Ruth’s return is imminent. Calendar Girls opens.

Radio Times: The cast hope it will be all right on opening night, while David has hopes of his own.

Characters: David, Jill, Lynda, Matthew, Pip, Roy

• Jill has seen Pip talking to Toby; he was asking her to go to the Young Farmers’ New Year bash but she assures her gran that she has turned him down: she has other ideas, beginning by inviting Matthew for lunch when he returns to the farm. David has news too: Ruth has a flight and will be home on Thursday. Predictably she was not best pleased to learn that David had withheld the news of his broken arm.
• Lynda is at work physically but her mind is on Calendar Girls. At Grey Gables, where Roy is boss, he has difficulty getting her to focus: there is a dress rehearsal this afternoon. Roy spent much of Christmas at work but Phoebe came to see him and Hayley will be bringing Abbie at New Year – though not to see Calendar Girls. Visiting Ian for a goose debrief, Toby lets slip that he will be bringing a rugby crowd to the performance this evening. Lynda is not amused.
• Pip welcomes Matthew back from his parents and immediately solicits a chat about the possibility of Brookfield getting out of milk; what might she do instead? She doesn’t want to leave the farm and contemplates more ventures like the one with Adam – maybe with the Fairbrothers. More immediately she invites Matthew to the Young Farmers do, after she has met her mum at the airport.
• The dress rehearsal does not go well: the worst Lynda has experienced in all her years. Roy cites the theatre lore about the performance benefitting from a bad final rehearsal but Lynda fears tonight may disprove the rule.
• How fortunate that Ambridge contains so many folk with acting talent – strange that! The Ambridge production of Calendar Girls is appended to the podcast of tonight’s episode and is on the BBC website.