Alistair is preparing for the cricket season; Ed ‘rescues’ Emma, with disastrous consequences.

Radio Times: Frantic, Emma dials 999.

Characters: Alistair, Clarrie, Ed, Eddie, Emma, Fallon, Suresh, William

• Clarrie has treated her boys to a bumper Sunday breakfast. Now she suggests they should finish some of their ongoing jobs – like moving all the rest of their clutter (the gnomes for a start!) to the field … and will they remind Joe about Bartleby too? Clarrie is sick of the sound of her own voice on that subject!
• Alistair and Suresh are cutting branches in the churchyard for the Palm Sunday procession. Alistair reckons the exercise will be good for his bowling arm and Suresh confesses to bowling the odd leg-break in the past. They decide to visit the pitch later to mark out the wicket. William turns up, having been press-ganged into helping by Brian. He sounds very dejected, both by Brian’s bad mood over Greg having booked a holiday, and when his Mum, arriving for the service, expects he’ll be seeing Emma this afternoon.
• Fallon is chatting to Emma about how wonderful Tom is. She assumes that Emma’s lack of enthusiasm about Will is because they’ve been going together for a while and the romance has gone out of the relationship. Why don’t they come to the Goat tonight – there’s a great gig on and she and Tom are going. Not Will’s scene, says Emma, but she’ll come along for a while.
• Later in the Bull, an amused Clarrie tells Eddie about Linda’s llamas blocking the way of the procession into church. Alistair expresses less than genuine regret that Eddie won’t be in the cricket team this year, but seems pleased that Adam has been persuaded to come to nets – he was apparently very good as a youngster. Fallon’s skirt (or lack of it … ) leaves all the men breathless as she explains to Clarrie that Will is not going with Emma, Tom and her to the gig. Clarrie surmises that Will is too sensible to tire himself out at the start of the working week – she wishes the rest of her family were the same!
• Emma is having a good time in Borchester but has to get up early so leaves to phone a cab. Ed appears, and when Fallon tells him that the band isn’t playing a second set, and that Emma has just left having been there on her own, he decides not to stay either.
• Emma is being harassed by some youths who want to steal her phone. Ed appears and lays into them, but is badly beaten up before they run away. With Ed unconscious on the pavement, Emma dials for an ambulance and tries to explain through her distress what has happened and where they are. Then she phones Will, who assures her he’ll be straight over …