When Eric and Beth put their tree up earlier than usual, they unwittingly kick off the Christmas season in Latimer Crescent. What starts as a labour-saving convenience quickly turns into a flurry of festive activity, as neighbours start to gear up for the holidays in their own unique ways.
Colin and Cathy find themselves pondering the perfect gift for each other, while Ian and Gordon plan for a quieter, scaled-back Christmas. Meanwhile, Alan and Michelle wrestle with transport issues that threaten to derail their festive plans, and Christine is busy arranging a very special trip, ensuring that the season is full of surprises, laughter, and the kind of neighbourly chaos that only Latimer Crescent can provide.
Meet the cast…
Arabella Weir and Alex Norton (Beth and Eric)
What can you tell us about the Christmas special?
Arabella: It’ll be Christmassy, but probably not filled with a whole load of Christmas spirit, except the kind Cathy likes!
Alex: I can’t give too much away about the episode, as I wouldn’t want to spoil the viewer’s fun – suffice to say that Eric and Beth decide to put up their Christmas tree a little earlier than usual this year. Unsurprisingly, the neighbours are keen to know the reason why…
Are you anything like Eric and Beth at Christmas?
Alex: I hate to admit it, but there’s more than a little about Eric that chimes with me. Although I always look forward to Christmas, the palaver of sending cards, shopping for presents and preparing for Christmas dinner gets me more than a little grumpy with each passing year – still, I always glow with pleasure when the family sit down together for the annual festive dinner.
Arabella: I am more like Beth at Christmas than at any time of the year as I tend to do the cooking, cleaning and organising for everyone which I try not to do the rest of the year!
What would be the best Christmas present Eric could get Beth?
Alex: The best surprise Eric could get Beth for Christmas would be a couple of tickets for a luxury cruise to an exotic destination, so she could get a break from our annoying neighbours – although, knowing their luck, the neighbours will probably have booked the same cruise…
How soon do you start decorating your homes for the festive season?
Arabella: As I have a December birthday and spent my entire life being told ‘we won’t bother with your birthday as it’s so close to Christmas’ I don’t do any Christmas decorating, and that includes the tree, until my birthday is over – I want full birthday acknowledgment before going Christmassy!
Alex: I have a very strict rule about not putting up any decorations before December. Also about buying a real Christmas tree – none of that cheesy artificial nonsense for me!
What was it like being back on set with the cast again?
Arabella: Just wonderful – it was fantastic to see everyone, be back as the Latimer Crescent gang and be back in character – Simon was, of course, omnipresent but in a joyful and celebratory way. He’d be delighted we were doing the show again, as, of course, are we all.
Alex: Getting together with the cast again was a little odd at first, but as soon as we were back in our costumes and sitting in Eric and Beth’s living room, it felt like we’d never been away.
Doon MacKichan and Jonathan Watson (Cathy and Colin)
What can you tell us about the Christmas special?
Doon: Expect a gathering with bad behaviour and a few surprises.
Jonathan: It all kicks off when Christmas decorations are put up earlier than usual.
Doon, does Cathy get in the Christmas spirit or is she more like the Grinch?
Doon: Cathy is like The Grinch at Christmas, only with better legs.
What would be the best Christmas present Colin could get Cathy and Cathy for Colin?
Jonathan: The never ending vape.
Doon: Cathy would give Colin a luxury night in (I’ll leave that to your imagination) with a bit of jamon ham for starters.
Would Colin and Cathy ever open their door at Christmas?
Jonathan: Highly unlikely…they usually head off to a fancy hotel for a Christmas dinner, and a small sherry.
How soon do you start decorating your homes for the festive season?
Jonathan: We usually put the decorations up in the first week of December.
Doon: I decorate the tree around mid-December then always leave it up longer than I should as January needs a bit of sparkle.
What was it like being back on set with the cast again?
Doon: Amazing to be back with the ensemble, if not a wee bit sad as there was a big Simon Carlyle shaped hole.
Jonathan: Torture…they’re an unruly mob! But given we thought it unlikely that we would get to revisit Latimer Crescent…it was a real treat. Loved every minute.
Elaine C Smith (Christine)
What can you tell us about the Christmas special?
Very little – sorry – can’t give the game away but there’s Christmas and fun and laughs and music and awkward aggro – perfect Two Doors Down!
Would Christine ever be tempted to host?
Never – too much hassle and too much cost!!! She’d always rather mooch off someone else!!
What would be Christine’s perfect Christmas?
Her daughter, Sophie, and granddaughter, Madison, coming up from Wales and going out to a carvery but making sure that they pay for any food and drink and probably stay in a hotel rather than with her! And that Beth and pals would turn up with gifts for her and that would allow Christine to show off too!
How soon do you start decorating your home for the festive season?
Not until the 1st of December at least – it used to be later but I’ve got grandkids now so they love getting the decorations done! I love Christmas so it takes about two days to decorate the place and I like all the lights in the garden too!!
What was it like being back on set with the cast again?
Very emotional on many levels. I thought we’d never do another episode and to be honest after Simon died I couldn’t face the thought of it. But it was wonderful to see everyone – cast, crew and production – and everyone was so pleased and proud to be back – and it felt as if Simon was there with us – and it was so good to really laugh again.
Grado and Joy McAvoy (Alan and Michelle)
What can you tell us about the Christmas special?
Grado: I can’t wait for the Christmas special to be out because after a couple of years away, it was great to see the gang and it’s very, very funny. Gregor has absolutely written an absolute, fantastic, hilarious episode and I can’t wait for folks to see it.
Joy: Expect the usual intrusion from the encroaching neighbours on Latimer Crescent, poor Beth and Eric! The episode has some lovely Christmas cheer, songs and laughs. It’s a wonderful Christmas special that is sure to be a fan favourite.
Viewers will see that Michelle is expecting a baby. What type of parents do you think Alan and Michelle will be?
Joy: I think they’ll be amazing parents, Michelle is really organised so will have everything prepared well in advance and she’ll have Alan building out the nursery in all the shades of beige! However, it’ll be a shock to the system and while Michelle typically spends a lot of time looking after Alan and managing him…when the baby comes along there’ll be less time for that so I assume a more dishevelled Alan and stressed Michelle with sleepless nights will bring some hilarity.
Grado: Well, I think Michelle will be very hands-on. She’d be a great mum, its like she’ll have two kids to look after with Alan. Alan might end up being good cop which means Michelle would have to be bad cop as he’d let the child get away with things.
Are you anything like your character at Christmas?
Grado: Yes I am like Alan at Christmas because I love the food, he usually overdoes it and I’ve probably incorporated a bit of Grado into Alan as I usually make myself sick by eating too much blue cheese.
Joy: I definitely think I’m like her when it comes to Christmas… I love to decorate the whole house and put fairy lights everywhere, I love the romance of Christmas that she also strives for. I also love hosting which she’s done on the show. Michelle always wants people to be well looked after and catered for, and I definitely have that side of her in me.
How soon do you start decorating your homes for the festive season?
Joy: Usually, the end of November… as soon as I can really.
Grado: This is a bit like Alan and the other day I literally turned into Alan because my wife had made a wee day for daddy (me). It was the last Sunday before I started panto and we were going to put up the Christmas tree so I made about 25 different bits of Christmas party food, onion rings and picky bits. I then sat on the couch, shut my eyes for two minutes and woke up what felt like three years later and the tree was up! They’d done it without me and my missus took a photo of me so that’s a bit of Alan.
What was it like being back on set with the cast again?
Grado: It was brilliant being back on set because obviously I’ve missed my pals after a couple years away and it felt a little bit strange with Simon not being there. But you know what through the love of Simon we all got together and worked as hard as possible as a tribute to him and we wanted to make him proud. That was always in the back of our minds.
Joy: Being back on set was the most emotional experience I’ve had at work. We really felt the loss of Simon as he was such a huge presence everyday, however it was also really cathartic, we talked about him loads… “Oh Simon would love this costume”, “If Simon was here, he’d be laughing out loud at the monitors during that take”, “Simon would love this episode”.
We all felt so blessed to be back together working on the show we love and so grateful for Gregor carrying it on so brilliantly. It’s a special show with the most talented cast and crew, so we all just felt so happy to be together again and ultimately to give the fans a lovely Christmas special.
Jamie Quinn and Kieran Hodgson (Ian and Gordon)
