Helen meets Jess; this time there is no escape.

Radio Times: Kathy is put on the spot. Meanwhile, Kirsty is fuming.

Characters: Adam, Helen, Henry, Jess, Kathy, Kirsty, Pat, Rob

• Henry is stroppy and Helen short-tempered – an appropriately explosive atmosphere. Adam rides to the rescue, taking Henry to his lunch date and then Helen to lunch in The Bull.
• Over lunch at Bridge Farm, Kathy explains that she has been offered the Felpersham job but is not sure she wants it. It’s only one year’s maternity cover. If only she could get a job on her doorstep. That seems unlikely so she accepts the job.
• Helen is feeling better as Adam assures her that all mums lose their rag occasionally. Is there something else bothering her? Kirsty seems to have been stood up by Tom, who has heeded the call of the sausage, so she joins them. That’s fine; she is a good friend. Then Adam unwittingly widens the party, Rob and Jess having just come in. Helen becomes very quiet and Kirsty is clearly annoyed to learn that Rob is to be Robin Hood; meet Maid Marian!
• As Pat is speculating about what is wrong with Helen – perhaps a love affair gone wrong – Kathy takes a call from Caroline to inform her about the deputy manager post. If only it had come half an hour later.
• In the de-briefing, Jess thinks it was not herself but Rob that Kirsty had a problem with. For the sake of the production, she hopes Kirsty will get over it. Is Helen usually so quiet? Perhaps an off day, suggests Rob.
• With only the Ambridge ducks for company, Adam offers Helen a listening ear. She confesses the affair. She had gone into it with her eyes open, or so she thought, and she believed Rob when he said his marriage was over. Perhaps, Adam suggests charitably, he believed it himself. Helen admits to being such a fool.