RTÉ One, Christmas Day, 9.30pm, repeated on RTÉ2, Monday 30 December, 10.30pm
It’s the most wonderful time of the year, and Mairéad, Sgt. Healy and Conor are preparing for the imminent new arrival, with Conor wanting only the best for his mother. Conor is still a novice at domestic housework, including washing, so Mairéad decides to give him lessons, clearing out his wash basket thoroughly – only to discover a handgun in the basket. Conor is holding the gun for a friend for a few days in exchange for cash. It turns out that the friend is Jack Hammer, the only person in the world that Billy Murphy is terrified of.
Mairéad insists that the handgun is returned to Hammer, even though it’s Christmas Eve. To disguise the gun, it’s wrapped in festive paper, but when Conor, Mairéad and Billy are leaving the house to return the gun, they’re encountered by a surprise visit from the Gardaí, who playfully ask about the wrapped ‘gift’. Eventually arriving to see Hammer, they find themselves in a beauty salon run by Hammer’s wife, and Conor asks that his mother can be given a spa treatment as a Christmas surprise, given that she’s 8 months pregnant.
Hammer arrives, but there has been a mix-up, and the trio don’t have the gun with them. Hammer demands to be brought back to Mairéad’s house to get his gun – he hates to work on Christmas Eve. Stress levels go through the roof, and Mairéad’s new arrival is delivered in a very unusual way.
