27/09/2024

Writer: Tim Stimpson Director: Pip Swallow Editor: Jeremy HoweDavid Archer…. Timothy Bentinck Jolene Archer…. Buffy Davies Kenton Archer…. Richard Attlee Pat Archer…. Patricia Gallimore Tony Archer…. David Troughton Harrison Burns…. James Cartwright Usha Franks…. Souad Faress Ed Grundy…. Barry Farrimond Eddie Grundy…. Trevor Harrison Emma Grundy…. Emerald O‘Hanrahan George Grundy…. Angus Stobie Tracy Horrobin…. Susie Riddell Alistair Lloyd…. Michael Lumsden Jim Lloyd…. John Rowe Jazzer McCreary…. Ryan Kelly Lynda Snell…. Carole Boyd Oliver Stirling…. Michael Cochrane

Despite them both wanting to be there Ed persuades Emma they should respect George’s wishes and let just Will go to the Court hearing tomorrow. They’ll focus instead on getting more character references, though Emma can’t believe Ed even bothered trying Pat and Tony. However, Pat surprises them both when she turns up with an employee reference she’s written, admitting it’s just from her, not Tony. Pat believes in the possibility of redemption. Emma’s even more stunned when Pat offers her work at the dairy, covering while Clarrie’s away. Emma thinks working with Susan tomorrow will be a good distraction from worrying about the court hearing. Tony is incensed with Pat for what she’s done, but she felt it was the right thing to do. Tony understands that, but Pat’s on her own when it comes to telling the rest of the family, especially Brian and Lilian. Lynda, Tony and Jim talk about the need to improve standards before the cricket team plays in Division Four next season. They also talk about gathering memorabilia for tomorrow night’s Cricket Club dinner, before Jim and Lynda continue their sleuthing into the collapsed table at the Flower and Produce Show. Later, at Greenacres, Lynda says she’s been concentrating on MMO: Means. Motive. Opportunity. Jim, however, has made a sketch of the village hall and suggests returning to the scene of the crime. There, Lynda retraces her steps and remembers setting up the table. She points out how damning the verdict could be for whoever was responsible, before Jim turns one of the tables over to discover something that stops Lynda in her tracks.

While George helps Eddie prepare the sheep for tupping he talks about not being around for lambing. Eddie reckons he’s going to find George a new lawyer who can help minimise George’s sentence, but George says no to selling Eddie’s van - and the idea of using the money they got from selling Bartleby. When he calls Eddie a stupid old fool, Ed demands George apologise, but George walks off. Later, Ed catches George and tells him to accept help when it’s offered, as with the character reference Oliver wrote. But who else can they try? Eddie goes to see Pat and updates her on Clarrie, who’s away looking after her sister Rosie. Eddie asks about Helen’s lawyer when she was on trial. Pat gives him Dominic’s name, but at the thought of what might happen to George Eddie becomes emotional and Pat tells him to have faith in the system. George then apologises to Eddie and says he’s not giving up, but needs to face up to what he’s done and accept that he’s going to prison. Tony tells Pat that Eddie has a cheek asking them for help, then fulminates about the pressure they’re all under after having to fire George and with Emma staying away from the Tearoom. When Ed shows up to ask a favour Tony flatly refuses to write George a character reference. After Ed goes Tony gives him short shrift, but Pat defends Ed – and Eddie – questioning what good a long prison sentence will do George. But Tony is adamant, they are not writing George a reference.

At Greenacres, Jazzer’s concerned they haven’t followed Jim’s instructions with the redecoration, as per the message from Robert. Alistair reminds Jazzer that Jim wants him and Denise to feel at home. Later, after they’ve picked Jim up from the station, Alistair explains why everything has moved. When Jim hears that Alistair and Denise love the new space, he says he does too. Following up on her investigation Lynda finds a distracted Harrison sitting in his car outside Woodbine, decompressing after a tough day at work. Lynda then quizzes Jazzer on his whereabouts during the fire alarm on Sunday. Getting the wrong idea about why he’s under suspicion, Jazzer confesses to stealing the Brookfield sunflower. Confused Lynda then explains that she’s investigating the fruit pies incident, but now Jazzer has thrown her whole investigation into disarray! Jim suggests that having Jazzer as witness during the critical period is actually very helpful, deducing that the person who collapsed the table must have been inside the hall the whole time. Suitably impressed, Lynda invites Jim to assist with her further enquiries. While Fallon prepares food samples for her café pitch and talks about not being honest with Natasha over the reason she’s taking time off tomorrow, Harrison tries mentioning his concerns about staying in the Police. Fallon is too distracted though, and they end up trying her delicious samples for the pitch. When Fallon speculates about winning the contract, she talks about needing Harrison’s support. Would he be willing to go full-time? Suppressing his own concerns, Harrison says of course – he won’t stand in the way of Fallon’s dream.

Ed may not be fussed about his upcoming fortieth birthday, but he and Emma agree they have to do something to help George. What he needs most are good character references. They try asking Oliver, but he’s distracted and goes, leaving Emma feeling he’s deliberately snubbed them. Later though, following an impassioned speech from Ed about his own troubled youth, Oliver agrees to help. Oliver subsequently reads out the reference he’s written, admitting there were some things he couldn’t ignore. Ed and Emma think he’s been very fair though and are delighted. But Emma knows one good reference won’t be enough - they need more. Jolene’s put out to see that Kenton’s already chalking up ‘Kenton’s Award-Winning Apple and Cheese Pie’ on their board at the Bull and teases Kenton about Lynda making him feel like a suspect over the collapsed table. Harrison turns up to collect some cricketing memorabilia for the Cricket Club dinner being held at Brookfield on Friday, to celebrate winning promotion. Kenton will be running the bar and Harrison offers a hand moving barrels. They talk about Fallon falling out with Emma after she covered for George, before Harrison admits he’s not been himself at work recently. All this anger inside is threatening to get the better of him and he’s not even sure he should be a police officer anymore. Lynda arrives at The Bull to question disgruntled Jolene about the mystery of the collapsing table, before Kenton tells Harrison that if he’s seriously thinking about quitting the police he needs to talk to Fallon first – she’d want to know.

At the Flower and Produce show Kenton’s brimming with confidence about his apple and cheese pie, until he learns Jill has entered and can’t be persuaded to withdraw. Meanwhile Tracy plans a distraction, so Jazzer can dump his stolen sunflower in the Village Hall, under Rosie Archer’s name. Chatting to David, Eddie proclaims Will and Emma’s innocence over any wrongdoing. David admires Clarrie’s spectacular rose and laments Rosie’s missing sunflower, before Kenton repositions his pie on an adjacent table, so that it can be seen to better advantage. Eddie then asks Usha for advice on getting a better solicitor for George, but they’re interrupted by the fire alarm, meaning everyone has to leave. With people congregated outside the Village Hall Tracy’s concerned that Kenton’s gone back in to check the kitchen. Lynda reports that Usha saw scones on the floor next to the smashed alarm. Tracy confesses setting it off when she accidentally tripped and dropped her scones. Meanwhile, Kenton reports another disaster: the table holding most of the pies has collapsed. Only Kenton’s and a few others survived. Jazzer then emerges belatedly from the toilet, where he hid when Kenton came in. Later, Rosie wins tallest sunflower, leaving David confused and Jazzer and Tracy playing innocent. Eddie presses Usha, wanting her to take over as George’s solicitor, but she declines the offer. Proud Kenton takes the rosette with his pie. However, Lynda’s intrigued by a report that Kenton moved his pie before the table collapsed. She feels the integrity of the show has been brought into question and intends to discover exactly what happened.

While Tracy’s taste-testing Jolene’s apple and cheese pie Jolene mentions that someone has stolen Rosie’s sunflower from Brookfield. Tracy confesses it’s got to be Jazzer. When it was found after Jazzer hid it behind some greenery he went into a massive sulk. And now he must have dug it up and taken it. But Tracy’s determined Jazzer’s giving it back, somehow. Later, after Tracy finds the missing sunflower behind their shed, Jolene reckons she knows just the person to help sneak it back to Brookfield - Tracy’s dad! Eddie’s miffed to hear from Will that Clarrie knows he’s fallen out with Susan. Eddie defends himself for sticking up for George, and still reckons the solicitor isn’t doing enough. Will just wants to make sure George is okay in himself. Eddie accuses Will of not even trying and says he’ll help George on his own. Out on a tree surgery job Emma’s tetchy with Ed, who’s bitter about her quitting the Tearoom. Then, at a critical moment, Ed’s distracted by Emma’s phone. She drops a large branch, only just missing him, telling him they can’t work safely if they’re constantly bickering. Later, Ed breaks down at the prospect of Emma going to prison. She tells him to be strong for Keira and the business. They’ve worked too hard to throw everything away. And one more thing: he’s got to find a way to forgive her. Will then calls and tells Emma they’re both in the clear – they’re not being prosecuted! Tearful Ed swears he’ll try his best to forgive her. That’s all Emma’s asking for.

Emma bumps into Ian at Bridge Farm shop, gets flustered, and leaves before he can make conversation. When Tony asks about the PTA meeting Ian mentioned Ian admits he’s become a bit too involved. But he feels duty bound now, having submitted a lot of the ideas himself. He just needs to break the news to Adam… Pat offers Susan a friendly ear, having heard from Clarrie about Eddie’s outburst, but Susan plays it down. There’s an emergency meeting planned at Bridge Farm, but Pat’s thrown when Tom gives her zero notice of a booking Natasha has taken from Felpersham Local Produce Society. Susan has all the details though and steps up to lead the cheese-making demonstration. However, after a confident start, Susan falters and Pat has to take over. Afterwards, Susan admits how things have got to her, not least Eddie’s outburst. Pat sends her home, reassuring Susan that doesn’t have to deal with this on her own. At the emergency meeting, Tony, Tom and Pat try to fix the Bridge Farm staffing puzzle, but something has to give. They agree they can’t compromise on milking, so Pat decides they’ll hire in a contract milker and the others agree. Later, Pat checks on stressed Susan, who opens up on her fallout with Eddie, having played it down to Neil. George is not doing well and won’t speak to Emma. Emma arrives, surprised to see Pat. She gets upset and apologises. Pat is supportive though, telling Emma to stay strong, before she leaves. Whereupon Emma breaks down in Susan’s arms.

Proud Jolene takes her hoped for prize-winning apple and cheese pie out of the oven, only for Kenton to tease about his pie taking the honours at the Flower and Produce Show instead. They are both suspicious about getting baking tips from other people, before agreeing not to involve anyone else. Kenton is still convinced he’s going to win, though.Jolene goes to check on Fallon, who’s overwhelmed at the Tearoom. As they clear the backlog Fallon admits she no longer cares about the Tearoom, now that she’s pitching for the Charging Station café. And she doesn’t care if Bridge Farm find out. However, Fallon admits, if Harrison stays part-time at work, there’s no point in pitching. As Tracy and Kenton coo over the Bull’s new kitten, Tracy delicately asks if Emma could do some shifts at the pub. But it’s a clear “no”. They also talk Flower and Produce entries, but when Tracy mentions Jazzer’s enormous sunflower she’s perturbed by Kenton talking about the one Pip has found at Brookfield. Kenton also tries to get some baking tips from Ian. Tracy then watches over Xander for Ian. Grateful Ian reports back about contacting Xander’s teacher, admitting he still doesn’t really know how Xander feels about school. Tracy’s encouraging though, calling Ian brave for taking on a party for Xander’s birthday and inviting the whole class. She then mentions Jazzer fuming about the sunflower. He’ll have to give it up and let Rosie win. Tracy wishes Ian luck for the PTA meeting tomorrow, but she still thinks he’s bonkers for taking it on.

Eddie complains to Will about getting dirty looks at the market. Will speculates about going to prison and asks Eddie to make sure Poppy will be looked after. Eddie’s disparaging about Neil and Susan’s role in calling the police on George. Later, Susan suggests to Eddie they should make plans in case Will and Emma are prosecuted, prompting Eddie to have a go at her. Susan stands firm – she and Neil did the right thing. Angry Eddie defends William, who wasn’t involved in the decision to call the police. Ed intervenes to calm Eddie down, but he refuses to have anything to do with Neil and a shaken Susan. Ed’s sceptical as Emma prepares for her meeting with Tom and Fallon. He’s still hurt by Emma’s role in covering for George, and wonders whether starting the tree surgery business was a good idea. Emma tries to defend it, positing how well they work together, but Ed stays quiet. At the meeting Tom tries keeping things positive between Fallon and Emma. Fallon talks about her anger and how George’s actions have affected people. Tom wonders how to move things forward at the Tearoom, but Fallon knows Emma would act the same way again, if it came to it. And when Emma doesn’t deny it they are no closer to finding a solution. Fallon and Emma talk about the strain on both their marriages. Fallon then presses Emma on George’s behaviour. When Tom again steers the conversation back to the Tearoom Emma offers a solution: she’s quitting. Fallon says thank you, as Emma leaves.