Susan wants to make worried Emma a drink but she has to get to a tree job. Mick’s surprised to see Emma so preoccupied; he thought George was being released this week. Susan comments that nothing’s ever plain sailing with George. As they’re talking horrified Susan spots a rat. She brandishes a candlestick but amused Mick isn’t sure that’s the solution. When they flush it out of hiding Susan’s convinced it’s not the same rat. What if there’s an infestation? Susan heads off to break the news to Alan.

Amber’s topping up her social posts in between preparing the house for George’s arrival home on Thursday. Will offers to help but Amber’s keen to get the bedroom ready herself. She can’t believe George will soon be here with her at No.1 The Green. Will reminds her things might not go their way today at the hearing; they have no control over the situation. Amber’s trying to think positively. Will confesses he hasn’t told Poppy yet. Amber acknowledges she’ll be gutted. Will loves that Poppy gets on so well with Amber. Amber comments that Poppy’s lucky to be a Grundy girl. Her own parents shut her out, and still haven’t accepted George. They’ve never been interested in anything she’s done. Will assures her she’s part of their family now. Will seeks support from Emma as they await news, and she offers it unreservedly. They all wait together until the call comes – George is not guilty. Everyone’s overjoyed, and Amber tells George she can’t wait to be with him. They declare their love for one another.

Ruairi observes it feels good to be walking beside a field they’ve planted. He’s never felt so fired up about going to work. Adam’s surprised to learn Ruairi was with Paul last night. He agrees to have a drink with them both later. However Paul and Adam find themselves alone in the bar as Ruairi’s called away, and conversation doesn’t flow easily. Paul admits to Jolene that he doesn’t know what to talk to Adam about. Jolene enlists the pair as guinea pigs for testing out her ‘box of chatter’. Adam thinks it sounds like hell but joins in anyway. He admits afterwards to having fun, as does Paul. Jolene exclaims that’s what makes the Bull award winning.

Emma tells Jolene that Clarrie’s perfecting George’s favourite treacle tart in readiness for his homecoming on Thursday. Jolene reiterates how much she and Kenton appreciate what George did for them. Emma still wishes they hadn’t involved him, but she can’t wait to finally hug her son again. Later George explains to her about the shank found in his bed, and that it might mean extra time in prison. Appalled Emma counsels that there’s no point thinking beyond the hearing tomorrow. George doesn’t know if he can take any more. His mum offers him her strength – they’ll get through this. She heads to the Bull and fills Jolene in. She feels like George is even more vulnerable now. Jolene goes to hug Emma but is rebuffed. Emma just wants her to pray that the hearing goes George’s way.

The Grey Gables job shadowing scheme is underway, and Brad tries to persuade dismissive Ian how crucial and interesting the porter’s job is. Ian asserts he’s never been good at sticking on a false smile. However when he notices a restaurant reviewer’s booked in, he hastily offers to look after her. He reports later that she was very impressed with the shadowing idea. He apologises to Brad for his earlier sniffy attitude – it’s been good for him to see the front of house stuff. Brad admits ruefully he’s not looking forward to his billet on Security, shadowing Mick.

Kirsty tackles Justin about his intention to sell his Borchester Land shares. She’s concerned about the implications, and for the future of Rewilding Ambridge. Justin insists it will make no difference, but Kirsty protests they’ll have a much harder time of it with the Board. Justin assures her he’s keeping his own personal stake in the scheme, and will always be on hand to offer advice on how to handle the Board.

George is still in suspense over the date of his hearing. He’s keen to put his case, but again the officer tells him he can have his say when the time comes. Relenting slightly, the officer admits she believes George’s side of the story. George gets an update from Amber about Bartleby. Covering his worries about the upcoming hearing, he lets Amber believe his subdued mood is due to the pony. Later when he finds out he could get an additional six weeks on his sentence, George is distraught.

Pip offers to take Cleo on the school run until her gran and Leonard are up and about. Stella enthuses about her job. She feels like she’s in at the beginning of something really exciting. Pip’s distracted when she finds Paul’s lost trainer. Stella reckons she’s going to have to bite the bullet and ask if she can start taking Cleo with her to work. Later she reports her boss was fine about it – he loves dogs.

Paul calls Ruairi while Ruairi’s checking on the rutting stags. He notices one of the stags is bleeding down its face. Paul warns him off approaching it but Ruairi ends the call. Paul rushes to Home Farm, and his fears are confirmed as Ruairi’s nursing an arm injury. Paul helps him tend to it, and they check on the stag – this time through binoculars. Ruairi takes the opportunity to broach dating. Paul’s up for it so they agree to meet on Saturday. Just as they’re about to kiss a roar from a stag breaks the moment, and they part.

Later Ruairi catches up with Paul outside the Bull, and they share their postponed tender moment.

Stella has news: she’s submitted the application form for the job David told her about, and rehoming adoption advisor has found her a match with a dog. They’re happy with Stella’s potential new job circumstances so it looks like it’s all systems go. She’s made an appointment at the rehoming centre; Rosie can go with them. Pip’s not sure – what if the dog’s not suitable and Rosie falls in love with it? However Stella thinks Rosie’s a valuable member of the interview panel. After meeting the dog Stella and Pip agree they like her. And with Rosie clearly loving her too it seems like job done. But Pip still has reservations. This was just one short visit; the dog is still an unknown quantity. Stella sees the sense in being cautious, but is confident Cleopatra can be trained. They’ll see how it goes; nothing needs to be decided yet.

Stressed Adam’s rushing to get Xander ready for school and snaps at Ben, who’s arrived to offer to give Xander a lift. Apologetic Adam gratefully accepts. Ben thinks Adam needs to find time to switch off. Adam takes him at his word and later goes for a walk. He feels guilty that Home Farm paperwork’s piling up. The farm’s in a bad way financially. Ben sympathises. To their surprise Ruairi arrives from London, with an offer of help. Adam insists Kate’s exaggerated the difficulties, but Ben reckons Adam should think again. Adam admits reluctantly that there’s truth in what Kate’s told Ruairi, and he’d be grateful for his help.

Oliver raises the delicate topic of Susan and Neil with Amber. Amber maintains she finds the idea of apologising to them too difficult after everything that’s happened. They let George down and it’s them who should be apologising. And Neil taking the ring away has really hurt her. She heads off to a massage appointment with Kate. When she explains she’s an influencer Kate jokes she hopes Amber won’t give her a terrible review. She suggests they could talk about a collaboration. Amber declares she’d love that; Spiritual Home has a really nice vibe. As the treatment begins Amber chats happily about her upcoming wedding, naming her fiancé as George. Shocked Kate puts two and two together and realises who Amber is. When Kate explains she’s Alice’s sister, Amber suggests Alice needs to take some responsibility for George’s plight – in fact it could even be her fault George is in prison. Kate needs to accept there’s fault on both sides. Given Alice’s history, George was just the scapegoat. Incandescent Kate throws Amber out.

Zainab starts to update Lynda on the drink incident yesterday, becoming distressed in the process. Lynda calms her, before Oliver interrupts to speak to Zainab. He explains they’ve had a complaint from a guest who witnessed what happened at the Tearoom. Zainab fears the worst, but Oliver’s on her side – Lawrence is a piece of work and deserved what she did. Later Lynda tells Zainab she showed admirable restraint. She intends to speak to Lawrence and resolve this ridiculous situation once and for all.

As Stella rolls up her sleeves for another day at Brookfield, David mentions a job he’s seen advertised that might be a good fit for her. Stella admits she saw it but dismissed it as too much of an executive role. She’s more farm than strategy. David argues she has all the experience and ideas they need – she should apply. She has nothing to lose. Stella agrees to give it some thought. Later grateful Pip thanks her dad for talking Stella round – she’s filling in the application right now. Pip loves how her parents have accepted Stella into the family and are open to her ideas.

Against her better judgement Chelsea’s returned to the golf club with keen Zainab. She’s worried that Lynda’s sent the email about Lawrence – what if they see him? Zainab reassures her; there’s nothing they can do about it anyway. Martyn arrives and sense something’s wrong, so they explain about the blackmail threat. He offers to meet them later to discuss it further. Chelsea unwittingly divulges to Martyn that Justin’s buying more land. Over lunch Martyn admits to finding Lawrence’s behaviour bizarre. Right on cue Lawrence appears. He protests that Chelsea and Zainab are turning Ambridge against him, and Martyn’s accusation of harassment just proves how he’s also been taken in by them. After unacceptable insult towards Zainab, Martyn demands Lawrence apologises, but Lawrence compounds the situation and Zainab throws her drink over him in response. She instantly regrets it but Chelsea and Martyn think she was brave. Zainab just feels she’s made it all worse.

Bored Stella gets stuck into the Brookfield milking with Pip. Later she suggests an overseeding scheme for the pasture. David’s non-committal, telling Ruth later that he didn’t want to shoot Stella down at the time because Pip was clearly hanging on her every word adoringly – but some of her suggestions weren’t appropriate for Brookfield. Ruth agrees they don’t really need any extra voices when it comes to the farm. David reckons Stella’s bound to get a job soon; she needs to earn a living. He admits it would annoy him if she was hanging around Brookfield all the time.

Chelsea’s alarmed to hear from Lilian that Lynda’s being blackmailed by Lawrence. She doesn’t want Lynda to send the email to the Golf Association now, and she’s never going back to the golf club. Lilian points out that’s just what Lawrence wants, but Chelsea’s fine with that if it means he’ll leave Lynda alone. Lilian’s distracted by a message from Justin saying he wants to buy more land.

Amber tells Chelsea she thinks Emma over-reacted about George’s help with locating Markie. George can take care of himself – it’s one of the things she loves about him. Chelsea invites Amber to her birthday celebration next week, but when Amber hears some old school friends will be there, she declines. Instead she takes Chelsea for a drink at the Bull. Chelsea questions Amber’s decision to have her teeth done, but Amber defends it. She wants to do it for herself, and her brand. If she’s fine with it, Chelsea should be too.

Lilian confides to Lynda that the current tension between Justin and Brian is making her feel uncomfortable and embarrassed; sometimes Justin seems to forget that she and Brian are related by marriage. Lynda in turn has an awkward situation of her own. Lawrence’s threat to expose her over the cricket payments is troubling her. She doesn’t want to give in to blackmail, but she’s hesitant to report his behaviour to the Golf Association. She preferred it when she had the moral high ground. Lilian counters she still has this, over a racist misogynist like Lawrence.

Brian makes the radical suggestion to Adam of selling the no till seed drill; they don’t have the contracts to justify owning it. Adam thinks this is shortsighted panic thinking. Later as Kate clears some of her things in readiness for moving out, she and Brian admit they’ll miss one another. Kate observes that Brian looks stressed. He confesses he’s unable to see an obvious solution to the farm’s current economic situation. He can’t fault Adam, who’s being fantastic and patient with him – it’s Justin who’s to blame. Kate tells Adam she wishes she could help. He and Brian clearly need more support. Adam notes that farming isn’t really Kate’s thing, and there’s no-one else to ask, so they haven’t got much choice.

Tom breaks the news to Lynda that Henry can’t play cricket today. He’s struggling with the fact that the Borchester Fourths player he accidentally injured last week has two broken fingers. Adam too is unavailable. Lynda appeals to Adam – they currently don’t have a full team. But Adam’s busy at Home Farm and can’t be moved. With Chris out for six Lynda’s in despair, until she spots Adam, who’s relented and turns up to play after all. Lynda’s cheered; she loves this team. Tom promises if Adam can score fifty he’ll get him released to work at Home Farm again tomorrow. However despite a decent fight, Ambridge still lose.

Rex has Lawrence in his taxi, who introduces himself before engaging Rex in cricket conversation. Rex admits he misses playing. Lawrence offers to pay him to play for Roserran-in-the-Vale. This is something they could offer that Ambridge doesn’t, isn’t it? Rex declines to comment. Later Lawrence taunts Lynda, alluding to the interesting conversation he’s had with Rex. He asks unnerved Lynda why she didn’t just offer Rex a fee to keep him. Lynda brushes him off and turns her attention back to the match at hand. Undeterred, Lawrence commiserates with her over Ambridge’s loss. Lynda asserts the team are in it for the love of the game. When he questions her coldness, she calls him out for his recent treatment of Chelsea. He dismisses it all as snowflakery. Even when Lynda declares she’s contacting Borsetshire Golf Association Lawrence insists he just doesn’t understand. And that, retorts Lynda, is the problem.