Seasons & episodes

Tom realises that time's running out in order to preserve the sale of the housing development. Jamie agrees to talk to Bob and Jean again about the offer. Knowing that money talks Tom doubles the offer to £200,000, but they only have 24 hours to make a decision. Elsewhere, Jimmy tries to cheer Kelly up by sending her a dozen red roses and an invitation to lunch. He books caterers including a butler, to make lunch at home. Whilst Jimmy sees off the caterers Bob arrives. Rosemary remains worried that Tom still doesn’t trust her. He insists that he does and will find a way to prove it to her. Matthew is concerned when the two of them plan a visit to the solicitors.

Jamie arrives at Home Farm to tell Tom that the Hopes won’t be accepting the compensation money, only to find out from Tom that he's too late as Jean had already accepted the offer; thus, no civil action will be launched against the Kings in the process. Jamie is shocked and confronts his mother, who is in the midst of packing her bags, where the two gets into an argument.

When Jamie asks Chas to help him in his plight to reprise against the Kings, she suggests that tracking down the foreman will provide them with the evidence they need. After careful prodding, Chas learns from Jimmy that the foreman is currently in St Tropez. Over at The Woolpack, Jack is furious to discover Victoria flirting outrageously with an 18 year old. He quickly sends her home and berates Diane for neglecting to watch over her. Meanwhile, a desperate Terry books a flight to Morocco in a bid to track down his son TJ. The police later visit Terry and warn him that he’d be wasting his time trying to track down TJ.

As Chas prepares to see Jamie off, his plan to track down the foreman is destroyed when it becomes clear that Tom and Rosemary have got to him first and he's no longer in St Tropez. Tom lays into Chas for her part in the betrayal and, warning that Carl will never forgive her, suggests she pack her bags and end the engagement. Tom makes a snide comment and Chas lunges at him, only for Rosemary to stop her, but Chas turns the tables on Rosemary instead.

When the village awake to find the burned remains of the Kings billboard, culprits, Jamie and Bob, are thrilled to discover that it's got tongues wagging and gossip is rife as to the perpetrators responsible. Tom and Jimmy are convinced that it's Chas who, whilst denying all knowledge, warns that it's less than they deserve. Marlon and Donna are disheartened to discover that the quote for building their new house is above and beyond what they can afford.

Besides themselves with worry, Donna and Marlon wait anxiously as the police try to track down the kids. When Eli finds them in Seth’s hide, he takes them back to a much-relieved Donna and Marlon. They remain concerned however that the kids were keen to escape from their Uncle Tony.

Holed up in a B&B, Donna and Marlon are horrified to see their faces on the news wanted for kidnap. One overheard phone call to the police from the landlady at the B&B, and the couple are back on the road with kids. The sight of a police car causes more panic and they quickly realise that they have no option but to give themselves up at the station. Over at the Dingles, Lisa is aware that Belle is missing her school mates, and so throws a makeshift Christmas party for her. When the family jump out and surprise her, Belle is suitably underwhelmed to discover none of her friends are there and later begs to go back to school. When it's announced that Carl is returning to Home Farm, Tom warns Matthew and Jimmy to keep schtum about the reasons for Chas’s absence.

Carl is stunned to return home and discover that Chas has moved out. When Carl presents her with tickets to Vegas for their wedding, she tells him the wedding is off. Seeing his hurt, she almost reveals all and suggests they leave the village for good, but when he defends his family she concedes that the relationship is over. In a bid to keep his son onside,

Carl is stunned when Chas admits that she conspired with Jamie to find evidence to incriminate the Kings over the house collapse scandal. Carl and Chas sadly agree that their relationship is over after her betrayal, but after learning of Tom’s role in the break-up, Carl furiously confronts Tom at Home Farm and, ignoring his pleas that Chas would've ruined his life regardless, tells to stick his offer to hand over the business to him. Jimmy, who had been overhearing the whole conversation during his attempt to get Tom's attention, is shocked about the news and proceeds to reveal this to Matthew, leaving the duo betrayed and angry as they believe Tom has disowned them both.

All is prepared for his wedding day as Tom King heads down to the church to marry Rosemary; who is already on her way to the church as well. Terry is an emotional wreck looking at pictures from last Christmas of Dawn and TJ. Upon seeing Tom's wedding car arriving at the church, Terry snaps and attacks Tom; swearing revenge on him whilst inadvertently hitting Ashley in the face.

Tom is pronounced dead by paramedics. Meanwhile, Jimmy holds Bob in the Home Farm kitchen until the police turn up. When they arrive, Jimmy tells CID about seeing Bob climbing down a drain pipe after Tom's murder. Bob claims he was at the wedding to pass a message to Donna. Jamie arrives at The Woolpack Christmas dinner late. Viv demands to know where's he's been. Lying he tells her he was with Bob at Dawn's grave. When they ask where Bob is, Jamie's alarmed that they've not seen him. Hearing sirens passing The Woolpack everybody becomes concerned. Elsewhere, Louise and Hari are puzzled by Terry's strange behaviour when he claims he's been out walking and he's glad to hear that Tom is dead. Terry packs a bag and leaves the village.

The police put pressure on Bob to admit he had something to do with the murder when he's taken in for questioning. Bob is on the defensive and insists that he was only at the wedding to pass a message to Donna. The police note that Bob was accused of trying to run over Tom only a few weeks before.

Bob returns home after being released on bail and returns to face the wrath of Viv. Viv demands to know what he was doing at Home Farm in the first place. Bob denies he killed Tom and later questions Jamie about his movements on the night of the murder. Carl is convinced Bob killed Tom and goes to the café to confront him. Jamie answers the door and is on the receiving end of a knuckle sandwich – just as the police arrive. Toni announces she and Paddy are engaged, much to the dismay of Del, who decides on a glamorous new image to show the vet what he's missing. Spurred on by Lisa, she fills a bag with material from the factory - but David catches her in the act.

Bob goes to the police station and confesses to Tom’s murder. The Kings are stunned at the news of Bob's confession. Carl revels in being the bearer of bad news as he tells the Hopes that Bob has confessed. Jamie is adamant that Bob couldn’t be the killer. Meanwhile, Eric slyly tries to get David to invest his inheritance money in a new specialised cleaning service. Eric claims he's been struggling to find a trustworthy business partner up to now. Paddy begins to convince himself he does want to marry Toni and asks Marlon to be his best man. Marlon's incredulous but Paddy's determined to go ahead with the engagement. Toni admits to Diane she's having doubts about spending her life with Paddy.

Following a catty war of words at the engagement party in the Woolpack, Kelly takes the opportunity to burst Toni'’s bubble, when she implies that Paddy didn't actually propose in the true sense of the word. Horrified, Toni’'s fears are confirmed when she overhears a conversation between Paddy and Marlon. Later in a distressed state, Toni sees Del with David and sees red, blaming her for all her woes. Over at the post office, Viv and Jamie are in a daze from the news that Bob hasn't been granted bail.