At Tracy Island, Jeff is dressed up as Santa. Nicky tells Jeff that this is like a dream, him being here at International Rescue's headquarters. He asks if he can have his wish now, so Jeff says sure -but he must call him Santa. Nicky says this is fantastic, as they're sitting here in the snow, whilst over there it's summer. He then says what his wish is: to see all of the Thunderbirds launched.

Jeff says that's not possible to see them all, but he can see one. Nicky thinks about which one he wants to see and eventually decides on Thunderbird 3. Jeff says that's a good choice and tells him to standby. He contacts Alan and says it's Christmas Control. He tells him that Thunderbird 3 needs to be launched immediately. Alan heads off to Thunderbird 3.

Nicky asks where Thunderbird 3 is, as he still can't see it. Jeff tells him to be patient, as he won't miss it -it's 287 feet high. Thunderbird 3 then blasts off, which Nicky is wowed by. He says that was the greatest thrill in his life, he keeps thinking he's dreaming -it can't be for real! Jeff says it's real enough, but it took a lot of people a lot of time and trouble arranging it. It all began with a nice, quiet meeting with the Coralville Children's Hospital Committee...

The committee argues about what to do at Christmas. Doctor Pringle reminds everyone they're supposed to be discussing ways of raising money for a new solar therapy wing for a children's hospital. Saunders of Saunders Automations says he'll repeat: if they can get International Rescue to participate, then his offer stands. His company is willing to supply the rocket. Harman then says his company will fill it with toys, on one condition: the rocket is launched from the roof of his New York store. Saunders thinks he's being very generous, so Harman says he's also willing to start the fund by putting down a cheque for $10,000 right now.

Pringle says if the project is successful, that will just be the start. This scheme has exciting possibilities, but now it depends on International Rescue. Sometime later, some of the hospital staff are waiting. Dr Lang asks if they should wait outside, but Pringle tells him to be patient. Harman is also there and says the rocket will just about be blasting off now, and will take ten minutes to get here. At the launch site, the rocket takes off without problems.

The group at the hospital goes outside. Pringle asks if all the windows were screened. Nurse Nimmo says they were, so no one will see a thing. Lang says the whole staff are intrigued by this, but Pringle says secrecy is essential. They then see the rocket in the skies above. As it flies over the hospital, it jettisons a container from the back.

The container lands in the hospital. The group go to check on it and Nimmo presses a button to open it up. Inside it are hundreds of parcels, so she takes one and opens it. Inside it is a porcelain horse, which hasn't been damaged in any way. Harman says it's still in one piece, so this trial has proven to be satisfactory. Pringle says the operation can go ahead as suggested.

Harman says he'll get back to New York and arrange the assembly and launching of the rocket, whilst they can contact International Rescue. Pringle asks Lang to contact them, but Lang doesn't know how to find them. Pringle says to just put out the call, as they use any frequency. Lang does so, and his call is picked up by John in Thunderbird 5. Lang says that the trial flight of the rocket was a complete success, so the operation will proceed on Christmas day as planned.

John asks what the rocket's ETA will be. Lang tells him 0900 hours, so John says they'll be ready at 0915 to pick up the lucky winner. As the call ends, Nimmo asks Lang if he can now explain the mystery of how International Rescue are involved. Lang tells her to just wait and see. At Tracy Island, John reports that the hospital has given the go ahead. Jeff says they'll have a guest at Christmas besides Penelope.

He tells Virgil this will mean a trip for him in Thunderbird 2. He then tells everyone that whilst there is no danger involved, he wants this operation to be taken as seriously as any other. Security still has top priority. Gordon asks about what'll happen if they have a distress call, but Tin-Tin tells him not to spoil it. Jeff says she's right, if they can make someone happy at Christmas, then it's worthwhile. Grandma says this is all very well, but do any of them realize how near they are to Christmas? Scott says they couldn't make plans until they knew for sure about the scheme.

Jeff says now they can go ahead and really make this something to remember. He tells Tin-Tin that she and Scott are in charge of the shopping arrangements this year. He tells them to hop over to the mainland right away. Tin-Tin and Scott board a jet, which Scott pilots. Tin-Tin says they must not waste time, as they've got a lot to shop for.

Everyone else works on getting Tracy Island ready for Christmas. Kyrano, Grandma and Brains work on getting all of the food prepared, whilst Virgil and Alan put all of the decorations up. Tin-Tin and Scott then return to the island.

It's now Christmas Eve. Jeff congratulates everyone, as the place looks wonderful. Gordon asks if they can open their presents, but Tin-Tin tells him not yet. Scott says they're going to wait until their guest gets here tomorrow.

Jeff decides they can take it easy and check on how things are going in New York. He switches on the TV, which has a report at Harman's store. The present says that the Christmas rocket is being assembled for its flight to Coralville on Christmas day. Tin-Tin says the snow looks wonderful, prompting Virgil to say he wishes they could have a white Christmas, just like the old days. They watch as the final section of the rocket is lowered down.

Jeff asks where Brains is. Gordon says he'll go and get him. In the kitchen, Kyrano asks Grandma why she doesn't use the nuclear powered cooker, as it's much faster. Grandma says she never did get the hang of those rods, but besides that, it'll taste better this way. Gordon comes in and asks if they've seen Brains. Grandma says Brains said something about an experiment. Gordon decides to leave him alone if he's busy.

Brains is in his lab, looking at a weather report. He looks into what the wind speeds are in the East and South East and thinks that should just about do it. Behind him is a table, packed full of various bottles with different liquids inside them.

At Harman's store, two Santas are finished for the day. They feel like they've seen a million kids today, but are now ready to leave. But they then hear something and see two other guys approach, one of which is holding a gun. Scobie tells them to shut up and go into the next room. Scobie says he hates to spoil their Christmas, but as long as they play his way they won't get hurt.

Elsewhere in the store, Tanner is getting presents ready and putting them in the rocket container. He tells Harman he'll have finished in about an hour. Harman says the rocket is all ready to go. Tanner thinks the publicity for the store has been tremendous, and Harman says it's just about doubled the Christmas proceeds. The money is all safely stashed away in the Second National Bank next door. In the bank, security guard Joe calls Harman and says they're just about to close the door. As the call ends, Joe tells Preston to check it out.

Preston taps the vault's floor with his stick, which instantly sets off an alarm. Joe switches the alarm off and then has the door closed. Preston thinks it's some alarm system, and Joe agrees, saying those tiles could register a pin drop. Back in the store, Scobie ties up the two Santas and says that should do it.

Straker gets their equipment out and puts a floor plan on a table. Scobie figures out where the room is they want to break into and says where they must cut in from. Straker asks how much they will get. Scobie believes about 10 million, give or take a million. Straker assembles a drill, which he then uses to start drilling into a wall. Meanwhile, Tanner is about to put a piece of paper in with one of the presents.

The paper is an invite from International Rescue. Tanner says some lucky kid will have the surprise of their life. Meanwhile, Straker continues to drill a hole into the wall. All of the dust creating from the drilling travels through a pipe, which gets sent into a bag.

On the other side of the wall, some dust falls, but it hits a beam rather than the floor, meaning the alarm doesn't go off. Straker finishes cutting the hole and drills another smaller hole into the cut piece. He and Scobie then pull the cut piece out of the wall. Scobie takes a look through and sees that there is nobody home, but also sees how much money is inside.

Tanner tells Harman via the intercom that he's almost finished, and the lucky number has just been wrapped. Harman says they're ready up here, so Tanner says he'll send the canister up in the freight elevator as soon as he can. Back in the bank, Straker takes a gun and fires it. It attaches a device on the wall at the opposite end of the vault.

It's a cable, which Straker fixes up in the room they're in. It creates a line which Scobie attaches himself to via a harness. Straker then moves Scobie into the vault, without him touching the floor. Scobie is moved right up to the opposite site of the vault, where all the gold bars are. Scobie suggests taking some of the cash, but Straker tells him to forget that -get the gold!

At Tracy Island, Virgil is about to leave. But he and Tin-Tin then hear a couple of banging noises somewhere nearby. They go and investigate and realize that the noise was coming from the roof. Whoever is up there comes back inside, but they then realize it's Brains. Virgil asks him what he's doing up at this time of night. Brains claims he was seeing what the weather was like.

Tin-Tin tells him to come and have a cup of coffee. She tells Virgil he'd better be going, so heads off to Thunderbird 2 and takes off. Back in the bank, Scobie has retrieved several bars of gold already. He is sent back into the vault to get more, which he places into pockets on his jacket. As he takes more and more, he gets closer to the ground due to the weight.

Straker tells him to take it easy and watch the floor. Scobie continues to take more gold bars, resulting in him getting even closer to the floor. Straker tells him to mind his feet, but Scobie says he's still got a few inches. Straker starts to pull him back towards the hole in the wall. Straker says he doesn't like this, all the gold is too heavy. Scobie says to just get him out of here.

The suction cup device begins to feel the strain and shifts down a few inches. Scobie is pulled towards the hole in the wall, but he almost touches the floor. He steadies himself by placing his hand on a table, causing a pencil to almost roll off. Straker keeps pulling Scobie towards the hole.

Outside, a reporter welcomes everyone back to Harman's store on this fine Christmas morning. He says that the final preparations of the Christmas rocket are under way, which will soon be speeding on its way to the children at Coralville. Tanner tells Harman that the canister is ready, so he says to have it sent up in five minutes.

Straker and Scobie are done with taking the gold. But as they move a bar off the cable, it moves and hits the table inside the vault. This causes the pencil to roll off and hit the floor, which sounds the alarm. Straker says they've got to get out of here before the exits are sealed. They head off but then see the two tied up Santas. They get an idea of how to escape.

Joe and Preston take a look at the vault via surveillance cameras and see what's in there, including the hole in the wall. Meanwhile, Scobie and Straker disguise themselves as Santas and head towards where the freight elevator is. Scobie asks what they're waiting for, as he and Straker head towards it.

Tanner tells Harman that everything is set. Harman tells him to go down to the elevator and have the canister sent up to the roof. Scobie and Straker get into the canister and hit a button to close the doors on it. But as soon as they do this, the elevator starts to move up. Straker realizes this but Scobie tells him to relax, as they'll just have to try and bluff their way out.

The elevator continues upwards and arrives at the rocket. The canister is moved up and placed into the rocket itself. Meanwhile, Joe and Scobie get to the bottom of the elevator and ask Tanner if anyone has been through here. Tanner says no, but Preston then finds a piece of fluff next the elevator doors. They think that the thieves are in the canister.

Joe uses a phone to try and get through to Harman, but the rocket is about to take off. Outside, the rocket blasts off, making so much noise that nobody can hear the phone ringing nearby.

At the hospital, Pringle and some of the others watch a report about the theft, stating around 6 million dollars was almost taken. The presenter says that the bank's president has offered a 10% reward for the capture of the thieves. Meanwhile Jeff, who contacts Virgil and tells him the rocket lift off was A OK. Virgil says he'll be there in three and a half minutes.

Lang then contacts Virgil. Virgil says he's about to fly over the hospital, so Lang tells him the rocket will be here in about two minutes. He, Nimmo and Pringle go outside to watch the rocket arrive. Lang says Thunderbird 2 is going to cruise around until the winner is ready. They then see the rocket arrive.

The rocket drops the canister, which successfully deploys a parachute and lands in the hospital grounds. But as Pringle and the others go to check it out, Lang pulls out a gun and says he'll open the canister's doors. Pringle asks what the meaning of this is, but Lang just presses the button to open the doors up.

Pringle and Nimmo are shocked to see Scobie and Straker inside the canister, unconscious. Lang says the police department had warned him about this, and he believes that the gravity force must have knocked these two out. Virgil contacts his father and tells him about the two crooks in the canister. The hospital have now turned them in to the police. Jeff thinks that's great, as it means the hospital will get the 10% reward money. Virgil says he's waiting for the winner with the lucky number, which should only take a couple of minutes. Lang then contacts him and says his Christmas guest is ready.

Later on, Harman is having a party. He tells everyone that this has certainly been a Christmas to remember, and he's sure they made it a happier time for those kids at Coralville Hospital. Plus the publicity did the store a lot of good. He makes a toast, saying a merry Christmas to one and all, especially the children at Coralville. At the hospital, Pringle and a few others are also having a party. Pringle says this Christmas will go down in the history of Coralville -they've had a rocket full of gifts for the children, plus a couple of crooks. Lang says the reward money will build that new solar therapy wing. Pringle says one of their patients is now a guest of the famous International Rescue.

At Tracy Island, Scott, Virgil, Alan and Gordon are singing carols. Jeff tells Penelope he's glad she could make it. She says so is she, as she's having a wonderful time. Jeff says they've just about got time for one more carol before further refreshments. But Brains says he's got a party piece he'd like to do, and asks for everyone to close their eyes.

He pulls out a small box and presses a few buttons on it. Outside, several machines begin firing fake snow everywhere, and the snowflakes cover up the house and part of the beach. Brains tells everyone that they can open their eyes now.

Everyone sees the snow outside. Tin-Tin realizes that's what Brains was up to last night. Jeff tells Brains that he's given them a real old-fashioned Christmas.