Alf is spending Christmas in hospital for a hip replacement but his visitors' scare stories of what could go wrong propel him into fleeing from the ward dressed as a woman - which incurs a drunk's unwanted attention. Back at the house he is outraged when Mrs Hollingbery's sister turns up after his room, being told that he is not expected to live, but all is forgiven when Mrs Hollingbery invites everybody upstairs for a Christmas party. Unfortunately he has forgotten the loose stair rod and ends up back in the hospital.
It is Christmas time in London, but the season finds Sara struggling to summon the cheer she used to have for such occasions. Nonetheless, her spirit remains buoyant thanks to her old friends, and a new neighbor that moves in next door.
Elfrida Phibbs thought she was retiring from her London life to a "geriatric bolthole" in the country. She soon finds herself compassionately tending to her neighbor Oscar, who has suffered a tragic loss. Together, they agree to depart to Scotland for the holidays, in order to avoid Christmas and the painful memories of what they have lost; they will just skip Christmas. But Elfrida has a young relative desperate to get her own teenage niece, Lucy Marchmont, away from ugly family drama in London, and asks to join Elfrida in Scotland. Soon, Christmas of the heart creeps in, and this group of random people finds that a different kind of Christmas might be the best kind.
