Nearest And Dearest

It is Boxing Day in the Pledge house. Christmas is just a pile of turkey bones and stubbed-out cigar butts. Bored, Lily and Walter join Nellie and Eli in a seance. Instead of a voice from the dead, they are visited by the chilling sight of a skull at the window. Does the ghost of Beetroot Bill Buckley's grandad walk again?

It's Christmas at the Pledge household and Eli is overrun with turkey, and Lily and Walter. When Eli asks Nellie why they were invited she retorts: "It's Christmas ain't it, Lily and Walter are our own flesh and blood". To which Eli replies: "Get away, Lily's got no flesh, and Walter's got no blood".

A game of cards soon leads to Nellie, Eli, Lily and Walter conducting a séance by candlelight - they try to get in contact with their dad, Joshua. Whilst the spooky festivities continue, Stan and Grenville are making some alterations to the factory; they uncover a skull behind a brick wall and leave it on a table in the parlour - which Nellie then discovers, to her horror!

Nellie summons a priest to perform an exorcism on the house but when he feels a hand on his shoulder, he's off! However, it's only a hungover Stan underneath the sofa. He offers up an explanation as to the appearance of the skull (it was Beetroot Billy Buckley's granddad), leaving Nellie wondering what she was afraid of.

Joshua Pledge then makes one final appearance, in his favourite chair - or so Nellie thinks. It turns out the mystical voice was not from a phantom Joshua, but a spirited Eli!