Home Farm is set to lose heavily due to Borchester Mills’ bankruptcy and Brian blames Debbie.

Radio Times: There is trouble at the mill.

Characters: Brian, Caroline, Debbie, Elizabeth, Hayley, Jennifer, Roy

• At Home Farm Brian is in relaxed mood contemplating some hands-on farming for a change. He even accepts Jennifer’s plans to make a special occasion of their Silver Wedding, even though it sounds expensive. However, there is a cloud on the horizon: the morning’s post contains a notification that Borchester Mills has gone bust.
• Hayley is hopeful that by the time she has the next fitting of her wedding dress, Marjorie’s fry-up diet will have enabled her to fill it out. Elizabeth tells her that they are very pleased with her work, looking after the twins; Hayley is expecting this to be followed by “but we won’t want you much longer” but instead Elizabeth tells her that she and Nigel will soon be looking for a full-time nanny. Does Hayley know of anyone?
• Roy is working today to cover sickness so Hayley collects Phoebe who will be spending the day at Lower Loxley. She reports the nanny conversation, which she found bizarre; Roy advises that if they make her an offer, she should not turn it down until she knows all about it, even though she feels loyal to her current charges, Henry and Becky.
• Meanwhile Roy has a problem customer and a drinks delivery to supervise; Caroline has a Silver Wedding party enquiry to deal with.
• The computer reveals the extent of Home Farm’s exposure to Borchester Mills: they have sold 600 tons of grain recently but only been paid for half, worth about £20,000, far more than they owe for feed. How could Debbie have let it happen, it is a hell of an oversight, she should have chased up the invoices harder. Brian is not making any concession for the fact that Debbie has practically run the farm on her own through the worst crisis for 34 years and is unmoved by her protestations that Borchester Mills had never before given them cause for concern in many years of trading. Neither is he impressed that she was getting the best possible deal, an extra £3 per ton; on this occasion her best was not good enough.