02/07/2025

Justin’s suspicions are aroused, and Jazzer is not happy.

Brad scrolls through Amber’s posts online while listening to George on the phone, boasting about his gorgeous girlfriend. When Brad mentions Tilly Button George is scathing – Amber is in a different league. Brad reckons George should slow down, but George insists that Amber is the one. She gets him like no one else does. George then asks Brad to retrieve the t-shirt from his room that he was wearing when Amber first saw him. She wants to wear it next time she visits. Outside No. 1 The Green Brad remembers Amber from school, telling her she looks really different, but Amber shuts him down. Once inside Brad becomes irritated by Amber’s patronising attitude, reminding her how she used to look at school before she grabs the t-shirt and goes.Usha drives Kenton to the police station, having persuaded them to let him do the Identification again. She gives him a pep talk, but Kenton just wants it all to be over. Afterwards, Kenton buys Usha lunch, telling her he definitely identified the right man. He’d still rather not give evidence in court though. Harrison warned Kenton that the defence team will more than likely use him bottling out the first time to discredit him. Usha mulls over the pros and cons of what Kenton has done, before concluding it demonstrates Kenton’s strength of character in overcoming his fears. But the only way to stop Markie and his gang from doing this to someone else is by giving evidence. Kenton agrees, saying that it would put an end to the nightmare of shame he’s been suffering.

During her interview at The Bull Joy admits her catering industry experience is limited, while Kenton’s attention is elsewhere. Joy clearly has the passion, and Fallon is supportive. But when Kenton leaves abruptly, followed by concerned Fallon, Joy is left with Tracy, who fills her in on Kenton’s troubled weekend after the ID parade. Joy then comes to the rescue as the pub is inundated with roadworkers wanting sandwiches and Tracy can’t cope on her own. Meanwhile, outside in the car park, Kenton confesses to being haunted by the dog that attacked him. Fallon’s sympathetic, suggesting he take some time out, but Kenton can’t - they’re far too busy. Fallon then helps Joy complete the order for the roadworkers and is very impressed by the way Joy coped and stuck to their house style: classy but not fussy. Joy recommends Usha to Kenton for helpful advice on legal matters, before Fallon offers Joy the job, with Kenton’s backing.At school dinner time Clarrie tells Henry she’s getting much less grief from the kids now she’s being more assertive. Henry agrees, having seen her in action. But later Henry tells Helen he’s worried Clarrie might have overdone things and become too outspoken. Clarrie then turns up at Beechwood with an apple bake for Natasha and the girls, taking the opportunity to offer Henry a lift home from school, if ever he needs one. That’s a step too far for Henry, who confides in Helen that he fears he may just have helped create a monster!

While watching the cricket against Greenbury Usha tells Joy she just needs to be herself at her interview tomorrow for the kitchen job at The Bull and she’ll be fine. On the field Henry is last man out, while Brad can’t stop sneezing. As the players come in for tea Clarrie appears upset when Helen asks how her dinner lady job is going. Henry tells Helen he saw some older kids at school being rude to Clarrie when she told them to sit down, but didn’t intervene because it would have made things worse. When Henry goes Clarrie tells Helen how humiliating the incident was. She always thought she was good at supervising kids, but this generation don’t have any respect. After the match Henry tells Clarrie that the only way to deal with those kids is to be firm and not take any nonsense. Clarrie is doubtful she can do that, but Henry reminds her what she was like at Bridge Farm, never a passenger. Do the same at school and she’ll be fine. Brad tells Usha and Joy he hasn’t got hay fever, but Tracy’s accused him of getting the Ambridge score wrong. The Greenbury scorer, Terence, agrees with Brad’s tally, but both Usha and Joy remember a second four hit by Will while Brad left the score box to blow his nose and Terence took over. Later, Terence claims he missed the extra four by mistake and has rectified it. But the extra runs don’t alter the fact that Ambridge lost and Brad has hay fever!

Writer: Shaun McKenna Director: Dave Payne Editor: Jeremy HoweBrian Aldridge…. Charles Collingwood Jolene Archer…. Buffy Davis Kenton Archer…. Richard Attlee Pip Archer….. Daisy Badger Harrison Burns…. James Cartwright Justin Elliott…. Simon Williams Ed Grundy…. Barry Farrimond Emma Grundy…. Emerald O’Hanrahan George Grundy…. Angus Stobie Will Grundy…. Philip Molloy Joy Horville…. Jackie Lye Jazzer McCreary…. Ryan Kelly Stella Pryor…. Lucy Speed Fallon Rogers…. Joanna Van Kampen Lynda Snell…. Carole Boyd Amber Gordon…. Charlotte Jordan

Emma isn’t happy that Will is impressed by George getting himself a girlfriend while in prison. She tells Will about her encounter with Amber in the car park, then how Amber followed George on socials and started writing to him. Will’s glad George is happy, but Emma doesn’t trust Amber. Will looks Amber up online and recognises her from her job at Farm Supplies. Emma’s convinced she’s not right for George, but Will reckons that’s up to George to decide. Then Emma gets a call from George, who asks if Emma liked her. When Emma hesitates Will steps in, congratulating George. Emma sounds a note of caution about rushing into things, but George is convinced she’s the one. Amber’s told George about the car park incident, making out that Emma was rude but Amber’s forgiven her. George proposes they invite Amber round for tea to get to know her, overcoming Emma’s misgivings before telling them it’s already arranged for six o’clock tomorrow.At Woodbine Cottage Jazzer tells Fallon that Dross can work even without Ed’s involvement. Enthusiastic Jazzer’s already got nine people lined up to audition as a replacement and convinces Fallon to at least give it a go. Then Ed bangs on the door and confronts Jazzer about advertising for a replacement on the village website without asking him first. Dross was Ed’s band and he’s hurt that they’re thinking of going ahead without him. Despite what he said Ed wants back in. Jazzer and Fallon are delighted, but agree they still need to audition for a replacement for Ash.

Emma’s on the phone to George, who tells her about the Community Offender Manager he’s meeting today, then says he’s got a surprise for her when she visits later. Outside the prison Emma has a barbed conversation with a young woman, who accuses Emma of pinching her parking space and acting like an arrogant 'Boomer'. This becomes a wider critique of Emma’s parenting and life skills, leaving Emma fuming. Ed phones Emma, who tells him about the run-in with the woman, determined it won’t spoil her visit. When Emma tells George her news he’s distracted when the woman arrives and he then introduces her as Amber to Emma. Emma assumes Amber is the Community Offender Manager, but Amber corrects her. She’s George’s girlfriend.At Home Farm Brian gives Stella the cold shoulder, dismissing her attempts to explain why she didn’t warn him about Justin’s plan to convert half the Estate land to rewilding. Stella says she tried to persuade Justin otherwise, but Brian’s convinced Stella took her role on the Board for her own advantage. She’s clearly in Justin’s pocket. Trying a different tack Stella suggests Home Farm pursue other contracts to replace the Estate one and Brian reluctantly agrees. Then Justin arrives, asserting that his plan will be approved at a special Board meeting he’s calling. Stella sides with Brian: food production should be their priority. But Justin’s on the side of the planet, insisting the change will go ahead. After he’s gone Brian and Stella agree to put aside their differences to defeat their common enemy. This is war.

Jolene has called Harrison over for advice after she and Kenton endured a sleepless night, worrying about Markie and his gang. Harrison explains Kenton won’t have to identify any gang members face to face. They need to trust the system, but Jolene isn’t convinced. Later she tries to get Kenton to talk about his issues, before Harrison arrives, offering support. Jolene reckons talking about it would be good for her, not just Kenton, whereupon he confesses to a phobia of dogs. He doesn’t want to let the police or anyone else down but feels he can’t cope with reliving the experience. Harrison assures Kenton he will be protected all the way, while Jolene will help him get through it. But then Kenton gets the news he’s been dreading: the identity parade has been scheduled for Friday.Fallon and Jazzer agree the Shop looks more inviting now the shelves are groaning with all the extra stock Susan’s ordered. After talking about Fallon’s fortieth they reminisce over their teenage days in Dross, though Fallon thinks it’s better to look forward. Later though Jazzer tells her his idea for spicing up their forties, by going back to their past and getting Dross back together. Harrison doesn’t sound too impressed, but Jazzer works on Fallon, insisting it will be amazing. His brother Stu has already agreed to play. Fallon warms to the idea – but only if Ed’s in too. When Ed says he can’t commit Jazzer suggests tracking down Ash and holding auditions to replace Ed, finally overcoming Fallon’s resistance.

Pip turns up at Home Farm, worried how Stella is coping with Brian’s antipathy following Friday’s Board meeting, but Stella brushes it off as an occupational hazard. Later at The Bull, Pip tells Kenton how upset she is by Stella shutting her out instead of sharing her true feelings. Kenton reckons Pip has to be honest with Stella, tell her what she thinks and not let it fester. Then after supper at Rickyard, Stella confesses how the tension between her and Brian is unbearable. When Stella hears how upset Pip is that she didn’t confide in her before, they reaffirm their love for one another. Stella reckons the whole rewilding debacle is her fault. But she’s so glad she’s got Pip and promises she won’t ever withhold her feelings again.Fallon gives Kenton the bad news that Tara, their new kitchen assistant, has lied about being away on jury service. Kenton’s clear, they’ll have to sack her, but Fallon worries how they’ll find a replacement. Then Joy pipes up – what about her? Both Kenton and Fallon are delighted. Later, when Fallon describes the lovely birthday break she’s had with Harrison, Joy senses her ambivalence about how much she’s enjoying being back with him. Fallon doesn’t want to talk about it, though. When Fallon approaches grumpy Kenton to talk about formally interviewing Joy, he tells her the police want him to help get Markie and his gang convicted for illegal dog trading. But the last thing Kenton wants is to recall the horror of the night he was attacked.

Kenton is grateful to Joy, who in Fallon’s absence has taken over the task of providing the cricket tea for Ambridge’s match against Franchester. Kenton is then horrified to realise he has seriously underestimated the number of pies needed, before Joy comes to the rescue, cooking batches of mini Yorkshire puddings, which they will fill with what’s available in the kitchen. When Fallon returns unexpectedly to The Bull she joins in helping get the tea ready on time.When Tom pulls out of playing shortly before the cricket is due to start Lynda bemoans their chances of success without him. Her attempts to find a replacement are stymied, before Harrison appears and Lynda corrals him into agreeing to play. Convinced she’s solved all their problems Lynda thinks Ambridge should win easily now. However, it’s a nail-biting finish with Harrison only scoring the winning runs off the last ball, but Ambridge have broken their losing streak. Overbearing Lynda then claims she was right to let Freddie make the critical decisions, but Joy and Will know it was her driving everything. Will is unhappy with the team’s general underperformance, plus having to rely on Harrison’s one-off heroics, and leaves the celebrations early. Everyone else though is delighted by Ambridge’s triumph against the odds, on both a sporting and culinary front. Joy’s mini-Yorkshires were a big hit and Fallon’s going to steal the idea for future menus! Joy modestly accepts the praise and assumes Fallon is happy too, now Harrison is back, before Lynda raises a toast to him.