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It’s early morning and a melancholy Louise can’t sleep. Phil urges her to go to school but she refuses, snapping that Phil won’t even be there for her future. Sharon thinks Phil’s made the wrong decision in not having the liver transplant and pleads with him to listen to the people that love him. Phil heads off to think. Sharon tries to cheer Louise that Phil hasn’t told the doctors of his decision yet. Phil seeks out Ben in the Arches to explain but he refuses to listen. On the market, Phil suddenly feels weak and staggers into a stall. Billy rushes to his aid. At the funeral parlour, Billy reveals they’re doing the funeral for Eddie Kendall, the school boy who was stabbed.

Phil tells Billy he’s not having the liver transplant; Phil thinks people like Eddie, and his friend from hospital, Tony, deserve a second chance - not him. Billy insists it doesn’t matter how Phil got sick and demands he think of the family he’s leaving behind. Back home, Sharon confronts Phil; she begs him to least keep his options open and go to his next hospital tests. Phil’s certain there are people that deserve a liver more than he does, and thinks the Mitchells don’t need him like they used to. Sharon protests and hotly disagrees. Emotional, Phil pleads with Sharon to stand by his decision, whether she agrees or not. Eventually, a heartbroken Sharon nods her consent…

At No. 45, Kathy struggles with her lines for the Walford Players audition. Ben pays an early morning visit; Kathy senses something’s wrong but he refuses to tell her. Kathy gets tickets in the post for the whole family for a Peter Pan pantomime. A stressed Ian’s worried about money and beseeches Jane to assess Beales’ finances. Lauren promises she’ll be able to contribute soon as she has a new internship at a digital agency. On Bridge Street, Kathy tries again to get Ben to open up, but he wants to focus on Kathy and accompanies her to her audition for moral support. Kathy’s irked when Geraldine ignores Patrick’s performance, and then hers, to drool over new boy Keith. When Kathy publically calls her on it and declares her script stinks, Geraldine orders her out. Back at No. 45, Jane’s gone over Beales’ books and it doesn’t look good. Ian wants to find a way to cut staff business costs. Kathy offers to run the café, especially now she has no chance of a part in the Christmas show.

Whitney’s frustrated when Lee fends off her advances yet again. Lauren visits No. 5B and jokes that the newlyweds won’t be getting much sleep now they’ve a place of their own. Whitney reveals she and Lee haven’t had sex since they got married. Lauren admits she and Steven have problems too, and tells Whitney that Steven’s been stealing from Beales. Lauren assures Whitney that the problem isn’t her, and suggests she change her pub shift so she can surprise Lee. Buoyed, Whitney suggests a night out. Lee returns home to rose petals, candles and a scantily clad Whitney. Later, Lee and Whitney lie stiffly in bed next to each other. Whitney comforts it happens to a lot of men - they can just cuddle. Whitney suggests a night out with Lauren and Steven. When Lee’s unenthusiastic, Whitney explains that Lauren’s upset, and tells Lee that Steven’s been stealing from his own family.

Stacey frets about affording a new bike for Lily’s Christmas present. Kyle’s chuffed to have been featured in Top Catering magazine. Later, he suggests to Steven that Stacey be nanny for Louie to earn some extra cash. After work, he gets a text message from the chef who ran his catering course offering him a sous chef job in Marseilles. Kyle doesn’t want to leave Stacey in the lurch with Christmas coming up.

Patrick enthuses to Dot about his audition for the role of Scrooge. Dot’s defensive when he mentions her eye appointment but reveals she’s decided to go.

Carmel puts Kush on bin watch after someone’s been dumping rubbish in her bins.