Matt takes the shine off Debbie’s new toys.

Radio Times: Matt oils over to Home Farm.

Characters: David, Debbie, Ed, Matt, Oliver, Ruth, Shula

• Debbie’s new tractor is some toy! It has provision for a laptop and, wait for it, an autopilot which allows complicated manoeuvres to be memorised and repeated. David and Ruth are impressed, truly a nice bit of kit, but they cannot stay, as David has to return Oliver’s baler. Anyway, Debbie has another visitor, Matt Crawford.
• Shula is out on an excitable horse, accompanied by Oliver, so having Scott Daniels roar past on his Harley, Brenda on the back, does not amuse them. Shula and her horses are destined for a role in the Grey Gables TV documentary; she assumed Oliver would know but he has not seen much of Caroline lately. Her brother is a more considerate road user and turns off his tractor engine when requested. He is on his way to return that baler; Oliver will be haymaking tomorrow. Shula needs hay; she can have some straight off the field.
• Debbie is never pleased to see Matt Crawford; he wants a word about the harvest, just to check that there will be no slip-ups, no need for animosity. Learning that Simon is away he tries a lunch invitation: nothing doing. His parting shot is that the Board are looking to trim costs by using a big contract farming company instead of Home Farm; it can’t do any harm to see the figures.
• Ed is on hand at Grange Farm to help David unhitch the baler and generally to denegrate David’s rusty old tractor (seen the new one at Home Farm?), Oliver’s ride-on mower (a bit slow) and his father’s business acumen for not making enough ornaments when they are selling so well. Oliver asks David for help with the haymaking tomorrow but Ed has his friends lined up and they won’t cost him a bomb.
• Debbie turns up at Brookfield in need of blowing off steam. How is she going to tell Brian that the newly acquired tractor and cultivator might have little use if Matt wreaks his revenge by taking the contract elsewhere.