24 October 1996

Characters: Betty, Clarrie, Eddie, Joe, Mike, Richard, Usha, William

• A fraught early morning at Blossom Hill Cottage, sees Richard and Usha having a ding-dong battle over Richard’s worrying.
• Joe catches William smoking behing the barn and tries, and fails, to teach him the error of his ways.
• Usha and Richard meet and make up after Richard’s mood improves dramatically upon receiving the board’s final report in which his treatment and diagnosis are considered reasonable and his behviour over the will vindicated. There are small criticisms over the gaps in notes and the dosage increase in the final days, but it is as good as he could have expected.
• Richard sees smoke rising from Grange Farm, Joe’s in The Bull so the Fire Brigade are called.
• Betty and Clarrie are away in Birmingham watching Sir Cliff in Heathcliff and have had a great time.
• Disaster at Grange Farm. The barn, cattle, hay, feed and all, is ablaze. Joe is distraught and unconsolable, Clarrie returns and is shocked, Eddie is stoic in the drama. The whole Grundy clan are safe, although now with an even more uncertain future.

Summarised by: Chris Harrison