Jill is delighted with Ruth’s news while Joe and Bert both have their cakes eclipsed, by a 13-year-old.

Radio Times: High noon over the castor sugar.

Characters: Bert, David, Eddie, George, Jennifer, Jill, Joe, Julia, Phil, Ruth

• It being the day of the Flower and Produce Show, David and Ruth do not intend to stay but they have called at Glebe Cottage with a house-warming present. The unpacking is going well but Jill warns that Ruth should not under-estimate her own simpler move; Jill thinks she has been over-doing things and has looked rather peeky. Ruth is able to explain this. The baby is due about 15 March and she has been assured that the cancer should make no difference. A celebration drink is called for.
• Joe is looking forward to seeing Bert’s face when he finds that his cake has opposition, however they both find that they have opposition as there is a third entry in the men-only cake section. Eddie enlists George’s help to keep Joe at the Show all afternoon because Eddie is laying the footings of the greenhouse which will be Joe’s surprise birthday present.
• Alistair is apparently not best pleased to learn that Pip’s entry in the scarecrow competition is wearing one of his suits, presumably procured by Daniel; perhaps she should share her first prize with Alistair. Bert won a couple of classes and George proved that he knows his onions. In the cake competition, first prize went to young Christopher Carter; Bert and Joe had to admit they were beaten fair and square. Julia’s adjudication of the gentleman’s bottonhole category had all the indications of a marathon speech but she sensed the unrest and came to the point: second prize went to Freda Fry but Peggy won the top honour.
• Joe eventually returned home having won nothing, and none the wiser about why George kept him there so long. His curiosity about the appearance of some compost bags in the garden nearly reveals Eddie’s secret. He is looking forward to seeing Alf tomorrow and would like Eddie to go too; Eddie professes that he cannot go but it will set Joe up for Tuesday.