Beyond Paradise Christmas Special | Preview (BBC One)

It’s Christmas time in Shipton Abbott, where Humphrey (Kris Marshall) and the team find themselves wrapped up in two festive cases.

When recently widowed Bob Holland (Mark Heap) is ordered to leave his home by a vision of his late wife Linda (Rosalind Adler), he is thrown into emotional turmoil, a vivid reminder of his harrowing grief.

Deeply disturbed by this series of troubling events, he turns to his friend Anne (Barbara Flynn) for comfort, who shares his encounters with the Shipton Abbott police team. Unsure whether Bob’s ghostly visions are a manifestation of grief or something more sinister, Humphrey and Esther (Zahra Ahmadi) get to work unravelling the mystery.

Bob’s daughter Fiona (Tamla Kari) and her husband, a maverick inventor Colin (Seann Walsh), appear stumped and concerned when deliberating who could be behind this ghostly apparition. Is Bob simply struggling with the pain of the first Christmas without his wife, or is there a darker force at play?

Meanwhile, Kelby (Dylan Llewellyn) and Margo (Felicity Montagu) are on the case after a break-in at the church leaves the nativity scene incomplete. With the Christmas service fast approaching, and CS Charlie Woods (Jade Harrison) due to attend, can Kelby solve the mystery of the missing Virgin Mary and impress the Chief Superintendent?

Away from the station, Humphrey and Martha’s (Sally Bretton) fostering journey continues as they open their home to introverted teenager Jaiden (Austin Taylor) over the festive period.

Struggling to connect, and with Humphrey otherwise occupied at work, Martha feels out of her depth. Can she overcome her self-doubt and find a way to bond with Jaiden? And will he open up and let her in before the holidays arrive?

Beyond Paradise (1x60’) airs Friday 27th December at 9pm on BBC One.