Helen thaws the ice.

Radio Times: Caroline gets some bad news.

Characters: Alistair, Caroline, Greg, Helen, Joe, Sonja

• Greg’s failings as a father are still being rubbed in, as Sonja tells him, as they make pheasant pens together, that he needs to get to know Annette better. The arrival of Caroline on one of Shula’s horses offers him an idea; Annette likes horses, so perhaps he could book her in for a ride at the stables. Sonja isn’t keen on spending New Year’s Eve at the Bull – she fancies the party at Nightingale Farm.
• Down at the Bull, Joe is accessing the DEFRA website for an equine passport application form. Joe tries to enlist a gloomy Alistair’s help in completing the sketches of Bartleby by reminding him of the time he made Clarrie’s weight public during the wife-carrying competition. Knowing when he’s beaten, or maybe just to shut Joe up, Alistair agrees. Joe is noticeably ungracious about Alistair’s efforts.
• A trip to the ice-rink with Greg’s girls is a great success – all Helen’s idea, of course, as were the sales-shopping to Brum and the cinema trips. But Annette seems much happier, and Helen seems to be enjoying every minute of the visit.
• Helen may be happy, but Caroline certainly isn’t. Jean-Paul has had to return to France, where his mother has had a stroke, and they are frantically busy over New Year at Grey Gables. Whatever will they do?