Jennifer Eventually Gets The Message

Angela Piper (Jennifer Aldridge)

We have often said in the past that Jennifer appears to be living on another planet and sails through life, serenely unaware of the things that are happening around her, dispensing a cake here, a casserole there and trying to keep the increasingly-dysfunctional Aldridge family together, or at least not at each other’s throats. She was at it again this week, visiting Kirsty with a Victoria sponge as an apology for polluting the Am with possible carcinogens and instant fish killer. Kirsty is well aware what’s going on and, as Roy tells Lexi, it will take more than a cake to make up for the fact that Kirsty could have had liver damage, or grown another head or similar – nasty stuff this TCE.

Brian appears to have taken a leaf out of his wife’s book, as he tells Adam and anyone else that he is on top of the situation and in constant contact with the specialist firm he has brought in to clear the site at Low Mead. It obviously worked with Jennifer, as she tells Brian “we’ll soon be able to put all this behind us and get back to normal – it will all seem like a bad dream.”

The words ‘bad dream’ soon prove prophetic, as the situation worsens. Brian and Jennifer go to a drinks party at the Dower House and Justin buttonholes Brian about the pollution – he has heard about the TCE from people in the village. Brian explains that the EA is just being cautious and he expected better from Justin than listening to ‘idle village gossip’. There’s nothing worse than idle village gossip; unless it’s true idle village gossip, of course. “Please trust me” Brian says and repeats that there is nothing to worry unduly about. Justin tells him that he’s up to his neck in it and “you may have convinced Jennifer that it will all blow over, but you’re not convincing me.” Brian is losing patience and tells Justin two things: “Number one, you’re wrong and number two, in what way exactly is it any of your damn business?”

Brian continues to do his ostrich impression and Justin turns to Adam, who he knows has the welfare of the land close to his heart. Phrases like “this contamination could be huge; possibly catastrophic” get through to Adam and he agrees to visit the site and talk to the contractors (who are charging Home Farm a shedload of money), rather than listen to Brian’s platitudes.

This he does and it’s fair to say that his eyes are opened, as he speeds down to Home Farm, looking for Brian, who has taken Noluthando (and Kate – yippee!) to the airport. Adam comes across Jennifer, who is half asleep and he demands to know where Brian is. Jennifer can sense that Adam is more than somewhat distressed and tries to placate him with vacuous, reassuring phrases. Adam tells his mum that the contractors have stopped work on the site and she tuts – Brian will be angry. Sod Brian, says Adam, they’ve stopped work because they have uncovered unlabelled drums of chemicals and are wary of moving them – they might explode for all they know. Jen makes more soothing noises and Adam gets more and more uptight. Trying to make her realise the gravity of the situation, he tells her they have discovered Dieldrin and other organochlorines. While Jennifer doesn’t actually say ‘that’s nice for them’ she does say “you don’t need to worry darling”, causing Adam to grab hold of her and bang her head on the table (not really, but he sounded like he wanted to). Instead he has one last go at spelling out the situation, saying that they are facing a potential ecological disaster. “This is about as serious as it gets” he says, as Thursday’s episode ends.

Next day, Brian is incensed because Adam took it upon himself to ring up the insurers. Adam says they need to get as much information as possible. “When I want your opinion, I’ll ask for it” Brian tells Adam. At the mention of insurers, Jennifer is alarmed – did Adam get the impression that they might not pay up for the work, which is costing thousands a week? Adam says that that was the impression he got and Jennifer is even more alarmed. This is interesting – the fact that a large part of Borsetshire might be on the verge of being turned into an ecological desert with poisonous chemicals getting into the water supply doesn’t seem to worry Jennifer, but the thought that Home Farm might not be able to claim on the insurance is a major catastrophe.

On the plus side, it would appear that Jennifer has, at last, got the message. In bed that night, neither she nor Brian can sleep. She says that they need to find the paperwork to show that they were deceived – a few decades ago, Brian took a backhander from a builder who was looking for somewhere ‘to dump some harmless rubbish’. Brian didn’t ask too many questions as to the exact nature of this rubbish and now look what’s happened. Just to add to Jennifer’s woes and anxiety, Brian shares that he has spoken to his lawyers and they warned him that, as landowner at the time, he could be facing a custodial sentence. “You mean prison?” Jen asks, in a faltering voice. No dear, he means they are going to cover him in custard – of course he means prison, you dimwit.

Leaving Brian to study how to stitch mailbags, what else has happened? Noluthando has gone back to South Africa and has had a touching farewell with Freddie, who kept on apologising for the pill episode at her party. She says that it was her fault, not his, but wants him to stop dealing. Freddie protests that it’s hardly dealing – sorry Freddie, but selling drugs for money is dealing, even if you only sell to friends – and he eventually promises that he will stop. Personally, I have my doubts. She also tells him that he must visit her in South Africa. “Try and stop me!” he says enthusiastically, obviously forgetting that Elizabeth has his passport locked in her safe – that’ll do it every time.

Noluthando has an even more touching goodbye with Peggy. Peggy gets the whole truth about the party, the drug and the hospital out of Nolly and begs her not to do it again. Nolly says (and, it has to be said, with a lot more conviction than Freddie) that she promises never to do anything so stupid again. Peggy gives her a gold necklace that she bought for herself some years ago and she hopes it will bring Nolly much luck. At first, Nolly is reluctant to take it but Peggy persuades her and the two hug.

There was much hugging at Honeysuckle cottage, when Roy and Lexi finally agreed that she could be Adam and Ian’s surrogate. After a lot of ‘It’s on – it’s off’ last week (which I couldn’t bring myself to write about), Roy and Lexi talk. She understands why Roy is against the idea and she wants him to be happy. For his part, Roy wants Lexi to be happy and he knows that doing this for Adam and Ian would bring her great joy, so he agrees that she can go ahead, as it will make her happy. I’m glad they have agreed one way or the other – it was doing my head in.

Lexi, Adam and Ian have a meeting – rather a formal meeting – to discuss possible scenarios about the pregnancy and birth. Adam even used the word ‘agenda’ and has a hard jog restraining Ian, who is as excited as a kid in a sweetshop and cannot keep to the point. What, for instance would they do if the foetus had a genetic disability? Would they abort? What about changing their wills (Lexi doesn’t have one)? What if the maternity hospital is struck by a meteorite? (I made that up, but I bet it was discussed). Ian is even happier the next day, as the Fertility Clinic rang him to say that they have found an egg donor. Lexi says that she is sure that they will make great fathers.

Someone worried about impending fatherhood is Toby Fairbrother. Pip lets him come along with her and Rooooth for the baby’s scan. Only one other person is allowed in the room and Rooooth says that it should be Toby. He is touched (why not let Toby and Rooooth be the two – they could all go down the pub earlier) and, when he hears the baby’s heartbeat, he is overcome. He leaves the hospital early and is immediately beset by doubts – as he tells Bert later, he realises that the baby is a proper person who needs a proper Dad and he can’t do it – he’s still a kid himself.

Bert gives him some advice and tells him that he felt the same way when Freda was pregnant and his father told him that that was a natural feeling and he’d felt the same when his wife was carrying Bert. Bert says that he has known Toby for a while and, if he puts his mind and his back into it, he will be a good father. “This baby could be the making of you” he tells Toby. I suppose we should be grateful that Bert never made up a poem about it. Rooooth keeps asking Pip if there’s no chance of getting back with Toby and Pip replies ‘none whatsoever’ a little too quickly for my liking.

If Toby is going to provide for his child, he needs a sound financial base. Lucky then that he negotiated a six-month extension on the lease at Hollowtree. Not so lucky then that, when he tells Rex about this, his brother reveals that he is packing the geese business in and won’t be paying rent for Hollowtree, as he doesn’t need it any longer. Toby says that he cannot afford the rent on his own, to which Rex’s attitude could best be summed up as ‘tough’.

Chris and Alice Carter must have been wicked sods, as they went round Susan and Neil’s on Sunday. In her usual, tactful way, Susan says that people are saying that the contamination is Brian’s fault, but all he is interested in is profits. Susan doesn’t realise that Alice is in the room and she is taken aback when Alice tells her off sharply for spreading gossip. Susan says “I don’t spread gossip” and the only wonder is that she isn’t immediately struck down by a thunderbolt. In the car later, Alice tells Chris that Susan should learn to keep her mouth shut. Some chance! Alice is fed up with her job and Chris suggests that this could be the time to start a family, but Alice isn’t interested – reflecting, no doubt that any child would carry a number of Susan’s genes.

Susan continues to praise the health-giving benefits of Kefir and advises Helen on packaging and marketing. Neil meanwhile is coming down with a bad dose of flu and wonders if he should give up work, as he doesn’t think he could stand another year with the pigs. Think on Neil – if you retire, you’ll be spending more time at home with Susan. I bet he’s feeling better already. Susan nags him (surely not?) and tells him to go to bed with a paracetamol, which begs the question, if this Kefir is so damned healthy, why didn’t she give him a dollop of that instead?