At the Scully house, they were preparing for Oscar’s first Christmas. Joe was adamant that he wouldn’t be outdone by the Christmas display at number 24, but he couldn’t really afford anything so lavish. The family was happy enough though when Steph came over and put the home-made angel on top of the Christmas tree. By the end of the week, Valda had returned to town with lots of gifts for everyone. She caught up with all the news – including Lyn’s PND and vowed to make sure it would be a lovely first Christmas, both for little Oscar and for her as Lyn’s ‘new’ mum. Meanwhile, the Scully son, Jack, was having problems of his own when the stolen exam papers scandal hit the news. He and Taj were worried that Taj’s mate, Peter, would give their names to the authorities. However, by the end of the week, the report read that Peter had been unable to recall any of the names of the people he’d sold the papers to. While they both seemed relieved, it looked like Taj might have a little more to hide…

It’s great that Neighbours is showing Christmas this year, as it really gives them a chance to have some nice family scenes and, certainly for the Scullys, to end the year on a positive note. Meanwhile, the exam papers story is bubbling along nicely, though it can’t be long before Taj’s conscience gets the better of him.

At the pub, Lou and Trixie were looking forward to their wedding, but the return of Valda threw a spanner in the works. It seemed that nobody had told her that Lou was engaged, and she still thought there was something between them. Trixie then had a proposition for Lou – she wanted him to invest in an Asian tour of ‘Hello Dolly’ so that she could play the lead and he could be executive producer. He seemed quite taken with the idea, until she announced that he’d need to invest half a million dollars. After thinking it over, he decided it was too much of a risk, but Trixie had already realised this and told him she was wrong to ask in the first place. Also at the pub, new worker Carmella was having a strange effect on Connor. While he was falling for her, and she was encouraging him, her father Rocco issued a warning, stating that he would kill any man who went near his precious daughter. Despite this, Connor and Carmella spent an afternoon swimming and had a near miss when he went to drop her off at home. It looks like, although there is danger involved, these two simply can’t keep away from each other…

The best thing about the character of Trixie is that you can never quite tell whether she’s genuine or taking Lou for a ride. Scenes this week went from one end of the spectrum to the other, but it surely can’t be long before she shows her true colours. Meanwhile, Neighbours has found a great character in Carmella and she even seems to be bringing out something less irritating in Connor, so hopefully these two will stay together. Sadly, that would mean Connor being bumped off by Rocco. Oh well.

Elsewhere in the street, Stuart was trying to mend bridges after the Life Mechanics fiasco. Unfortunately, both Lou and Toadie gave him the cold shoulder, but Taj and Connor felt guilty for abandoning their mate and set about trying to help him. Susan and Karl were growing further apart, as Karl’s worries about wasting his life became more apparent, while Max and Steph got things back on track (on the pub office desk) after her treatment ended. Boyd and Sky, meanwhile, got back together when he realised that she had copied her entire image from the character of Enid in Ghost World. It seemed that she was only human after all, but her feud with Erin continued at the formal, to the point where a huge gang of kids pushed over a portaloo with Sky inside…