Jakob faces an unexpected diversion, and Helen makes the best of a tricky situation.

Tom gives Tony copious instructions about what needs doing while he and Natasha are away in Scotland on Peggy’s family holiday. At the Dower House Jakob is packing the people carriers with luggage, before Lilian heads to Bridge Farm, where she finds Tony complaining about Tom’s excessive notes. If Tom’s so worried about letting go, Lilian suggests, then he should stay and let Tony go to Scotland instead. As Peggy’s only son Tony should be going anyway, as specified in Peggy’s will. Tony isn’t sure, but Lilian insists she wants to spend some quality time with Tony while they still have the chance. To Tom’s horror Tony agrees to go, explaining it’s not just for Lilian, it’s what Peggy wanted.

Rex and Phoebe watch while the Adviser inspects the beaver enclosure. When Kate messages that she wants to join them Phoebe admits she’s finding it hard dealing with Kate, before the Adviser beckons Rex over. Later, Rex tells Phoebe and Kate that the underwater grilles need reinforcement before getting approval. It’ll put the release back several weeks, meaning Phoebe will miss it. Kate’s surprised by how upset Phoebe is, wondering if everything’s all right? Kate then gives grateful Phoebe a pep talk, saying she’ll be a better mother than Kate was. And best of all, Kate promises to stay with Phoebe and Brodie until the baby arrives. Phoebe covers that she’s over the moon.

Amber tells George about her mother’s privileged upbringing and how everyone comes up short in her estimation. Bill arrives for lunch, casually mentioning Amber’s mother can’t make it, before heading to the bar. Amber knew her mother would find something more important to do than making things right with her daughter. George tries to carry the conversation with Bill, who’s dismissive of Amber’s online activities, before following up with scathing remarks about Amber’s education and life choices. Amber responds by criticising her mother’s lack of ambition, pushing Bill to admit she still hasn’t come round to Amber being with George. George then insists he will look after Amber, no matter what. But when George disappears temporarily Bill is dismissive of him. After Bill goes Amber tries to disabuse George of the notion that the meeting went well, but George is convinced everything’s going to work out.

At the Rewilding Phoebe tells Rex about the regime of walks and yoga Kate is subjecting her to. Rex is excited about the imminent arrival of the beavers, so long as their enclosure is given the seal of approval tomorrow. Rex gives Phoebe a tour of the enclosure, explaining what went into its construction. Phoebe tries to tease out of Rex the details of Peggy’s art installation, before Kate arrives with a bobble hat she’s knitted for Phoebe. Kate then passes on news that Hazel will be joining them on holiday, but Brian won’t, due to his gout. Kate frets over pregnant Phoebe getting too close to the beavers, before going off to see Kirsty, leaving Phoebe to apologise for her mum being even more “Kate” than usual.

Pip’s happy to hear that Ruth and Leonard have made up. Despite her denials though, it’s clear Ruth’s still suspicious Leonard’s up to something behind Jill’s back. Ruth then tells Joy and Susan she liked how convenient it was when they were doing deliveries. Alan has asked to speak to Susan however, which sounds a bit ominous. Later, Susan reports back that Alan told her the shop needs to move on from St Stephens, after the spate of recent incidents. Susan is in despair, but Joy suggests going properly mobile, after what Ruth said, only they’d need something bigger than Susan’s car to do it.

Joy tries her best to talk Susan out of resigning from the Shop, eventually persuading Susan to talk to George before making a final decision. Susan then finds George with Amber on the Green and tells him about her decision to resign. George insists she mustn’t resign. He really appreciates her willingness to sacrifice something she loves for his sake, though. He then brings up her and Neil shopping him to the police, plus the engagement ring Susan gave Amber before Neil insisted on taking it back. George says he’s okay with Susan, but he still sees Neil as the enemy.

Kate drags Jakob out shopping for esoteric items to help Phoebe in the final stages of her pregnancy, then defends Jakob’s slow driving to impatient Lilian on the way home. Moving on to how stressful the situation at Home Farm is for Brian, Kate gets irritated with Jakob for suggesting Spiritual Home could go down the pan as well. Both Lilian and Brian have bought expensive, bulky presents for the new baby to take up to Scotland, but Kate insists they’ll all be travelling together in the people carriers, even if space is tight.

Having helped Pip prepare the cows’ winter housing at Brookfield tired Leonard nearly falls over, before going inside to make a phone call. Pip tells Ruth she’s worried Leonard might be overdoing it, helping out while the others are busy at Meadow Farm. It’s so easy to forget how old he is. Ruth agrees and says she’ll have a quiet word with Leonard. But when Ruth catches the end of Leonard’s phone call, then teases about hearing him mention a “little secret”, he gets prickly, agreeing tersely that he’ll be sure not to do too much from now on. Later, Ruth mentions being intrigued by Leonard’s “little secret” to Pip, who tells her bluntly not to be so nosey.

Unsettled Esme answers a call from Susan, who apologises for the disturbance at yesterday’s funeral. Esme accepts the apology, but cuts Susan off when Ruth and David arrive. Seeing the state she’s in Ruth pulls Esme into a hug. Esme blames herself for letting her dad down, despite David and Ruth’s reassurances. Esme then announces she’s decided to take the farm on, as her dad would have wanted. She doesn’t mean permanently, but she’ll keep it a going concern before selling the herd and business on to the next tenant. David and Ruth pledge their support, while Esme offers to use what money she has to make it work. Between themselves David and Ruth aren’t sure how realistic this is, agreeing they’ll keep an eye on Esme.

Susan tells Neil that Brian, Lilian and Mick, plus some of the volunteers, have complained about George working in the shop. The shop committee have summoned Susan to an emergency meeting, though Susan is defiant about keeping George on. Neil thinks she might have to back down or risk losing everything she’s fought for to keep the shop going. Later, Neil finds Susan taking out her frustrations on some bread dough. She’s been told she can’t let George volunteer in the shop. And now Susan’s dreading having to tell him, after making such a huge effort to repair their relationship. While Neil is more pragmatic Susan determines to give the committee her own ultimatum: unless they reconsider for George’s sake, she’s handing in her notice. Is Neil with her on this?

Alice calls on Chris to retrieve a forgotten scarf of Martha’s. Chris apologises again for last night’s firework incident, but Alice assures him all’s well and not to give it another thought. Martha had a lovely time and can’t stop talking about it – and she likes Chris’s friend too. They chat briefly about the upcoming trip to Scotland before Chris tells Alice the friend is Carly. Last night was a completely casual thing, she just dropped in. He then admits Carly stayed the night. Alice takes this in, insisting it’s not her business who Chris sees and he doesn’t need to explain. When he continues to over-share Alice asks him not to go on about it. She’s sure Carly’s a nice person. Chris assures Alice he won’t see Carly while Alice is in Scotland; it’ll be all about Martha.

It's the day of Esme’s dad’s funeral and she’s pleasantly surprised at the turnout. She thought people might have forgotten him; he was a bit of a recluse in his later years. Alan assures her they will give him a good send off. Ruth and David offer to stay with Esme as the hearse arrives, but Esme thinks she’s okay. However, as she’s delivering her eulogy the church door bangs open. It’s a bread delivery for the shop. David and Ruth deal with the errant van driver, who didn’t clock there was a funeral taking place. Appalled Esme thinks the day will be remembered for all the wrong reasons. It’s been ruined, and she’s let her dad down.