Tony’s birthday and Kate threatens Lucas over Phoebe.

Radio Times: Lucas speaks his mind

Characters: Betty, Kate, Lucas, Mike, Pat, Roy, Tony

• Tony turns 50 and he and Pat work to finish the farm chores before heading out for a quiet meal. His real celebrations are a few weeks ago – like Royalty with an official birthday! Pat’s full of plans to lobby against the school closure. Tony’s unclear as to how successful they might be, but enjoys listening to Pat’s enthusiasm for the struggle.
• Betty outlines her and Neil’s plans to Mike, who is less than enthusiastic about the deal – hundreds of chickens sounds like a lot of work, but Betty’s confident that their returns will be recouped within the first year.
• Roy collects Phoebe from Home Farm and Kate is not being helpful, with Phoebe displaying a certain amount of confusion. After they’ve left, Kate voices explicitly that she plans to take Kate back to South Africa – although Lucas isn’t so sure that’s wise, that maybe she’s best left with Roy and Hayley. Kate is furious, unable to see why Lucas can’t see that she’d be better off with her real mother. Maybe Lucas is forcing her to choose between him and Phoebe? In which case, she thinks that they might be better off without him …