Alice puts her father on the spot; why is he being such a prat about Adam?

Radio Times: A new vicar for St Stephen’s.

Characters: Adam, Alice, Brian, David, Jill, Ruth, Shula

• Alice is looking forward to a whole week in France with Debbie but right now she has a frank question for Adam. Is Brenda his girlfriend? Adam thought she knew he was gay and indeed she is not surprised by the revelation. Brian grudgingly agrees to check the strawberries with Adam later, prompting Alice to ask what’s wrong with him.
• David wonders whether to hold off advertising the Hereford beef until they have the second TB results, which he hopes will be clear. Ruth puts him right on that and suggests that he come to church with her and the kids.
• By ringing the bell eight times, Alan the new vicar signifies that he will be around for eight years – quaint! After church, David makes an unnecessarily facetious remark about Shula’s horse-slashing problem and touches a raw nerve: she has had little sleep lately. She responds by spilling the beans about his badger-killing; he then has to explain it to his mother, including the subsequent blackmail attempt by Matt Crawford – unsuccessful because David had already written on behalf of the PC about Matt’s planning application.
• Brian is having to find extra help with the harvest because Adam will not be available. Adam senses that Brian’s frustration is aimed at him but insists that he is not to blame: the strawberries were planted before Debbie took off and he had told Brian that he would be pretty much tied up once the picking starts. Alice, just back from church, hears this exchange and takes her father to task. Why is he making such a big thing about Adam being gay; nobody else cares; he is making himself look such a prat.