The Doctor visits the Montagues, whose family he has known for at least a century. Herbert tells the Doctor that strange things have been happening. Huge claws have appeared in the yew maze, wet clothing cannot be dried out, history books are opened to pages without anyone doing it, the Christmas tree has been carved into an odd shape and a doll house that Herbert and Mary plan to give to Sarah for Christmas is slowly turning white inside, with strange round circles appearing on the walls. The thing that bothers Herbert the most is that the children keep claiming to have seen Father Christmas.