Lily and Her Mother

The Doctor, travelling alone without Amy and Rory Pond, is on a spaceship in Earth's orbit. The spaceship explodes, The Doctor having caused it to self destruct so as to prevent it firing on the Earth. As the spaceship disintegrates The Doctor is ejected into space before he can return to the safety of his TARDIS. As The Doctor hurtles towards Earth he manages to catch up with an impact suit and he hurriedly puts it on.

Meanwhile on Earth it is Christmas in 1938 and Madge Arwell is riding her bike, as something crashes to Earth. She goes to investigate and finds The Doctor hurt, with the helmet of his spacesuit the wrong way round. Madge helps The Doctor, stuck and unable to see while in the impact suit, to his TARDIS. She then bids him a Merry Christmas and The Doctor promises to repay her for her kindness.

Three years later, during World War II, Madge's husband Reg is reported killed in action when the Lancaster Bomber he was piloting disappeared over the English Channel on his way home. Madge is informed of her husband's death by telegram, but does not wish to break the news to her children, Lily and Cyril, until after Christmas as she wants them to still enjoy the festive period.

Cyril

Because of the bombing Madge and her children evacuate to a relatives house in Dorset where they are greeted by The Doctor, calling himself ‘the Caretaker’. Madge however, does not recognise him from their previous encounter. The Doctor has prepared the house specially for the children and the holiday. Though the children are pleased, Madge is annoyed with The Doctor’s manic antics and privately explains about Reg's death to The Doctor – insisting that he does not overindulge the children. During the first night though, Cyril is lured into the living room by a large present under the Christmas tree and Lily sneaks out and goes upstairs into The Doctor's room to discover what he is doing and is curious as to why he has a Police Telephone box in his room. While she is with The Doctor though she is unaware that Cyril has gone downstairs to open the parcel. It is revealed to be a portal which, when Cyril crawls through, he emerges in a snow-covered forest.

Realising what Cyril has done The Doctor follows with Lily shortly afterwards. But there is no sign of him. In the forest baubles begin to grow from the trees, and it seems Cyril is following footprints that are getting bigger and bigger. The footprints lead Cyril to a large lighthouse-like building which he enters. Inside Cyril discovers a throne with a wooden statue of a King on it and a staircase leading upwards. At the top of the tower he discovers another wooden statue – this time of a Queen.

Reg Arwell

Madge, finding her children missing, soon discovers the open box and so follows them into the forest. But instead of locating Lily and Cyril, or The Doctor, she is met by three miners in space suits who explain they are from the planet Androzani Major. Distressed by the loss of her children, and being held at gun point by three strange people in space suits, she begins to cry. The miners realising that she is an unarmed civilian place their weapons to the ground, whereupon Madge draws a pistol and forces them to help her find her children. Holding the miners at gunpoint, she is taken back to their mining walker and is told that her children are in grave danger as the forest of Androzani Trees is scheduled to be melted by acid rain and turned into fuel. This is due to take place within minutes and will kill everything within the forest. After helping Madge to locate where her children are the miners are teleported away safely before the rain starts – leaving a distressed Madge alone in the mining walker.

The Doctor and Lily, having followed the two sets of footprints, also enter the lighthouse building, to look for Cyril, and discover the wooden King. When they climb to the top of the tower The Doctor and Lily see Cyril sitting on another throne. He has a halo around his head and also in the room is the wooden Queen. The wooden King then arrives and both statues use Cyril to talk through. They explain that they are scared and that the life forces of the trees in the forest are trying to escape through a living creature. They also state that have rejected Cyril as he is ‘weak’. The Doctor manages to remove the halo from Cyril’s head but is surprised when he too is informed that he is also considered to be ‘weak’.

On hearing her children Madge, using the little knowledge she knows of flying a plane from Reg, to direct the mining walker to the lighthouse and is safely reunited with Lily and Cyril. The wood creatures identify her as ‘strong’, and The Doctor realises they consider her the ‘mothership’, able to carry the life force safely though the band's interface. Donning the crown, Madge absorbs the life force of the forest, allowing her to direct the top of the lighthouse as an escape pod away from the acid rain and into the time vortex. The forest having escaped being destroyed because of Madge's taking it into another place just in time.

Evacuees

To get them home, The Doctor directs her to think of home, allowing Madge to revisit her fond memories of when Lily and Cyril where born, and when she first met Reg. But she soon realises that she will have to recall the moment of Reg's death, but The Doctor forces her to continue to do so. And so as she thinks about it his final moments in the Lancaster Bomber appear on a screen. Lily and Cyril are confused about why their mother does not want them to see their father. Then suddenly a burst of light engulfs them.

They wake up back on Earth, where it is Christmas Day and everything is normal - the life force of the forest having left Madge and converted themselves to ethereal beings within the time vortex. Realising she has no choice Madge is about to break the news of their father's death to Lily and Cyril, when The Doctor calls them to come out and see something. There on the lawn is Reg's Lancaster Bomber - Madge having inadvertently pulled his plane into the time vortex so enabling him to find his way home and to be reunited with his family.

As Madge and her family begin to celebrate Christmas together, The Doctor attempts to slip away, but Madge discovers him in his upstairs room. On spotting the TARDIS she realises that he is the man in the space suit that she met three years ago. She insists on him staying for Christmas dinner, but when The Doctor reveals he has other friends out there that believe he is dead, Madge changes her mind about him joining them for Christmas dinner and insists that he goes to see them on Christmas. He reluctantly agrees but before The Doctor departs he offers Madge his help if she ever needs it again.

Later, The Doctor arrives outside Amy and Rory's home. Two years have passed since he left them there and Amy is first angry at him leaving them like that, though reveals that River Song told them about his faked death. After they eventually hug Amy invites him in for dinner - admitting that they always set a space at the table for him. However, before joining them The Doctor pauses to wipe a tear of joy from his eye.