As the Christmas Special of Beyond Paradise begins, Bob Holland (Mark Heap) watches Christmas home videos alone until he hears the doorbell. He goes outside where he believes he sees Linda Holland (Rosalind Adler) who tells him to get out of there. After the intro, Humphrey Goodman (Kris Marshall) talks to Martha (Sally Bretton) about his recipe. Martha turns on the Christmas lights. She says it’s their first foster placement at Christmas so she wants everything to be perfect. Bob speaks to Anne (Barbara Flynn) about Beth and Aaron who are still in Dubai. He’s expecting a quiet Christmas this year. Bob asks Anne if she ever saw Anthony after losing him. Meanwhile, Humphrey and Martha prepare for the arrival of their first teenager. Before long, Hannah Owen (Amalia Vitale) arrives with Jaiden (Austin Taylor).
Jaiden is only worried about their Wi-Fi. Hannah tells them the girls in the office are sorting the paperwork and info. Bob hears a bell in the middle of the night. He goes outside and sees Linda once again. She tells him to get out of there. Bob rushes back inside. At the police station, Kelby Hartford (Dylan Llewellyn) and Margo Martins (Felicity Montagu) talk about doing Secret Santa this year. Margo already knows that Kelby is buying something for her. Kelby says he only has one present left to buy since his mom wants an epilator. He has to go to the church because they’ve had a break-in. Jaiden continues playing on his phone and ignoring Martha and Humphrey. Before Humphrey leaves for work, Anne stops him to talk about Bob Holland. She says it happened again last night and Bob found writing on a mirror. Martha tries to get Jaiden to do something, but he says he’d be happier staying there. Kelby speaks to Reverend Kate (Chizzy Akudolu) about the church break-in.
She believes the Virgin Mary mannequin was taken. They’re doing a collection of clothes that they’re going to send overseas. Humphrey and Esther Williams (Zahra Ahmadi) go to Bob’s house. Bob shows them where he saw Linda. He insists he’s not an idiot and he’s not delusional. Bob talks about Linda’s passing. Humphrey asks about the mirror. Bob shows it to them. He explains it had “leave” written in some type of wax and it was gone in the morning. Bob says he decided to sell the place and give their kids the inheritance. However, the kids talked him out of it. His youngest, Fiona Bensted (Tamla Kari), arrives moments later. As they leave, Humphrey says he believes Bob thinks he saw his wife. He also found wax on the mirror. Fiona approaches them to say she might know who is trying to get at her dad for not selling the house. Humphrey and Esther confront Marcus Dhillon (Simon Nagra). Marcus complains that Bob pulled out of the sale on the morning they were due to exchange.
He claims he never met Bob’s wife and he was at the shop on the last two nights. Humphrey and Esther go through theories outside the shop. Humphrey thinks they should speak to Fiona again. Martha tries to speak to Jaiden who is busy speaking to someone else. Kelby helps at the church and runs into Chief Superintendent Charlie Woods (Jade Harrison). Kelby notices a mistletoe above them. Woods learns that he is searching for the church’s Virgin Mary. When Kelby leaves, Woods realizes he was going to kiss her. Martha calls Hannah to ask for advice. Hannah says it’s baby steps at first. Humphrey tells Fiona that Marcus denies being involved. Fiona, who is with Colin Bensted (Seann Walsh), reminds them she told her dad not to sell. Fiona explains she thought her dad would regret it. Colin says he works with mycelium which is a fungus-based material. He agrees to show them the workshop. Esther asks Fiona how her sister felt about Bob not selling.
Fiona says she agreed with her. Beth is married to a lawyer in Dubai so she doesn’t need money. Kelby learns the mannequins are going for 200 quid online. Margo questions why someone wouldn’t take them all. She believes it was kids. Humphrey says hello to Jaiden at the restaurant. In private, Martha says this was the only way she could get him out of the house. Humphrey says they need to let them do things at their own pace. When Zoe (Melina Sinadinou) arrives, Martha asks her for advice. Anne thinks it’s time for a firm talking to. Humphrey talks to Anne about what Bob supposedly saw. Meanwhile, Bob watches home videos. He sees Linda outside his window and she tells him to get out. The next day, Anne visits Humphrey at home to tell him about Bob. At Bob’s place, Fiona says Bob is exhausted and the hospital said he should rest. They think Bob might’ve had a panic attack. Anne offers to stay for a while. Fiona doesn’t think the home videos are helping.
Kelby is still trying to find who stole the mannequin. Humphrey enters. Margo suggests someone should stay with Bob. Esther says someone turned off the cameras at Marcus’s shop. When they speak to Marcus, he says it’s not what they think. Marcus suggests it has something to do with his wife. Donna gets upset and storms out. Anne calls Humphrey after finding “leave” left on the lawn. Martha goes looking for Jaiden. She begins to worry when she can’t find him. Kelby tells Kate he checked everywhere. He really has nothing. Kate offers to do the service without her. Kelby is adamant he has to find her. Esther and Humphrey check out the message on the lawn. Humphrey finds a patch leading away from the house. Humphrey and Esther follow it back to an abandoned structure where they find a bottle of weed killer. They also find a wig and a mannequin. Humphrey says he found the Virgin Mary.
There’s also a speaker nearby. Martha searches for Jaiden. Bob confirms the mannequin has Linda’s dress, but they gave it to charity. He insists that isn’t what he saw. Martha finds Jaiden sitting on the bench by the water. Jaiden confesses he wasn’t talking to his friends. At the station, Humphrey tries to figure out how the mannequin is linked to what Bob saw. Esther says Fiona knew about the pillbox. She used to play there with her sister, but she didn’t know anything about the mannequin. The hospital found something in Bob’s system. Humphrey wants to check the whisky bottle and glass. Margo is asked to run background checks on the Holland family and Marcus. Martha tells Jaiden they can talk about these things. Jaiden says he’s been talking to his baby brother Ben. They have different dads so Ben was taken to his dad’s place in Ireland.
They’re always together and Ben was upset so Jaiden got stressed. Martha convinces Jaiden to call him now. Kelby still can’t find the Virgin Mary. Margo tells him it’s behind him. Esther learns that Bob had DMT in his system. Humphrey says that’s a hallucinogenic drug found in some plants and animals. He wants to know if it was in the whisky glass. Margo says the only thing of note in the background checks is Colin Bensted. Margo says Colin is a serial entrepreneur. It’s one fad after next and he’s up to his eyes in debt. Esther learns the glass and bottle are clean. Kelby notices Linda’s jumper in the Christmas video and says he saw one like it yesterday at the church. Humphrey immediately mentions Bruce Forsyth. He explains how hallucinogenic substances work. Humphrey says Fiona convinced her dad to stay in the house. However, Colin knew he needed to find a way to convince his father-in-law to sell the house.
He goes through the evidence that Colin was responsible. Humphrey suggests Colin used the fireplace to burn and administer the DMT. He suspects Colin kept one of Linda’s dresses and stole the mannequin from the church. That’s why the ghost was always seen outside. Humphrey shows them the Christmas video in which Linda tells Bob to get out because she’s wrapping presents. Colin is arrested. When Humphrey gets home, he finds Anne, Martha, and Jaiden playing a game with Ben. In private, Martha tells Humphrey how she pulled it off. Fiona visits Bob. She’s convinced her sister and the grandkids to come over as well. Everyone gathers at the church later. Martha tells Jaiden to call Ben so he can listen to the carols.
Beyond Paradise Review
The Beyond Paradise Christmas Special was a bit better than some of the others. For starters, it got straight to the point and didn’t need two parts. The investigation wasn’t particularly strong because it felt like it was rehashed from an earlier episode. It was also a little predictable since it was clear from early on that Colin would be involved and that some of the others would be innocent.
It’s also hard to say that the episode pushed the story forward much, but it still had some high points. In particular, the Jaiden storyline worked pretty well as part of a Christmas Special. Overall, this was a decent, lighthearted episode that was easy enough to watch and digest.
It was fun even if it didn’t do anything out of the ordinary or add much to the overall story. This episode scores a 6 out of 10. Recaps of Beyond Paradise can be found here. Find out how to support our independent site at this link. Learn more about advertising with us here. Join the discussion here.
Jay Skelton is a fan of all television shows and movies. He tries his best to keep up with the latest foreign television shows and movies. Jay loves skinny dipping in the dark too.
