Mike faces the police, apparently without giving the game away – or lying.

Radio Times: Mike’s acting skills are put to the test.

Characters: Brenda, David, Mike, PC Fletcher, Ruth, Tom

• Now here’s a new turn of events: Tom is having lunch at Willow Farm. Mike is an honest bloke and is upset by the prospect of lying to the police; Tom regrets the need to put him in this position but if he just answers the questions they ask him, he should not need to lie. This is about to be put to the test because the local beat officer is knocking at the door; fortunately Tom is out of the room when he arrives.
• Ruth has been thinking about the management of the herd. If she does the morning milking, while David gets the children off to school, she would be free to spend time with them when they come home. So they need a relief milker for the afternoons. What about Neil? David feels that he is really a pig man: Ed, a born cow man, did not rate him at Oliver’s last year but that might have been personal.
• PC Fletcher puts to Mike the suggestion, made by the driver, that he was weaving about in the road. He has to admit there is an element of truth in this – and he was wearing dark clothes. He didn’t see the driver and was so groggy that he did not notice whether the car stopped.
• Where did Ed get his feel for cows? Ruth thinks it is from the experience of his father and grand-father. So why not approach Eddie. David agrees to ask him.
• In The Bull, Mike shares his experience with Tom. He feels bad about the way he treated Brenda before he was told the truth about the accident; he wants to make up with a really special day on her birthday. Tom reveals his plans, which are lavish but leave plenty of space for family celebrations. To be continued!