnny G, asking when she's coming home.

At No.2 Hole Street, Alex is getting ready for Christmas, and is preparing Christmas dinner for 6: herself, Joseph, Alison, Amanda, Lee and Ken. They are sitting down for Christmas dinner, when Alex can't find some wine glasses, and remembers she had put them in the attic. Alison goes up to the attic to find them. A few minutes later, Joseph also leaves the table, and goes upstairs. He shuts the attic door, locking Alison inside. In the attic, Alison starts panicking in the dark. Joseph tells Alex that Alison told him to tell her that she won't be down for a while. After Christmas dinner, Amanda and Lee go out for a walk. Alex goes to look in her postbox, and sees Jack, who wishes her a merry christmas. This is seen by Joseph. Later, Joseph says he's made a second Christmas dinner for her. Alex is full, however Joseph persuades her to eat it. He pours the entire gravy boat of gravy over it, putting Alex off. He asks her what she was doing with Jack. Alex tells him truthfully that nothing was happening. Jack tells her if it's true to eat all the Christmas dinner. Alex realises that Alison has been gone a long time, and leaves the table, however Joseph refuses to let her out. Ken walks past, oblivious to the abuse, and says he will go and find Alison upstairs. Joseph demands Alex eat the christmas dinner, and ultimately pushes her face into the Christmas dinner in rage, before throwing the plate on the floor, still demanding she eat it. Upstairs, Ken spots the attic door closed, and hurriedly opens it and lets a traumatized Alison out. Ken hears the shouting downstairs, and tells Alison to wait upstairs while he sorts out the situation. Downstairs, Joseph is violently attacking Alex on the Christmas floor, completely mentally insane. Ken sees Joseph attacking Alex, and hits him over the head with a frying pan. This affects Joseph's brain injury, and kills him instantly. Alison runs downstairs, and sees Joseph dead. Alex, Ken and Alison panic, but Ken decides to phone the police and Dr Cole. PC Mark Waters arrives, and tells Ken that Joseph died of a brain hemorrhage, and doesn't press any charges on anyone. He then turns to Alex and says "Hello Mum". It is revealed that he is actually Rain, whom Alex thought was dead. He reveals that he escaped from the burning car in December 2014, sought help for his drug addiction and decided to train as a police officer.

At the end of the episode, Rebecca asks Lucy M if she will be ok if she goes away for a while, reminding her that she has a lot of family around her. Rebecca then hands herself into the police, saying that she killed Matthew, and to let Johnny go. Johnny is shown being released, and Rebecca is shown being taken to a cell.

## Cast

* Matthew Alderton - Max Bowden
* Joseph Andrews - Andrew Scarborough
* Lee Andrews - Alex Carter
* John Barlow - Mathew Bose
* Alice Carpenter - Gillian Wright
* Anthony Cole - Nicholas Bailey
* Amii Evans - Elle Mulvaney
* Chloe Evans - Hannah Job
* Damian Evans - Daniel Coonan
* Dave Evans - Stephen Houghton
* Elle Evans - Anya Cooke
* Emilia Evans - Abbie Burke
* Gemma Evans - Ruby Morgan
* Jade Evans - Jade Carpenter
* James Evans - Unknown
* Kales Evans - Gabrielle Green
* Karen Evans - Polly Allen
* Lucy Evans - Rosie Bentham
* Maria Evans - Samia Ghadie
* Nicky Evans - Joe Warren Plant
* Rebecca Evans - Katherine Kelly
* Robbie Evans - Eliot Carrington
* Shive Evans - Aidan Turner
* Tia Evans - Mia McKenna Bruce
* Jackie Golding - Denise Black
* Fiona James - Vicky Hall
* Johnny James - Ted Reilly
* Jamie Lloyd - Royce Pierreson
* Jennifer Lloyd - Jessica Raine
* Alison Maki - Millie Innes
* Rain Maki/PC Mark Waters - Ned Porteous
* Alex Mason - Tanya Franks
* Amanda Mason - Jennifer Hennessey
* Julie McAlddon - Julie Goodyear
* Lucy McNally - Isabella Brown
* Ariana Mitchell-Evans - Unknown
* Emma Murphy - Katie Jarvis
* George Murphy - George Sear
* Lauren Murphy - Charlotte Bellamy
* Maisie Murphy - Maisie Smith
* Ken Overview - Martin Trenaman
* Tammie Slater - Tamzin Outhwaite
* Denzil Spider - David Witts
* Jack Tomlinson - Justin Fletcher
* Delilah Wood - Samantha Womack

## Notes

* Last appearance of Joseph Andrews
* Last appearance of Matthew Alderton
* First appearance of Tia Evans since April 2019
* This is the longest N&F episode to date, at 90 minutes, due to the 30 minute flashback scenes in the middle.

## Music Used

* Step into Christmas by Elton John - used during opening scenes of N&F.
* River by Ellie Goulding - Rebecca hands herself into the police, and Johnny is released, as Rebecca is takes to her cell. Plays during end scenes.