Toby’s broken heart has wider repercussions and Tom reflects on his broken heart as he gives Pip relationship advice.

Radio Times: Toby can’t be cheered and Tom offers his philosophy

Characters: Adam, Bert, Jennifer, Pip, Rex, Toby, Tom

• Bert has reason to complain about the state of the bungalow. Toby had agreed to clear away the remains of his takeaway yesterday, but they still linger as sullen Toby blames his love-lorn state for his inability to function properly.
• Tension appears to be mounting in Ambridge cricketing circles as the match against Darrington approaches. Adam refuses lunch at Home Farm in his haste to prepare for the game, leaving his mother with just a grumpy Brian for company. The Ramsbury Broiler House fiasco and the need to volunteer for Speedwatch have scarred him deeply, it seems.
• Unable to stand the Toby mess any longer, Bert begins to clear up and tells his tenant that he almost lost Freda once on account of an unfortunate remark about her hat. This signally fails to rally Toby from gloomy introspection. Not even the offer of a reading of Bert’s poem on the subject can pierce the long dark night of Toby’s soul.
• A road traffic accident in Borchester may well delay Harrison’s arrival on the cricket field, so Rex must prepare to assume the captaincy should this eventuality transpire. As he and Bert pack the car, Rex does his best to assure Toby that his heartbreak will ease; the gin business may well make Toby’s fortune. What is the point of a fortune without love wails the rejected Fairbrother, who cannot now go near Hollowtree lest SHE should be there.
• Pip delivers meat to Tom at the shop, and awkwardly tells him that she was to blame for the IBR, not her parents. Tom is startled, and initially sounds quite hostile, but manages a grudging acknowledgement of Pip’s honesty in confessing. When she tells him about having broken up with Toby, he is sympathetic; it sounds like his parting from Brenda, and had that not taken place, his relationship with Kirsty would not have started – and look what that led to. He suggests that both he and Pip are not designed for relationships. They are better off single. Yes, Tom. That’s exactly what Pip wants to hear.