by Mark Murton
Original Air Date: December 23, 2022
Directed by: Stewart Svaasand
Cat Out of the Bag Alert! This review contains spoilers for this episode!
Synopsis: Yuletide will be different at Skeldale House this year, as they have taken in young Jewish evacuee Eva Feldman (Ella Bernstein) who will be experiencing her first ever Christmas. Mrs. Pumphrey (Patricia Hodge) also offers something to help Eva adjust to life away from her parents.
Cat Burglars (Scene Stealers): James (Nicholas Ralph) is called to Pumphrey Hall to examine an occasional ginger tabby visitor who we learn is called Debbie.
Mrs. Pumphrey tells him, “We hadn’t seen her for a week or more then she staggered into the kitchen a few hours ago with this little chap in her mouth,” indicating the longhair gray and white tabby kitten in her arms.
Eva asks if she can examine the kitten and Mrs. Pumphrey hands him to her.
Eva cuddles the kitten until she spots a glass bowl of chocolates and Mrs. Pumphrey takes the hint. Eva quickly passes the kitten to James as Mrs. Pumphrey stuffs chocolates into her pockets.
James concludes that Debbie is fine but exhausted from the constant feeding of her kitten and recommends they be separated for a while and the kitten be bottle-fed. James informs Eva that the kitten won’t feed from a bottle if he can smell his mother so they’ll have to take the baby back to Skeldale and care for him there.
Back at Skelsdale Eva is taking care of the kitten who she informs James she’s named Toto (one of several references throughout the episode to The Wizard of Oz and it’s message of “There’s No Place Like Home”).
Later Mrs. Pumphrey calls in at the surgery to see how the kitten is doing and with James’s tacit approval suggests the kitten will be better off with Eva as they expect Debbie to return to her wandering ways.
Eva is called away to meet Santa and she hands Toto to Mrs. Pumphrey.
At the end of the episode Eva is sitting at the kitchen table attempting to feed Toto as Siegfried (Samuel West) enters.
“Not hungry this morning?” enquires Siegfried. “He should go back to be with his mother,” replies Eva, before underlining the theme of the episode, “Families should be together.”
Final Mewsings: Give us kittens over chocolates and Santa any day.
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