Eddie is a victim of Bert’s April Fool jest – but it makes him determined to beat Bert in the Town Crier competition.

Radio Times: Eddie does his bit for international relations.

Characters: Caroline, David, Eddie, Jennifer, Lilian, Ruth, Shula

• It’s the day of the ‘preliminary heat’ of the Town Crier competition; Eddie is worried about declaiming in Italian; Lilian is supportive.
• Benjamin the donkey has done his stuff again for Palm Sunday – and Bert has cleared up! Now he is keen to get to the Green.
• Lilian feels it is going well: Eddie is drawing a crowd. His rivals in the competition seem to be highly amused. It is Caroline who begins to reveal what is really going on by asking why Eddie is telling everyone that he is an idiot and his grand-father is a goat. Bert admits that he will not be taking his turn. It is April Fools’ Day and Eddie has been well and truly taken in.
• Shula calls at Brookfield in search of volunteers. The cricket fund-raising committee has decided to run a sponsored run/cycle ride/horse ride – competitors to choose which suits them best. There will be categories designed to encourage family participation and it would be really, really encouraging to have a family sign up. The Archers, being a family once more, are talked into it.
• Eddie feels he will never hear the last of today’s episode. Although he has to admit that, once he got started, his nerves disappeared and he really enjoyed it. So the best way to get his own back on Bert is to win the real competition. Today’s training session in the cider shed with Lilian is not going well – maybe as a result of five cans of lager. Lilian convinces him that a clear head is necessary, so he resolves that there will be no drinking during training from now on.