Alan is the hot topic in Ambridge. Jack makes a big decision.

Radio Times: Jack decides to break with the past.

Characters: Alan, Amy, Betty, Jack, Lilian, Peggy, Susan

• Usha drops Alan’s scarf off at the Vicarage on her way to work. Alan wishes she hadn’t seen him in his tatty dressing gown.
• Someone else is up early; Betty arrives at the shop to find a flood; the freezer has packed up. She rings Susan, but she can’t help, as she’s off to the Laurels. Luckily Mike comes to help.
• Lilian tells Peggy about Matt’s prospective PAs. She’s managed to persuade him to let her help draw up the shortlist, and none of them is under 40. Peggy comments on village gossip – surely it’s unwise of Alan to have taken up with Usha.
• While Peggy’s out of the room, Jack tells Lilian that he’s decided to sell Grey Gables. When he tells Peggy, she’s pleased. She knows it will be a wrench, but it will be a weight off Jack’s mind.
• Susan looks in at the shop after work, as Betty is putting the display units back. In her usual high moral tone, and not realising that Amy is in the stock room, Susan tells Betty that she saw Usha leaving the Vicarage at first light. It’s not right, she says. A furious Amy brushes past her and leaves without a word.
• Still furious, Amy tells Alan what she heard. She says she hates Susan, who thinks she’s better than anyone else. Touched at her concern, Alan gently points out that he’s not Amy’s responsibility. He’s worried that she might feel left out now Usha’s in the picture. But Amy tells him it’s about time he found a squeeze. She really likes Usha, because she doesn’t try to be a mum to her. If you’ve fallen in love, she says – go for it.