Peggy gets a surprise.

Radio Times: Nightmare at the Lodge.

Characters: Brian, Deepak, Elizabeth, Jack, Peggy, Ruth, Usha

• Jack and Peggy are waiting for Higgs to fetch them and their shopping from the village shop. Peggy is convinced she’s got a good chance of winning the Open Gardens competition once her home-grown bedding plants are out of the greenhouse and into the garden. But she’s worried that Helen isn’t confiding in Pat.
• Jack offers Ruth Higgs’ services in making up some hanging baskets, which can be part of Brookfield’s competition entry. Ruth will fetch them after milking. Everyone is wondering who the new judge is. Meanwhile Jack has a surprise planned for Peggy.
• Usha is buying tights at the shop, ready for her date with Deepak. It’s all going well, and she likes him a lot. They’re going to a Tapas bar, then … who knows?
• Brian is not at all pleased to see Peggy when she surprises him at Home Farm. He’s got suitcases out. Is he planning a trip somewhere? Peggy asks acidly.
• Deepak and Usha enjoy their meal, reminiscing about the first single they bought. They decide to go and see a film.
• Brian asks Elizabeth to take a Christening present to Ruaridh. She’s not sure … but when she sees that it’s an engraved Aldridge family heirloom, she agrees.
• Peggy’s surprise is underway. Jack is supervising Higgs, who is up the Rowan tree sawing off an overhanging branch. When Ruth arrives, she wants to phone David; surely Higgs is too old to be using a chain saw up a tree? Jack won’t hear of it. Then Peggy returns. It wasn’t the Rowan that needed lopping, it was the Lilac – and as if this isn’t bad enough, Higgs falls through the greenhouse, on top of all those bedding plants.
• With a startling lack of subtlety, Deepak tries to find out Usha’s age. When she tells him she’s nearly forty, he finds that he’s suddenly too busy to see her next week. But he hopes they’ll remain friends.