The
story centres on Christmas Eve at 7 Cherry Lane over a period of 25 years
beginning in 1973 with John and Lizzie Hamilton (John Brotherton and Erin
Cahill).
Lizzie
is eight and half months pregnant with their first child and they’ve only been
in the house for 2 days and haven’t even unpacked.
Their
hope was for a quiet first Christmas together in their new home before their
lives changed forever, that hope was shattered however with the unexpected
arrival of her overbearing parents Frank and Evelyn Sawyer (Fred Henderson and
Lynda Boyd) who make no secret of the fact they don’t think John is good enough
for Lizzie, they were joined by the rest of the Sawyer clan and they were all
staying at the house for Christmas.
In
1998 Widowed Regina Johnston (Catherine Bell) lives alone at the house but when
her grown up children, Conrad and Winnie Johnston (Matthias Falvai and Veronica
Long) arrive her boyfriend Nelson King (James Denton) lets slip that they are
getting married, and Regina is selling the house and moving to Florida and
Conrad tries whatever he can to make his mother change her mind.
In
2023 its their first Christmas together in the house for couple Mike and Zian
Harrelson (Jonathan Bennett and Vincent Rodriguez III).
They
are planning to host a small Christmas Eve dinner with friends, if their
contractor Quinn Lewis (Robert Moloney) actually finishes fitting the kitchen.
Throwing
another spanner in the works is their acceptance as foster parents, and their
charge Tina is expected to arrive that evening.
Amidst
the trials and tribulations of the three featured Christmas Eves there are
characters that thread their way across the years.
