Natasha’s self-conscious about their small, messy home as visiting Brenda talks about her assets. Natasha’s ears prick up on hearing the new offer on Kirsty’s house is not proving straightforward.

Concerned Ruth allows Leonard to continue trying to be useful as he recovers from his injury; he’s getting busy vacuuming. David’s not sure how much more he can take. Ruth points out they can’t order him not to help. After damaging a lampshade, Leonard helps Ruth and David with fresh bedding for the Herefords. Leonard talks fondly of his son in Singapore, who he misses. Leonard feels like a hindrance. Ruth and David show their appreciation and offer him more jobs to take on: he can be on mulled wine duty for guests in the events barn this evening. Leonard realises he’s better helping around the farm than in the house, but as David lists more jobs, Ruth points out he’s not free labour. Later Leonard tells them how much he’s looking forward to sharing this special time of year with them. He hasn’t looked forward to Christmas this much for a long time. David assures him the feeling’s mutual.

Kirsty senses Brad has something on his mind, and she gets him to help her with putting up boxes for dormice. He talks about having seen Mia on Sunday and admits he’s apprehensive about visiting George in prison tomorrow. He’s the only person George will let visit him and Brad isn’t keen to be a go-between. Kirsty points out that no-one’s beyond redemption and it’s good Brad is visiting George, although George is not his responsibility.

Brenda catches up with Helen, full of compliments about what Helen has achieved. They gossip about the locals and Brenda’s love life. Brenda mentions Tom and Natasha wanting to buy the house Helen’s in, which leaves Helen confused.

Buoyant Natasha gives Tom the news from the mortgage advisor. They can get a large loan, but it’s because Natasha offered a bigger deposit of £50,000. Tom’s shocked, but Natasha has an idea. They can use the safety net money from her business. Helen confronts them about buying Kirsty’s house, and Natasha tries to justify their actions. When Helen presses them on how soon they’ll want her out, Natasha suggests a swap – Helen could rent April Cottage. Helen is offended, and berates selfish Tom.

Brenda apologises to Kirsty for putting a possible spanner in the works regarding the house. She hadn’t realised that Helen didn’t already know. Natasha’s still keen to press ahead, but they get a message from Kirsty. She’s had a better offer, and given the situation with Helen, to avoid bad blood, Kirsty is accepting it. Tom and Natasha have been gazumped.

Injured Leonard’s settling in well at Brookfield. With Jill out of the way today, he takes the initiative to cook a casserole for everyone. He struggles but soldiers on, chatting to Ruth about buying some tickets for the Christmas Eve concert at St Stephen’s. Ruth has to step in and help as Leonard strains himself and goes off for a rest. David’s horrified by the state of the kitchen, and as Ruth stops to tidy up, David’s left to tidy the barn alone.

At Woodbine Cottage Fallon can scarcely believe it when Alice tells her about George. Alice has been crying herself to sleep for weeks, but not anymore. Fallon remembers George’s apparent modesty about being a hero, when in reality he was lying. Alice, though, still feels some responsibility for being drunk in her car and for Fallon ending up in the river. They wonder about the effect the full story will have on Brian and Harrison.

At No.1 The Green Harrison loses it with George, blaming him for killing his unborn child and making Harrison hateful towards Alice. He barely restrains himself from battering terrified George.

While walking the road behind Brookfield orchard Jazzer asks Brad to help shift furniture at Greenacres, where Alistair is planning to redecorate. Jazzer spots the largest sunflower he’s ever seen. He reckons it’s sure to be a prize winner at the Flower & Produce Show. Later, Jazzer tells Brad he’s hidden the flower from general view. He admits that technically it belongs to Brookfield, but he’s going to claim it under the law of ‘Finders-keepers’.

Mia and Brad relax on the Green and she shows him a virtual tour of her Uni halls in Newcastle. She leaves on Saturday and it all suddenly feels very real. Brad is starting at Felpersham and they need to do something special before they go – agreeing a walk and a picnic up Lakey Hill on Wednesday.

Neil bumps into Kate on her way to The Stables to see Alice and apologises to her for the shock of bumping into Clive – his unwelcome return has rattled everyone. Neil, on his way to supervise Clive’s latest visit with Bert, wishes he would just go away.

Adam checks in with a grumpy Alice on the phone. He tells her Brian has been trying to contact her. They’re both worried about her. He presses her on how she is. ‘I’m in hell,’ she snaps. And she doesn’t want to see anyone or go to rehab – she can’t face it. She tells Adam Justin came around yesterday and asked her to resign. There’s a knock at the door. It’s Harry and he wants to help her. But she shuts the door in his face. After a while she chases after him. He tells her Chris confronted him. Harry stresses her addiction put her where she is now and it’s a disease. He thanks her for saving him, for encouraging him to go for treatment. He tells her she can come back from this. He knows she can. But she rushes away.

Later Adam confronts Lilian and criticises her for letting Justin go round to try to force Alice to resign. They both admit they are scared – Alice is getting worse. They discuss how Brian is going out of his mind and Lilian promises she’ll have words with Justin. Adam concedes they have to face facts. No-one knows what will happen when the case comes to court. But there’s not much any of them can do. She really could lose everything. Lilian says when Jennifer died she swore she’d be there for the children but she doesn’t feel like she has been.

Chris turns up early to speak to Susan. He can’t pick up Martha, he says, because he has a late appointment. But when she questions him he admits he’s actually going to see Harry, who will be handing out prizes at the Borsetshire Young Horse Championship. Susan says she’ll drive him there. Later, Chris accosts Harry at the event. He accuses him of being there on the night of the crash. But Harry genuinely has no idea what he’s talking about. He didn’t know Alice had been drinking either. Chris rages at him, but Harry is genuinely apologetic, leaving Chris taken aback. As Susan drives Chris back to Ambridge she says he has to accept that Alice did this and there’s no other explanation. He needs to put all his energy into Martha and leave Alice to herself.

Harrison and Chris are getting ready for a cricket match against Leyton Cross who have won their last four games, buoyed by a new young player. Chris raises the question of Alice’s crash and how she wouldn’t buy cider. It’s a mistake discussing it with Harrison who insists she was drunk behind the wheel and she should face the consequences. Later, Susan congratulates Christopher on a 176 innings but asks if he has fallen out with Harrison, who threw his bat in disgust after Chris ran him out. He confesses that he talked to Harrison about Alice’s case. Susan says he mustn’t let it come between them. Later, Chris buys Harrison a pint and apologises. But then suggests there was someone else in the car with Alice – Harry Chilcott - he might have persuaded her to drive and then ran away.