Sid visits Jolene on the sly and Clarrie finally throws a total wobbly.

Radio Times: Jolene offers her ear.

Characters: Clarrie, Eddie, Edward, Heather, Joe, Jolene, Sid

• Clarrie’s counting the pennies in the supermarket when she bumps into Heather. Heather doesn’t tell her the reason for her visit south, but Clarrie mentions that Ruth’s seemed a little ill recently – a cold, maybe?
• Sid visits Jolene, under the pretext of a visit to another cricket club. He says he has wanted to talk, but what about? He has no idea of the future, she still seems to want him (or, given the state of her life, maybe she wants the idea of a life with him?) There are plenty of tears but no resolutions – although she offers a shoulder to cry on whenever he needs it.
• Edward is, for once, helping out – as Clarrie unpacks the bargain purchases. He’s critical of the food, but she has no choice. When the one decent bit of grub, some bacon, in the fridge is revealed to be gone she assumes Edward’s eaten it, something he vehemently denies. Joe has and that’s it, Clarrie just snaps. She’s off on a real rant, crying, swearing at Joe and generally throwing the kind of hissy-fit that most other people, given living with the Grundys, would have thrown years ago. Eddie wanders in mid-fit and tries to console her, Joe’s apologetic, but still quiet – there’s no fight in him even when called a selfish old man. But Clarrie’s reached the end of the line: she hates working in the Bull, she hates having no money and she hates living here and she really doesn’t think that they are in it together, she feels it’s just her fighting for the future. Much wailing and gnashing of teeth – a familiar story recently.