Susan and Neil see things rather differently. David and Ruth see things very differently. Pat tries to make Helen see things a bit differently.

Radio Times: It’s good cop, bad cop at Brookfield.

Characters: David, Helen, Neil, Pat, Pip, Ruth, Susan

• Poor Helen’s on the receiving end of Susan’s anger when she discovers that Annette has left her in the lurch. Susan is convinced Helen knew all about it, and all Helen can do is apologise. Susan tries to dig deeper, but gets nowhere.
• More anger is to be found at Brookfield, where David takes a phone call from Izzy, and discovers that Jude is 28. He erupts in fury at Pip, accusing her of lying. Pip holds her own; she calls David a hypocrite, since he’s a lot older than Ruth, and says he had no right to grill Izzy. Ruth does her best to calm things down and make David see reason, but when Pip announces that Jude is picking her up and that her college work will have to wait, David can take no more. He goes to seek solace among the calves.
• Neil calls at the shop to commiserate with Susan, who’s had a change of heart. She wonders whether Annette’s defection mightn’t be a good thing in view of the threat to her job. She’ll make extra money and be in a stronger position if it comes to redundancy. Characteristically, Neil’s less optimistic.
• Ruth takes David a cup of coffee, but finds his anger levels still dangerously high. Ruth takes the view that Pip must be allowed to make her own mistakes. Maybe they should invite him to tea … Sadly a red mist prevents David from sharing Ruth’s view. Confrontation of a very physical nature is uppermost in his thoughts.
• Helen calls to see Pat. She’s still very upset at Annette’s decision, particularly since it involved Greg’s grandchild, but Pat points out that it’s due to Helen that Annette was able to make a decision for herself. You must be proud, she says. I certainly am.