Original subtitles

Christmas can be a magical time of year.

What is this?!

A reindeer. A reindeer. It's Rudolf.

But it often comes with a long list of jobs...

We don't really have a plan B, which is a bit of a problem.

..especially if you live in an enormous chateau.

It's a nightmare, these. Oh, dear.

You're looking in a bit of a Christmas tangle.

We're following intrepid owners...

Don't think this is a winter wonderland.

I'd say it's a bit of a winter nightmare right now.

..as they prepare for the festive season in France.

How are you? Merry Christmas.

It's getting a tad hectic now.

Blinkin' hell, it's heavy.

OK, push it up.

We'll witness the highs...

Hello, Santa.

Hello.

..the lows...

That wasn't supposed to happen, was it?

Let's put this baby in its stand.

Watch out. Stop!

..the joy...

I've fallen in love.

..and magic.

Oh! Oh, wow.

..as they transform their castles

into a winter wonderland.

Merry Christmas.

Today there's one last wedding

before this family will be saying ho-ho-ho.

Oh, I've got the men's jackets to do. Damn.

Crunch time is pretty soon.

Seasoned DIYers pray their decorations

will stay put for Christmas.

This is heavy.

If anything happens, run.

And home-made yuletide treats for one and all.

That's about the size of his entire face.

In the wintry wonderland of western France

sits the fairy tale Chateau de la Boutiniere.

With four magical towers

and 47 regal rooms,

the chateau sits within a 52-acre estate.

It's home to interior designer Alison,

Moroccan born builder Zion

and Bella the dog.

The couple bought the chateau in 2021

for £580,000.

Oh, yes, that looks lovely.

And they're getting ready

for an extra-special yuletide celebration.

I love it, what do you think?

Merry Christmas.

Being in a chateau at Christmas, I mean,

it's absolutely magical.

You've got a theatre that you can dress.

It's an excuse to do everything over the top.

The chateau is built for these events, you know,

for these days.

That's what it's for, is family,

friends together.

Located three hours from Paris,

the last time we caught up with them at Christmas...

# All I want for Christmas

# Is a cherry picker.#

They had totally transformed their long-forgotten hunting lodge...

..into a festive feast for the eyes,

where they celebrated with friends.

Cheers, everybody.

Cheers. Happy Christmas. Merry Christmas.

This year, they're hoping to transform a neglected bedroom

into a deluxe en suite

for friends coming for Christmas.

We're going to put coving in, aren't we,

to make the room feel just a little bit more special.

Yeah, we are going to copy the existing coving

in one of the rooms.

So, to be able to recreate our own mouldings

and for Zion to make them himself,

it's really special.

It's an interior designer's dream.

HE CHUCKLES

Zion heads to his workshop

to begin the messy process of making coving.

In fairness, I've never done this this way.

So, this is an experiment for me.

This is all zinc.

I've cut here the shape of the coving.

And the whole idea is...

..to put this down here.

And you pour the casting plaster,

and you drag it...

..all along.

I have to be quick, and I have to be good.

It, it's a, every mistake that I do,

is going to be harder for me to fix it later.

For me, this is my Christmas treat.

Aah!

The process involves adding layers of plaster,

so the consistency is crucial.

I can see that my mix is not exactly the right mix.

He quickly whips up another batch.

I have a good feeling it's going to work.

I can see the lines already. Look.

I can see the shape.

I can feel the heat coming from the plaster.

And, when you feel the heat, that's when it's curing. That's mean...

..careful, hurry up.

I'm struggling a little bit with this.

You know what they say,

the first one is always the hardest.

Wow.

Yeah, I think for a first attempt

I'm very pleased with all the struggle that I had.

Er, I need to wait for it now to cure.

It's to...

So I can release it.

How's it going?

I don't know, what do you think?

Is that it? Oh, my goodness. That's the first one.

I think it's amazing if this is your first one.

I mean, you could be onto something. I might rent you out.

You must be really pleased with yourself.

It wasn't easy.

Er, I can do better.

Well, it's just the first one.

With only a plaster mix and home-made tools,

Zion has successfully started to create bespoke coving

for the guest bedroom.

But with 25 more pieces to make

and a bedroom to renovate,

the halls aren't going to be decks with boughs of holly

any time soon.

In the ever-peaceful setting

of the Languedoc in southern France,

lies the spectacular 19th century

Chateau du Puis es Pratx.

Londoners Tim, a photographer,

and Sasha, a former fashion designer...

Lovely, lovely, lovely. What a lovely time.

..bought the 39-room property in 2003

for £390,000.

There's something uniquely special about Christmas

in...in our chateau.

We've taken on the ambience,

the aura of a historic place.

Mm, It's like one giant canvas.

I cannot wait to complete the decorations.

And, yeah, let it snow.

You never know your luck.

Located two hours from Toulouse...

..Tim and Sasha run the chateau

as a thriving wedding venue

with daughter Lily

and son-in-law Luke at the helm.

Last year, they hosted a vowel renewal ceremony...

GIGGLING

Come in closer to your mum, can you?

That's lovely.

..with a sparkling night-time blessing...

So good.

..and a spectacular Christmas tree fountain.

Today, everyone's focus is on one more wedding

before Christmas.

Blessed with warm winter sunshine in the south of France,

they're determined to still make it feel festive.

This is our 30th wedding this year.

And so it's been full-on.

It's been fun, it's been exciting,

but we are looking forward to putting our feet up.

We try to make each individual event different.

That is a challenge. Yeah. Special.

Mm, it, it's an immense challenge.

My boss here has got an extreme amount of work to do.

All the floristry, flowers, decorations.

Yeah, there's a lot of bossing around to do.

Yes, but I'm used to that.

The wedding couple, Hayley and Matt, have flown in from Canada.

Let's just follow Lily round to the left

and then we'll go into the chateau itself.

And Tim has been urgently despatched to the bridal bedroom.

Just going to put these on the dresser.

They've just arrived a little earlier than anticipated.

So, up with the blinds.

Just got that done in time.

With the bride and groom now settling in,

Lily and Luke can tackle the first of their many jobs.

So, we've got these lovely welcome bags

brought over by Hayley and Matt.

These are going to go in everyone's bedrooms.

All the adults get a lovely bottle of rose.

We've got home-made macaroons coming from a local boulangerie.

Right, I think these are ready to go.

With guests now beginning to arrive for the weekend,

the pressure is on for everyone.

Hi, guys. Welcome.

Hi, thanks. How are you all?

Particularly Sasha.

So, these are my bouquet collections

that I will be making the bouquets for in the morning.

I have to make five bridesmaids' bouquets,

one wedding bouquet

and five, boutonnieres.

And it's just me.

There's nobody here helping.

I just have to temper my enthusiasm,

otherwise I'll be putting gold baubles and things in.

And making it all Christmassy.

There's only so much they can prep

the day before an outside ceremony.

Tomorrow is going to be an even busier day.

Still to come...

This chatelaine needs a Christmas miracle.

Have you made one of these before? Gosh, no.

So, this is your first time?

I've never eaten one of these before either.

And a nightmare before Christmas for Alison and Zion.

We've now got to release it.

I'm hoping it's all going to go fine.

In central France lies the enchanting

16th century Chateau de Lalande.

Boasting 50 sumptuous rooms

and even a private chapel...

..the queen of this castle

is former opera singer Stephanie,

who bought it in 2005

for £600,000.

How's that one?

Very nice.

Excellent placement of a bauble.

She shares her home with fiance Philip

and their princely chihuahua Galahad.

I think the whole purpose of a chateau

just comes to life at Christmas.

It's filled with delicious smells and twinkling lights

and laughter of all the people that I love.

And I think I spend the whole year just looking forward

to Christmas here.

Cheers. Cheers, Stephanie.

Located over two hours east of Poitier,

the chateau runs as a luxury B&B

and events venue throughout the year.

And when we last caught up with Stephanie at Christmas,

she had transformed the plain marquee salon...

..into a regal vision to behold...

..which made the perfect backdrop for Christmas.

How's that?

We have Christmas!

This year we're doing an early Christmas dinner for Mummy and Percy

because they're going to be in South Africa at Christmas,

so we have lots of friends and family here.

We're going to have a huge meal.

I, sadly, am in charge of cooking the main course with Gerry,

who is not necessarily my first choice as sous-chef,

though it will be really good fun in the kitchen with him.

OK, Gerald, you're going to need your Christmas apron.

The big day has arrived.

We're going to have a Christmas dinner wellington.

So, it's not beef

but it's a whole Christmas dinner in a wellington.

The people that sit for this Christmas meal

are going to be talking about this for years to come.

They are. That's what I'm worried about. They are, yeah.

Sous elf Gerry starts prepping the veg for the stuffing.

I've never cried so much since I lost 50p.

Any time at the chateau's always magical.

But I find Christmas-time

is especially fantastic.

It's almost like we're shut away from the world.

Oh!

The smells are wonderful.

Right.

Christmas is about to get violent.

Ready, Gerald?

I can hear Mummy's voice in my head,

your bowl is too small.

Yeah, yeah. It is.

Merry Christmas.

This is a Christmas song calling the people to Lalande.

Basically we're putting

an entire Christmas dinner in one bit of pastry.

So, we're going to roll up first prosciutto,

then the chicken breast, then the stuffing

and then the redcurrant sauce over the top.

Roll it all and then put the pastry round the outside,

which sounds a lot easier than I suspect it's going to be.

Have you made one of these before? Gosh, no.

So, this is your first time?

I've never eaten one of these before either.

It's a nice Christmas colour, isn't it?

It is. Feeling festive straight away.

The plan is to roll it up this way,

so you end up with a long, thin,

perfect spiral of Christmas dinner.

OK, pause there, Gerry.

Don't push it any further. Yeah. No, no, no.

Cos I'm worried we're pushing rather than rolling.

Yeah, than rolling.

Do you know what? I think we're getting there.

Oh, Gerald!

Look at that!

Ho-ho! Ho-ho!

Well done. I'm actually feeling quite proud of that.

That's fantastic.

Go, go, go, go, go.

Oh!

We nearly lost it.

All right, into the freezer quick as we can.

On the diagonal, Gerald. Yep.

Oh, yes, it fits.

The main dish of tonight's festive feast for 13

might be nicely chilling,

but there's still a lot to do

before their goose,

or should that be Wellington,

is cooked.

Three hours away at Alison and Zion's...

..they're under pressure to try and finish a guest bedroom

and en suite in time for Christmas.

See, not just a pretty face.

No, I never said so.

And today, they need to make a doorway between the two.

This is the exciting bit.

This is the, er,

new opening about to appear.

Good job I checked because electric cables go in here.

What's a shame is, we have to cut this,

in order to put a lintel here.

Having gauged where the supporting lintel must go,

Zion goes on the attack.

The dust looks like snow.

So much for Christmas.

He's through.

I'm through. We're there.

After over two hours of drilling and hammering,

Zion has a lintel sized hole cut out.

Now comes just the job of plugging the hole

with a 30-kilo piece of solid oak.

Look at that.

And sealing it with plaster.

But it just shows you how long this is going to take.

That's just to put the lintel in.

We've still got to open the door.

Mm. We have a lintel.

With a vital job done,

it's time to check whether

Zion's handmade coving

has dried enough to hang.

This is the proof of the pudding, as they say.

Now it's dry, now I will try to move it.

It's a very delicate operation

because where the mould is attached to this frame,

we've now got to release it.

I'm hoping it's all going to go fine.

It's not you're hoping, it will go fine. It'll go fine. That's it.

What can possibly go wrong?

It's coming right up here. It's moving. Yeah, yeah.

Pull towards you. Oh, no.

Ooh, yeah.

Well, it's done, and it looks like it's moved.

It's going to be terrifying taking it up that spiral staircase,

cos it's so fragile.

So, you have a look from a distance and if you say yes,

I'll have 20 more to do.

On this room. For this room.

So...

Oh, God.

Oh, my word.

This is very exciting.

Our own, exclusive,

handmade by Zion, coving.

This is a real Christmas present for me,

I don't know about our friends.

What do you think? Love it. Absolutely love it.

HE SIGHS

You are so clever.

Everybody towards Christmas,

they wind down.

And to relax.

We go voom, and then collapse.

I love a deadline. There's nothing like a deadline

to make it all go right.

They've broken the back of creating an en suite guest bedroom

but there's still a huge amount of work to go

before anyone's breaking out the eggnog.

Nearly 350 miles south, at Tim and Sasha's,

it's the day of the chateau's last wedding

before Christmas.

Now, onto the bride's bouquet.

My floristry jobs today are

to decorate the table runners.

As an example, this is one I did earlier.

This is, one of the central ones for the head table,

the bride and groom's table.

Tim is a wonder at the table runners.

I'm up against, basically,

all the jobs that Sasha gives me,

which is quite numerous

and grows all the time.

That's already looking gorg those colours are stunning, aren't they?

They're almost Christmassy colours, aren't they?

Oh, yes, absolutely.

It's lovely using festive,

end-of-season colours, autumn colours.

Just glorious.

Sometimes I use wire,

but I find...

Would you like a tie strap? Oh.

Look, I need to concentrate, cos I've just snapped a stem.

The bouquet is possibly the most demanding.

Do you want me to hold it for you at this stage? No!

But I end up with aching hands.

It's not just the wedding ceremony,

or when they sit down to eat,

it's the champagne reception,

the gardens have to be decorated,

the courtyard has to be decorated.

With Sasha deep in flowers,

groundsman Laurent is on call to help Lily and Luke.

Initially Laurent has a basic plan of what he needs to do,

where the chairs need to go.

So, this being the last one of the season,

we're very much a well-oiled machine.

We basically just go into autopilot.

Everyone knows exactly what they have to do.

Everyone knows exactly where they have to be

and at what time everything has to be done by.

It's just like riding a bike, basically.

You just get on it and it, and it just goes by itself.

Hi!

Hello.

Oh, that's stunning. I love it.

Good. Oh, thank you so much.

Oh, it's my pleasure. Aww.

Thank you. The flowers Sasha put together are amazing.

Just the different textures and colours.

She got everything right. I love them so much.

We chose a more autumn wedding.

It's my favourite time of year, I love fall.

I love the colours, oranges and the reds.

It's been amazing. Everybody just keeps commenting how surreal

and fairytale-like everything is.

It's beyond any expectations we had.

It's a seal of approval from the bride, Hayley,

but back in her workshop,

the pressure is beginning to mount for Sasha.

Oh, I've got the men's jackets to do.

Damn.

What time, is it? What time is it, darling?

I don't know. I haven't a clue.

I need the men's jackets.

OK. For the boutonnieres. I need to go and find...

Crunch time is pretty soon.

With less than three hours to go,

and huge displays to make for the gardens and reception,

Sasha has well and truly got her work cut out.

Coming up...

A special Christmas delivery for Alison and Zion.

Oh, my goodness, it's much bigger than I thought.

Up. If I cut all this all the way round,

I can attach this to the wall.

I need these to come forward a bit.

And Sasha leads everyone a merry dance.

I've already put extra rust in there. I know,

but it needs extra plus extra. You want more rust? Mm-hm. OK.

Back in central France, at Stephanie's,

friends are all helping to prepare

for tonight's Christmas feast.

I planned an early Christmas dinner for my mother and Percy

because they're going back to South Africa.

So, it's our last celebration all together before Christmas.

Ah, so this is a beautiful mini Lalande. Yes. Oh, wow.

Gerry and Philip have gone up to the attic

to bring down our dolls house of the chateau

that we use as an advent calendar.

You know, it's that, I could probably live in that.

Is it Gerry size? Yeah, exactly.

It's made for me, isn't it? It's made to measure.

There we go. I'm going to fill each day

with goodies that we like eating in the run-up to Christmas.

But we thought we would make some of them,

so I'm going to be making some biscuits for Galahad.

I've never made dog biscuits before.

Galahad is also quite a fussy eater.

So, I've no idea if he's going to like them

but they will be made with love.

Just peanutty goodness.

At the moment, I'm just whisking up peanut butter,

water, an egg and some runny honey.

And as soon as this is smooth, I'm going to add it to the oats

and the multi-seed wholegrain flour.

It's a little bit like making scones actually.

Mm, it's gonna be sticky.

I just found that we have a dog bone cookie cutter.

That's about the size of his entire face.

These are going in for 15 to 18 minutes and, apparently, that is it.

Christmas is coming.

But Galahad is going to have to wait a little longer

to get his paws on these treats.

I look forward to doing this every year.

For me, this is Christmas,

seeing this out.

I'm going to add one of Galahad's bones

to each of the days.

Christmas has officially begun.

With just a few hours to go,

Stephanie needs to focus on food for her two-legged guests.

While fiance Philip has been tasked with dressing the table.

There will be 13, so it's quite a large dinner.

His friend Gerard has made a model village scene

to create a mini Lalande for the occasion.

Gerard's made the chapel. I can't believe it.

So, we've got an actual piece of Lalande

on the table already.

And then he made a beautiful display of all the figurines that we've got.

I love having the advent calendar in the background

and then looking over the table, looking over the little village.

A village nativity scene is emerging on the table.

And tonight's yuletide feast is under way.

The final push for Stephanie

and her merry band of workers is on.

Back in the South of France at Tim and Sasha's,

the scene is being set for the last wedding of the season.

There we are, two more.

And then when you're ready for the...

You look fab. Whoo!

The groom and his groomsmen are looking the part.

OK, that's another one

and another one there.

And one more to go.

There we go. All right?

And Sasha can concentrate on decorating the venue.

Comme ca. One table runner,

erm, finished.

I've got three more to do like that.

Yeah. I just would like a little bit more of the rust, please.

To bring in the autumn colours.

I, I've already put extra rust in there. I know,

but it needs extra plus extra. You want more rust. Mm-hm. OK.

Soon, the couple will be exchanging their vows outside.

Oh. I need these to come forward a bit

because I've got what I normally put on the arch on the floor.

What's that? Flowers.

That's gonna get in the way of people going in and out,

so I wouldn't put anything like that on the floor.

Unless you're gonna put it in front of the fountain.

In front of the pond. Exactly. No, but in front of the pond.

Yeah, exactly. Oh, I'll leave it to you.

Darling, you're not making yourself clear. Yeah.

Just move it. Yeah, fine. Thank you. Understood.

Finally, the moment has arrived

for Tim and Sasha's last wedding of the season.

The gardens have been transformed

into a wonderland of urns and vases of wintry blooms.

And it's Hayley's time to shine.

Whee. Whee.

The elated newlyweds start to celebrate

with their guests,

while the team get ready for the wedding feast.

This summer alone, we've done hundreds of place settings.

I can't even count how many.

And Sasha can't help making more adjustments

to the courtyard flowers.

Darling. Does that work? What do you reckon?

Fantastic. Oh, sweetheart.

Done it. Done it. Done it.

Sasha can finally relax,

with her breathtaking fiesta of festive flowers

taking centre stage.

Oh, gosh.

That was quite a day.

I enjoyed every single second of it.

It might be the last wedding of the season,

but I'm so looking forward to doing the Christmas floristry.

I'm very proud of her. Aw. She's done an amazing job. Aw.

I'm so happy and like I've said to Hayley,

thank you for choosing this place for your wedding.

It's amazing.

It's gone above and beyond any expectations we had.

And so many things we didn't even think of,

they were ahead of us on it, so it's been awesome.

Just a perfect day.

Best day.

Tim and Sasha's magical final wedding

has been a resounding success.

There's just the final end-of-season clear-up day tomorrow

before the family Christmas can truly begin.

Nearly six hours north at Chateau de la Boutiniere,

it's been a week since Zion made

and fitted all of the coving

for their new guest bedroom.

He's also knocked through a doorway for an en suite

and made a whopping chateau-sized ceiling rose to match.

I would think that

is half my weight.

It does weigh a ton.

I am slightly anxious about how it's gonna go up

and whether it's gonna stay up.

We'll put some screws and, ho-ho-ho.

Very long screws, yeah.

Let's hope it's going to hold.

Hold, hold, hold.

Zion's latest plaster creation is proving difficult to install.

This is heavy.

Oh, I think I'm gonna change my, er...

..approach here.

This is heavy, no? Blinking hell.

It's heavy. OK, push it up.

With just the glue and a flimsy prop holding it up,

he's still got to pull the wire through.

If anything happen, run.

It's heavy.

It's coming. It is, I can see it is.

That's it. Oh, well done.

That was a bit scary for a few minutes there.

Oof!

The hefty ceiling rose is in pride of place

and Zion can start decorating,

while Alison goes furniture hunting

in their very own grotto of treasure.

We have a room we actually call the brocante room

where we collect things,

and we collect them for some time in the future.

We've got all sorts of junk,

but also all sorts of gems in there.

It is literally brocante shopping in your own chateau.

This bed, for instance,

it actually has similar flowers to the wallpaper.

So that would be lovely.

In the bedrooms I prefer to have something glassy.

Something a little bit lighter, more feminine.

So, something like that would be good.

All sorts of little surprises.

We buy so many things every time we go out.

Oh, this will do this room, this will do this room.

And you know what? When we start to do the room,

we can't find anything.

That's it.

I think I'm ready for wallpaper anyway.

While Alison unearths more hidden gems...

That's nice for putting towels in, or something similar.

..Zion has ploughed on with papering a whole wall.

I'm wrapping a room or wrapping a box.

It's very similar, no?

Designer!

Yes?

Designer in the house.

I'm really happy with that. Good, good choice.

It's sort of contemporary.

And traditional at the same time.

I'm really happy with that, so well done.

The deadline of Christmas is looming,

so Alison has one more job for Zion today.

I hope you like it.

Oh, my goodness. It's much bigger than I thought.

She has grand plans for a second-hand wardrobe.

Look at this.

Hey, hey. That's excellent.

What I'm hoping is,

that we can cut the back off the wardrobe

and keep the front facade,

so you actually have to go through the wardrobe...

Up! ..into the en suite.

I have a natural line that is part of

the frame right here.

So, if I cut all this,

all the way around,

I can attach this to the wall.

Put it down.

But will their idea work?

OK. Now you can go and have a look.

Oh, that's just the business, isn't it?

You have a look. Go on, have a look.

It's absolutely beautiful.

It's like Narnia.

Well, it will be when you walk through this.

It is one of them days when you, you put it up and you think, yes.

Yeah. Yes!

The guest bedroom has coving, wallpaper

and the beginnings of a magical Narnia doorway.

But with just a few sleeps left until Christmas,

they can't relax just yet.

Still to come...

At Tim and Sasha's,

they're clearing up after serving 18,000 dishes.

What on earth?

Oh, dear.

And will Stephanie's surprising Christmas Wellington

pass the taste test?

Piece de resistance,

or could be the greatest catastrophe, we don't know.

In Southern France, at Chateau du Puis es Pratx,

it's the morning after Tim and Sasha's final wedding of the season

and the day before they break for their Christmas holidays.

Breakdown day at the end of the wedding season is,

is a big day because we have to store everything

that's been, you know, that we can't leave out over the winter.

Sasha has a parting gift planned for her newlywed bride.

Oh, gosh, it's a bit sad wrapping up the last bouquets

of the season.

But I know that I need a break.

Just a lovely extra touch, isn't it?

Thank you so much.

It's a pleasure, it's a pleasure.

It's like an extra box of candies, isn't it?

This year, Lily and Luke have handled the catering

for all 30 weddings

and are looking forward to a few silent nights over Christmas.

A bit like "winterising" everything.

Getting everything into hibernation for the,

for the months to come over the winter.

They've catered for a colossal 2,000 guests,

served 18,000 meals

and too many glasses of wine to tot up.

The body's definitely,

definitely looking forward to a bit of time off.

We're going to have a great Christmas and then be, er,

itching to get back to the weddings.

Whoa.

See Laurent, those, I don't waste anything.

I'll be using them as decorations again.

Nothing gets wasted.

What on earth?

Oh, dear.

After a quick costume change,

Tim helps Luke with one last job.

Monsieur.

Thank you.

The giant wine barrel,

which he repurposed last year,

has come into its own again.

The barrel has a wintertime use for storage

and a summertime use for the bridegroom's breakfast.

Goodnight barrel, but have a good winter.

There we go. No-one would know.

There we go.

There we go.

Finally, it's time for a team celebration.

So, cheers, guys. Thank you for all your hand work. Chin-chin.

For a brilliant season. Whoo. Yeah.

I think we've both been looking forward to putting our feet up.

Yes. And erm, now we're here,

it's a bit sad, it's very quiet.

The end of, end of the season, you have this

sort of peace, this tranquillity.

So, it's quite delicious,

until we have about four months of it

and then we're raring to go again.

Anyway, we're there.

Whoo, deep breath.

Tim and Sasha have wrapped up the year in grand style

with a sparkling winter wedding.

Now, they can actually start wrapping the presents

for an extra-special chateau Christmas.

Over at Chateau Lalande,

with Stephanie's unique Christmas Wellington

now all wrapped up in festive pastry...

Voila.

Perfect. Ready for the oven.

..there's just time for her and Gerry

to collect some winter herbs.

I've got the thyme, Gerald.

Christmas "thyme".

Just rosemary to go.

Is she here?

HE SIGHS

Philip, it is so beautiful!

I'm glad you like it. I love it.

Well, it's very much a collaboration with Gerard.

It's magical.

Merry Christmas. Merry Christmas!

Stephanie and her friends have worked hard to turn

their traditional drawing room into

a kaleidoscope of shimmering Christmas splendour.

The centrepiece of

a mini village of Lalande -

complete with chapel

and nativity scene -

makes a breathtaking statement.

All right, this looks great, we look terrible.

Let's go and get changed! All right!

All of a sudden,

it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas.

Maria, I think we need you in this. Yeah. The Three Degrees!

THEY LAUGH Which way do I go?

Er, do you think we should actually finish the meal? OK.

GUESTS EXCLAIM

The guests of honour take their seats.

It looks so nice. Yeah, it looks incredible.

Merry Christmas, everyone. ALL: Merry Christmas.

Cheers. Merry Christmas.

Having enjoyed a smoked-salmon starter,

it's time for the main event.

Piece de resistance, or could be

the greatest catastrophe, we don't know.

Ladies and gentlemen,

I present

Christmas dinner Wellington.

ALL: Yay!

That's prosciutto, chicken,

stuffing and cranberry sauce,

all wrapped up in a pastry parcel.

One Christmas dinner on a slice.

This is delicious, Stephanie.

I thought it was very, erm,

plucky of Stephanie to make

a Christmas Wellington.

She did a marvellous job.

Yes, marvellous.

Cheers to Gerald. ALL: Cheers!

Christmas elf.

It's been absolutely fantastic.

Tonight, sitting at the table,

watching people eat, their laughter,

their happiness. It's been a great day.

It is time for the Christmas advent calendar

and, Mummy, I would like you to do us the honour

of opening day number one.

We have a little something for Galahad... Oh!

..and a little something for you.

Thank you so much.

There is something about this place that carries a lot of love

and, erm, acceptance,

and to have Christmas in here

is absolutely wonderful for me.

Oh, wow. He's not giving up.

No. Ooh. Ooh. Ooh. He likes it! Oh!

Merry Christmas, darling. Yes.

I think it went really well tonight. I think so too.

Everyone's very happy, seeing your food.

Er, well, hopefully, tasting it. Yes.

And Mummy's happy, which is the main thing.

Percy's loving it.

And Galahad loved the biscuit! He's so adorable.

He's going to get a lot more of those biscuits. Yeah.

Well, 24, to be exact.

Stephanie has successfully pulled off their first

Christmas soiree of the season...

..and it looks like being anything

but a Silent Night at the chateau.

Merry Christmas, everyone! Merry Christmas! Merry Christmas!

Next time...

That's what you call going round the bend.

..Alison and Zion race to get to

the festive finish line...

You have a look and tell me if you're happy with that lamp.

Come down just a little bit... Yes.

..a chatelaine trials

a new festive venture...

OK, so this is for wrapping it.

It feels like brain.

..and this couple are putting up

some Christmas lights...

Whoa, easy!

..on a chateau scale.

It's too low. Is that too low? Ow!

Let go. I've just trapped my hand.