The quest for a seat on the Parish Council hots up. Tom is back in employer role.

Radio Times: Tom’s diplomacy crashes and burns.

Characters: Chris, David, Jazzer, Lilian, Neil, Ruth, Tom

• Never one to be down for long, Tom breezes along to Neil’s pig sheds and offers him a job as his assistant. Neil is predictably cynical, turns the job down flat, and tells Tom to remember he’s not Alan Sugar.
• Chris finds Lilian in furious mood, reading the replies to Matt’s application for a PA. The self-righteous Chris tells Lilian she shouldn’t be looking at them, and that she and Matt should go through them together. Lilian is not persuaded, and bins one or two.
• Still not one to be put down, Tom tells Jazzer he was Tom’s first choice for the new assistant role. Jazzer is interested, and even suggests a mobile sausage van to take to festivals and gigs. Tom agrees to talk to Brian about it. He’s hired, and goes off with Tom to move the arks, but not before Neil can comment that Tom’s managed to find another lackey.
• Chris is treated to a lecture on the finer points of footbridge construction by Neil and David. The planks even have spacers, like tiles. Imagine that! Lilian lightens up the day by producing a bottle of champagne – and having her photograph taken, as prospective Parish Councillor, by the Echo.
• Having a warm-up at the Bull, Ruth draws David’s attention to a poster; Lilian is having open house for all and sundry – at exactly the same time as Lynda’s Question and Answer session.