It's the day of the staff Christmas party and everyone's in high spirits - except for Dylan who is preoccupied with hospital worker Amanda... Last week Dylan became convinced that Amanda (Connie Fisher) is obsessed with him and engineered the kidnap and return of his missing dog, Dervla! On his shift this week, Dylan keeps a very close eye on her and discovers she has a photo of his dog in her possession. Paranoid, Dylan decides to attend the Christmas do, but it all goes horribly wrong when the normally teetotal, recovering alcoholic doctor gets sloshed on red wine and begins making wild accusations... He accuses her of stalking him – only to discover Amanda is leaving Holby to work for her sister. Disgraced, he leaves the party alone. Elsewhere, clinical lead Zoe (Sunetra Sarker) is delighted with the arrival of locum doctor Dominic Carter, who is on hand to help out for the shift. When paediatrician Tom clocks the suave consultant, however, his nose is firmly out of joint. Tom (Oliver Coleman) wastes no time in letting Zoe know that Dominic Carter was one of the medics involved in a scandalous cover up - and that he blew the whistle on him, leading to Dominic’s dismissal! Zoe finds herself caught in the crossfire and is uncomfortable when Dominic attempts to explain his side of the story. He puts it to her that he was simply being loyal to a colleague who made a mistake, but the jury is still out for Zoe. As the shift wears on tensions are high between Tom and Dominic. And things aren’t plain sailing between Zoe and her older colleague either after Dominic disrespects her authority in front of a patient’s mother. Yet, Zoe rapidly changes her opinion of the smooth-talking doctor when he makes a brilliant diagnosis, which saves the life of a choking baby. Spurred on by Linda, Zoe invites Dominic to the staff party, where he is a massive hit with everyone but Tom. And, after a few drinks, Zoe invites Dominic to stay on at Holby on a more regular basis.
