26 December 1917 - Lester Reed

Home Front

On this day in 1917, the first Ladies' international football match was played in Belfast, and in Tynemouth, Lester Reed is finding it hard to celebrate. His sister can't console him and he leaves to drown his sorrows.

Season 12 of Home Front, titled Giddy With Possibility, is set in the North East of England, in the shadow of the Russian Revolution. The excitement and fear provoked by the Bolshevik Revolution that overturned Russia, Britain's greatest ally in the war, rippled out around the world and - briefly - made people believe that anything was possible. In industrial Tyneside it is a time of unprecedented unrest and union activity, and where ladies' football is gaining a foothold in the national imagination.

Meanwhile, at Collingwood Park the children are met with the confusing site of Father Christmas building a bonfire. Is this what he does with the leftover presents, they wonder. Things only get more perplexing when they are joined by adults from the house. An argument between them and Father Christmas ensues and Cressida, worried for everyone's safety, takes drastic action.

Written by Katie Hims Directed by Jessica Dromgoole.