Susan gets down to some hard labour. Pat won’t hear of a journalist writing about the farm.

Radio Times: Freddie shares his anxieties and Susan takes on a new challenge.

Characters: Elizabeth, Pat, Roy, Susan, Tom

• As there is little to do in the dairy, would Susan mind lifting carrots? Of course not – but she is blissfully unaware of what hard work it is. She is also blissfully unaware of what to do because the first time Pat explained it she was too busy gossiping about Jennifer’s mercy dash to Ruairidh’s school.
• Back from her highly successful family holiday, Elizabeth is quickly brought up to speed by Roy. All is well. He reminds her that he will not be in on Thursday when Phoebe flies off to South Africa. Right now she must take the twins shopping for clothes and shoes; on Wednesday they start at the Cathedral School.
• Tom is writing an item on the harvesting of the carrots. He wants a photo but Susan is not in smiling mood; that one won’t make the website.
• Over lunch Freddy confides in his mum that, though he is looking forward to the pony club rally on Sunday, he cannot say the same about school. Will they all be mega-brainy, like Lily? Elizabeth assures him that the school aims to bring out his own special talents. It’s not a competition. He is not expected to be someone else, just the best possible Freddy Pargetter that he can be.
• Work done, Susan didn’t hang about. Tom suggests that if she had been any slower she would have been harvesting next year’s crop. He tells Pat about the proposed Borchester Life article. Oh, no! Pat has had her fill of journalists; she cannot trust any of them. After so many years of work they are branded as Borsetshire’s very own plague farm. There will be no article, and that’s flat.