Oliver and Caroline have no idea of the scale of Bruno’s birthday party plans.

Radio Times: Bruno gets in the party spirit.

Characters: Bruno, Christopher, Ed, Emma, Joe, Oliver, Shula

• Although glad not to be on her feet all day, Emma is already fed up with being at home, so she calls on Joe to see how his leg is mending. The webcam has almost turned into a full-time job for Joe; he is monitoring it for unsuitable pictures, e.g. Bruno mooning.
• As he ends his ride, Shula takes the opportunity to quiz Oliver about plans for Caroline’s 50th birthday. However, uppermost in their thoughts just now is a party for Bruno’s 16th, next week. Oliver thinks they have it all under control; Shula suspects not.
• The party is also being discussed at Grange Farm by Christopher and Bruno. It is clearly going to be a much bigger affair than Oliver and Caroline believe, with all of his mates from Borchester invited; no doubt Alice Aldridge will be there too. Ed attempts to leave a message for Oliver, but the back-chat is too much so he decides to ring Oliver.
• In the shop, Emma admits to Shula that she quite misses Kenton, for all his faults: he’s a laugh. Next comes Christopher, who reveals something of Bruno’s big birthday plans; Shula is not surprised.
• Outside the shop Emma bumps into Ed, literally; Joe had taken him to task regarding thinking about others and not hurting people’s feelings – then sent him on an errand. He has the grace to apologise for being brusque with her; his bad mood over Beth was no excuse. Emma’s coffee invitation still stands, so he will bear it in mind.