A not so happy new year at Grange Farm as an insolvency warrant is served.

Radio Times: A welcome trip to a restaurant is spoiled when the Grundy family returns home to be greeted with a final demand for thousands of pounds – but Eddie is hoping he can stave off disaster.

Characters: Bailiff, Clarrie, David, Eddie, Joe, Lynda, William

• At Grey Gables Lynda is leaving a message for Roy with some good news – they’ve found someone willing to swap shifts for tomorrow evening. Joe, Clarrie and the boys are waiting for Caroline – she’s taking them all (in her rôle as William’s godmother) to an American diner in Felpersham. Joe’s sceptical, but is won over by the huge steaks and the cocktails, seeking out the attractive waitresses to explain some of the more auggestively titled concoctions …
• Larry Lovell’s panto review is mixed, he spends a lot of time focussing on David’s whiff of pigs and, perhaps unsurprisingly, singing the praises of Jill’s costumes, but the performance itself scarcely gets mentioned – Lynda is not happy!
• Eddie’s at Brookfield helping David spread the concrete at the pig units when a stranger arrives. When it’s ascertained that he’s not after David, but Eddie he serves he with a statuary demand under section 123 of The Insolvency Act, 1986. Eddie tries to refuse it but David advises against causing a fuss. It’s from Borchester Mills in respect of the £8,500 debt and, later, Joe’s good mood bubble is completely burst as he receives a copy too. Business as normal it seems as the Grundys face the new year with 21 days before possible bankruptcy.