The Archers

Natasha unveils her new pad to Pat – it’s April Cottage! Pat declares Kathy a dark horse, while Natasha hopes this might be a nice surprise for Pat. But Pat’s quiet, and a little bit shocked. She tells Kathy they were all getting on alright at Bridge Farm, and Natasha will need all the help she can get once the babies arrive. It seemed ideal having them at the farm. Kathy apologises for upsetting Pat’s plans, but Pat says there’s no need. She’s just being selfish and can see Tom and Natasha will be thrilled to have their own place again. She declares she’ll miss Kathy terribly. Eddie reckons Ed’s got a good bunch of lambs for showing this year, but notices they’re not as good looking as usual. Ed admits he’s been concentrating more on the Texels’ liveweights and meatiness than their faces. Eddie helps him to choose a suitable handsome specimen for the Borchester Show. Miserable Oliver confides to Eddie he’s been keeping Grey Gables afloat from his own pocket – when Adil came along it was too good an offer to resist. Eddie doesn’t have a good word for Adil, but Oliver insists the new owner’s vision is well intentioned and chimes with him. He’ll miss everyone at Grey Gables, and hopes they’ll forgive him. He thought they’d appreciate his view that the buyer’s offer would be something Caroline would have wanted. Eddie counsels him to give them time; they’ll come round. Oliver wishes he could believe that.

As the veteran cricketers await a training session with Lee, they discuss the Picnic Day pudding competition, and their lack of match fitness. Lee arrives and drives home the importance of good preparation, though he assures them this session will be basic and not arduous. Pat and Tony bicker gently as they exercise. They seek Lee’s arbitration over their ongoing runout dispute of the day before, but when Tony demonstrates his action on the disputed shot, he accidentally whacks Lee with his bat. As Lee nurses his bruised knee over a drink bought by guilty Tony, he listens to Tony’s philosophical musings on the irony of the team’s trainer picking up an injury. With great restraint Lee pledges to pass on the wisdom he’s gained today to Tracy: never let Pat and Tony bat together. Lily chats to oblivious Jazzer about his telesales technique. He believes it’s all going swimmingly; the prospective customers like his conversation. Lily points out he’s not converting enough calls into actual appointments. Is he the right man for the job? Privately to Shula Lily admits she’s worried he’ll lose the job. She feels Jim and Alistair’s laughter at his methods may be undermining him. And if he goes, she’ll lose her bonus for recruiting him. Shula offers to have a word. She hints to Alistair that Jazzer might be struggling, and when Jazzer gets home Alistair tackles it. All Jazzer needs is for a customer to book a visit from a rep – and he might have an idea about that.

Vince has two daughters on his hands to deal with after yesterday. Elizabeth sympathises and brings him lunch while the builders continue to work in his kitchen. She says she’s spoken to Ben, and tries to put his point of view to Vince. She emphasises how unlike Ben it would be to do something like kiss his girlfriend’s sister, but Vince is able to focus only on Beth and Steph and how they’re feeling right now. Tom and Helen joke good naturedly about name suggestions for the twins, before Adil arrives to be shown round the farm. Tom’s determined he should see the thick of the action around their beautiful veg, as Helen points out to Adil that losing Grey Gables as a customer wasn’t something they were expecting. Adil’s impressed with the farm, reassuring them they’ll have the Grey Gables business back in eighteen months. He further suggests a mutually beneficial relationship – Grey Gables could lease them some grazing land to allow Bridge Farm to diversify into other cheese varieties. After he’s gone Tom and Helen can see possibilities, but Helen’s keen to guard against empty promises. They agree it’s worth exploring some options. Alice is taking Martha to a Borchester park. Envious Chris has tedious paperwork planned, so Alice suggests he joins them. She admits the trip is to take her mind off today’s social services assessment result. Chris is worried too. Alice reads the email when it arrives. There will be no further action regarding Martha’s accident. They’re both elated; they’ve been handed a clean slate.

Helen tells Susan that she and Tom have been making plans to boost online cheese sales. As a result Tom’s been overhauling their website and social media with a more personal touch. They’re going to include postcards with every order, with a picture of the Monteys drawn by Henry and signed by everyone on the back. They’re also going to put staff photos and biogs online. Later whilst Susan almost has too much to say about herself for the biog, Clarrie struggles to know what to write. But Susan gives her some tips and Clarrie’s writer’s block lifts. They’re interrupted by Helen saying that some customers have complained that their cheese has arrived ruined. Susan unhelpfully points out that she did warn Helen that the packaging needed careful consideration. Later, based on her past postmistress experience, Susan comes up with a packaging solution and Helen calls her a genius. Susan says she might pop that in her biog. Clarrie drops off some of Poppy’s old school clothes for Rosie. But when Clarrie unwittingly says Rosie looks like she’s made of strong stuff, Pip wonders what she means. Things are awkward between Pip and Ben until Pip mentions an incident with Rosie after Clarrie left – Rosie couldn’t fit into any of Poppy’s hand-me-downs. Pip admits that Ben was right; Rosie has gained weight even though her diet is balanced. When Ben comforts her saying it will be ok, Pip counters that it feels like she’s taken her eye off the ball and let Rosie down, badly.

Caitlin’s unhappy to discover Natasha turned off the baby monitor so that Caitlin could get some sleep. There’s no point being there if Natasha won’t let her help. But Natasha’s determined to do things for herself. Later when Natasha confides that her mum makes her feel incapable, Tom suggests she clears the air. Natasha declines; it would a difficult conversation. Later Tom tries to talk to Caitlin, but she’s dismissive. She understands his concerns and she’s sure between them, they can keep Natasha on the straight and narrow. When Clarrie finds a can of lighter fluid in George’s hoodie, he innocently explains he was using it to degrease his bike chain. He promises that the post box fire was nothing to do with him. Anyway, Clarrie and Susan got what they wanted – no more letter. Clarrie’s thinks it’s a very strange coincidence. Worried Susan tells Clarrie that Harrison wants her to do a witness statement. He might ask some awkward questions and she can’t lie. Clarrie says it’s a better alternative than admitting to planning to blackmail Jean! Afterwards Susan tells George it was excruciating pretending to Harrison she had no clue who did it. When George says now no-one will ever know what was in Jean Harvey’s letter, Susan asks what he means. He explains he’s pieced it all together from things he’d overheard. Now the letter’s burned there’s no evidence – like there’s no evidence it was George who torched the post box. It’ll have to remain one big mystery.