Toby Laurence (Freddie Pargetter)
Last week, we thought that Freddie had been taken over by aliens, as he was apparently knuckling down and revising. On Tuesday, however, Freddie is confronted by Ellis, who accuses him of dealing pills on his patch - and he has witnesses. Freddie tells him to do one, but Ellis demands to see what Freddie has in his bag. Fred resists and there is a struggle, during which Freddie receives a black eye.
Johnny turns up and breaks up the fight but, as Ellis leaves, he says “No more pills Freddie.” Johnny, not unreasonably, wants to know what’s going on and Freddie says “I’m not a dealer” (Johnny hadn’t asked if he was) and “Would I be that stupid?” The answer to this second question surely has to be ‘too bloody right you would’ but Johnny doesn’t pursue the subject.
Freddie explains the black eye to others as an injury sustained playing Dodgeball with Johnny, and this is the story that Freddie’s twin, Lily, tells Jazzer. Jazz expresses surprise and tells her he heard a different story (from Johnny). Lily confronts her twin and interrogates him regarding drugs, the dispensing of. Fred denies that he is doing E or amphetamines and Lily reminds him that, if he was doing drugs, she told him that she would tell Elizabeth. Freddie finally admits that he has been taking smart pills to help him with his revision and he gave a few to a friend.
Lily angrily says that those drugs have side effects and how could he be so naïve? Freddie thought she’d be pleased. But Lily replies that she’s done with him and, if he wants to wreck his life with drugs, it’s up to him. “I really don’t care any more” she says, as she angrily leaves the room. If I were you, Freddie, I’d book that flight to South Africa and sod off on your gap year. Always assuming that Elizabeth has liberated your passport from the office safe, of course.
There are a number of stories that I think have a particularly depressing potential to run and run, and, probably, run. The first of these is Will and the saga of his children and stepchildren. I’m surprised that Will doesn’t shackle Jake to a radiator. Instead, he takes his stepson out on treats; one of which is clay pigeon shooting. Jake misses the first two clays, but then bags a brace on the next pull. Will is ecstatic and says that Jake is a natural and could be a gold medalist at the next Olympics. Hold the hyperbole, Will - I think it would require a tad more practice. Will says he’s famished and let’s grab a burger. Jake says he will be late going home, but Will overrules him and they set off.
When they arrive at Andrew’s gaff, they are met by Bev (Nic’s mother) who says that Andrew is tending to his sick mother and, by the way, Will is 45 minutes late bringing Jake home. Will explains about the burger, but Bev says that Jake had supper in the oven. She sends Jake off to do homework and tells Will that Andrew has seen a solicitor to see where he stands and, she hopes it never happens, but Andrew has a good case for having Jake and Mia living with him, if it came to court. Just back off Will - they’re not your children after all.
The second ‘Oh God, when will it end?’ story is the saga of the Hebden-Lloyds. I am going to race through this, so pay attention. Alistair has moved back to the Stables, but he feels like a lodger - it’s a house but not his home and he spends a lot of time eating and drinking at Grey Gables, which must be eating into his savings. Shula is miserable and seeks help from her twin, Kenton. She knows that she should be looking forward to a new life, but how - what should she do?
Kenton has the perfect answer - has Shula spent Caroline’s legacy yet? No - it will probably go on legal fees. Kenton is very anti and, the next thing we know, Shula is test-driving a Gti Cabriolet and having the time of her life. “Eat my exhaust, loser!” she crows, as she overtakes some poor pensioner. This is not like Shula and, just as Kenton is urging her to buy the car on the spot, she sees Alistair in a car - he must have seen them. This takes the shine off the whole experience for her and she says what was she thinking of - her and this car in Ambridge?
Towards the end of the week, Alistair confronts Kenton in The Bull - does he think that Shula is going about her new life in the right way? She will need support and respect from people like Dan and Jill, and is driving around in a flash car the way to go about it? Jill is still doing her ostrich impression - she turns up at the Stables and sees Alistair doing something to a horse’s teeth. She gets Shula on her own and asks how are things? Shula says “much the same” and Jill is surprised - it looked so normal with the two of them concerned about the horse. She says surely it’s not too late for Shula to try and patch things up? Shula nails her mother to the wall and says, through gritted teeth “There’s-no-way-back.”
Will Jill ever appreciate that not every domestic problem can be overcome by a cup of tea and a scone, or a casserole and a glass of wine? I certainly hope so, because Jill is getting on my nerves. If Alistair has accepted that it’s all over, why can’t Jill? Can’t Shula apply for a quickie divorce in Reno or somewhere - I can’t stand months of this?
Another long-running story is the clean-up operation at Home Farm. Adam tells Ian that Brian is up to something (“He’s like a wounded tiger”) and, on Friday, we learn the truth. Adam confronts Brian, as he noticed that Brian was walking the farm with their Land Agent - what’s going on? Brian admits that he is looking at selling some land and Adam is appalled - the land is their biggest asset. Brian shares that the EA are almost certain to prosecute and, even if he avoids a custodial sentence, they are looking at a substantial fine, which could be in the region of £2 million plus when you also factor in the clean-up costs, which the insurance company are refusing to cough up for.
Adam is still anti-selling land and Brian asks what else does he suggest? How about selling the stake in the Hungarian operation? Brian says that he has already done that and it raised around £750 k instead of the £1 million he anticipated. “The pot is empty” Brian says. This is the longest conversation that the two men have had since Brian was put out to grass and Adam is onside, saying that they all need to work together to save the farm. “Trust me Brian,” Adam says, “I won’t let this beat us - we’ll find a way.” My suggestion is to sell off Jennifer’s new kitchen; that seemed to have cost the thick end of £2 million.
As if Adam didn’t have enough problems; Lexi’s first embryo transfer didn’t work and the trio have only two more attempts to have a child. Lexi confides to Ian that she worries that Adam isn’t committed to the process, although he tells Ian that he is - he just has a few other things on his mind. He has a few more now - not least of which is where to find £2 million. As if he didn’t have enough problems, Adam is confronted by Alice, who accuses him of stabbing Brian in the back and saying that the farm can only work as a partnership and Adam broke that, so it’s up to him to fix it. This was before Adam learned that Brian had sold the Hungarian stake without consulting the partners, which might have changed Alice’s opinion.
Moving on to happier, or at least less lengthy, stories we have Lynda test driving various breeds of dog as a replacement for Scruff. This week she promenaded with a poodle and, a day or so later, Bertha, a Bulldog. Jill said that She looked very elegant with the poodle, but Lynda is not convinced. On the other hand, Lynda says that Bertha has the sweetest nature. Jill is not keen, as apparently Bertha is as ugly as sin. Lynda takes her (Bertha, not Jill) into the pub and Kenton has misgivings. Lynda admits that Bertha can’t run very fast and Kenton expresses surprise that she can run at all, upon which, Lynda gives one of her mega sniffs and takes Bertha off to sit with Robert.
Last week, we had the return of Hannah and speculation as to whether there would be a romance between her and Jazzer. On Wednesday, Susan is preparing a dinner to welcome Hannah back to Ambridge and she, Neil and Hannah are enjoying themselves. Hannah worked on a unit in North Carolina which had 100,000 pigs (presumably Jazzer would have been orgasmic). Halfway through the evening, Jazzer (who had learned that Hannah was invited to dinner) turned up uninvited. He asks if he and Hannah can be friends, but she says that there could be bio security problems with Jazzer’s pigs. Susan seizes on this as an excuse to tell Jazzer to sling his hook and, reluctantly, he goes.
Hannah says that Jazz is a bit deluded; they were never more than mates (Hannah’s first experience of pigs and Ambridge was with Tom) and “Jazzer still doesn’t know when he’s wasting his time.” It doesn’t bode well for Jazzer, from the look of things.
Let’s end on a happy note. Harrison Burns has been beating Fallon over the head about getting their finances into shape and making mutually beneficial Wills. On Thursday, Fallon tells PCB that she has been looking at a savings plan of her own and she’ll fill him in on the details later. It turns out that she has opened a monthly savings account, whereby you deposit so much a month. PCB is impressed, and even more so when Fallon says that it is a special fund - it’s for their wedding. PCB is surprised, as indeed were we, and signs up before she can change her mind. Of course, we have to ask ourselves just how viable such a fund will be with a monthly input of 25p.
No comments:
Post a Comment