A Mother’s Love?

June Rosalind Spencer CBE (Peggy Woolley)

Nobody could accuse Peggy of being over-expressive when it comes to showing affection towards her children; especially when it comes to her youngest, Tony. Tony is coming up to his 70^th birthday (16^th February, so there’s still time to send a card) and Natasha has the bright idea of contacting his close relatives and asking for a short video tribute from each of them to mark the occasion.

Her husband (and Tony’s son) Tom is deeply impressed by the idea – even more so when Natasha reveals that, not only has Peggy agreed to submit a contribution, but she has already practically finished it and will ping it over that same day. “You got Gran to do it?” he says, in a voice that combined surprise and pleasure in equal amounts.

The pair listen to Peggy’s offering, and it soon becomes clear that, in her case, the phrase ‘close relative’ just means ‘a family member who happens to live nearby’, as the tone of the message is almost totally devoid of affection. Natasha describes it as “a bit cold” but that is a massive understatement – while Peggy doesn’t actually call her son ‘whatshisname’, or preface her message with ‘to whom it may concern’, it is definitely lacking in maternal warmth. 

Peggy kicks off by saying that she and Jack had never planned on having three children and “it was something of a surprise when we found out that you were coming along – actually, ‘shock’ is more accurate.” She goes on to say that when she held him for the first time, her first thought was ‘how will we all fit in our tiny cottage?’ After two daughters, Peggy didn’t really know how to handle a son. “You were so different from your sisters,” she tells him, “more aimless. And so stubborn – it made life quite difficult, I can tell you. 70 years – I can hardly believe it; happy birthday Tony.” Not once in the message does Peggy mention the word ‘love’.

Tom and Natasha are shocked, with Tom saying that there’s no way they can include that message – Peggy practically said that Tony was an unwanted baby. If Tony hears what his mother said, he will be devastated. Tom says that Peggy has always been hard on Tony – nothing he does is ever good enough for her. Come on Tom, be fair; she lets him drive her to the shops, doctors and the like; and sometimes she doesn’t spend the entire journey moaning. Regarding the message, Natasha says that Peggy is from a different generation, but if they do not include it, then a) Tony will be surprised that there is no contribution from his mother and b) Peggy will wonder what happened to her video. “What are we going to do?” What indeed? I can’t wait till the 16^th to find out.

All this happened towards the end of the week, and it was a week which Tom spent most of firmly in the doghouse. On Tuesday he mentions to Natasha that he will cook her a special meal that evening, to which she replies that she’s sorry, but she is going out with Kirsty to continue the search for the lads. Tom, who obviously has a poorly-developed sense of self-preservation, says no she isn’t “I’m putting my foot down – I’m your husband and I’m saying that I won’t let you go.” Brave man! Natasha says “What?” and adds in a dangerously low voice; “We don’t live in the 19^th century – you don’t get to tell me what to do.” I should have mentioned that Tom said earlier that, if Natasha is going, then he will join her and Kirsty. Natasha replies that she doesn’t want him standing around, glowering at the down and outs.

When he is alone, Tom rings Harrison Burns – he wants some advice. Tom relates the saga of the search for the slaves and asks whether Harrison could have a quiet word with the girls, as he is worried that they might be putting themselves in danger. Harrison immediately moves into Sergeant Burns mode, as he tells Tom to wait while he gets his notebook, and then start from the top, and leave nothing out.

Later that day, Sgt Burns is lurking outside the shop, waiting for Natasha to emerge. He does indeed have a quiet word, but he is not so much worried about the potential dangers, rather that the two girls could be accused of interfering with potential witnesses and, as the wife of someone on remand for a very serious crime, Kirsty (and Natasha) could find themselves in seriously hot water.

Harrison then asks Natasha what would she have done if they had found the lads? Traffickers, he says, are not very nice people and the two girls could be putting the lads’ lives at risk. He tells Natasha that it’s got to stop. He then adds “At least Tom had more sense – you’re lucky he called me when he did.” Never mind the lads’ lives, Harrison; you could have just signed Tom’s death warrant when Natasha gets home.

When she does, she is spitting feathers and is dismissive of her husband’s motives "for dobbing me in to the police.” Tom then mentions that he is meeting Harrison and Roy that evening for a socially-distanced drink to celebrate Roy’s birthday. “Good – at least I will have the flat to myself” is Natasha’s comment.

The girl is most definitely not a happy camper and I don’t know if Tom had any expectations for some post-pub hanky-panky, but I really don’t fancy his chances; I wonder if the flat has a spare bedroom?

The Tracy/Jazzer story continues to move at the speed of an arthritic snail with lead wellingtons moving through glue. On Monday, he rings her at Grey Gables to invite her over for Pizza. How does she fancy a meat feast, or a thick and crusty, with something on the side? Jim and Alistair will be out bird watching, with their new night-sight binoculars – rather them than me with the weather the way it is at the moment. She agrees and says she gets off at six and she’ll see him then.

Except she doesn’t – as she is getting ready to leave, Oliver approaches her, his face a picture of woe, as bookings are scarce, bordering on the non-existent. He says that he is looking at offering cut-price vouchers – after all, Grey Gables has little in the way of reputation to lose. He mutters something about time being short and Tracy says that she will stay behind and they can talk about it.

While this is going on, Jazzer visits Johnny, who is doing something to his recently-acquired car. The pair make small talk, and Johnny apologises for the night he spent recently with Jade (although I think he was boasting really). Jazzer waves the apology away – he has moved on since then. Johnny is intrigued and, when Jazzer won’t tell him who his new paramour is, he persists with questions and eventually guesses that it is Tracy. Jazzer says that he has matured, and compares Tracy to a fine single malt. He swears Johnny to secrecy.

Back at Grey Gables, Oliver is pouring out his troubles to Tracy – time is short, he tells her, and he may have to sell up within a few months. While they speak, she keeps getting messages on her phone, which she ignores.

Eventually it rings and she goes off to answer it. It is Jazzer, who is agitated as he has two pizzas in the oven. Tracy is short with him and the conversation becomes acrimonious, with Tracy telling him that something has come up and not to ring her again.

A fed-up Jazzer goes back to see Johnny, taking pizzas, sides and beer with him. He admits that he has been blown out by Tracy. “Good riddance” he tells Johnny. Just then Jazzer’s phone gets a message – it’s Jade asking to meet, and Jazzer texts her back, saying ok. Johnny wonders if he’s made the right decision, but Jazzer replies “At least with Jade I know what I’m buying.” Buying? Is there something about this particular single malt that we should be told about? A couple of days later, Tracy takes the opportunity to go and see Jazzer – does he fancy doing the pizza thing again, and this time she’ll buy them? An embarrassed Jazzer lets slip that he’s arranged to see a girl and Tracy says she’s pleased – at least it will put a stop to “all this nonsense about you and me. See you around” As she leaves, Jazzer says sadly “Aye”.

Over at the Snell residence, Robert is excited to get a call from the Echo – can they send a reporter to interview Lynda – they want to run a story about Lynda’s role in the community, featuring her award of the OBE. Robert asks her if she’s interested? Yes, she thinks she is. As the time grows nearer, Lynda is having second thoughts; Rebecca (the reporter) wants to bring a photographer along and Lynda doesn’t think she’s ready to have her photo published just yet. Robert reassures her – if she doesn’t want her photo taken, it’s up to her. Lynda agrees.

Rebecca asks if she can record their conversation and then suggests that they start by talking about the Grey Gables explosion. Lynda smells a rat – she thought the interview was about her work in the community, and is this relevant? Rebecca replies that it’s context and then produces a list of projects that the Moss’s worked on – does Lynda know these locations?

To cut to the chase, Lynda accuses Rebecca of tricking her way into Lynda’s garden under false pretences and she has no interest in Lynda’s community work, theatrical triumphs or the success of the Speedwatch project. “You’ve just come to dig dirt” says Lynda indignantly and, noting that Rebecca has finished her tea, she asks her bluntly to leave.

Rebecca’s day gets worse, as she spends more than an hour doorstepping Justin Elliott. When he emerges from home, apparently he is terse to the point of rudeness, leading Rebecca to seek consolation by going to the village shop and buying a bottle of wine after about ten seconds’ thought. “Having a bad day?” asks Susan, who is behind the counter. The pair talk and Rebecca reveals that she is a reporter. Susan recognises a fellow media star and, when Rebecca says she is just trying to write a feel-good story about the village, Susan leaps on her excitedly – she can help her. 

Susan invites her home for a chat, during which she (Su) reveals that yes, the Grey Gables explosion has affected the village and it was even worse for her husband Neil, who oversaw the Philip Moss/Berrow Farm project, plus he was responsible for awarding the Parish Council contract to Philip for the playground repairs (“It was so cheap that Neil grabbed his hand off”) and also the church tower repairs. Neil comes home and Susan encourages him to talk to Rebecca. He does so and, afterwards, Susan asks how did it go? Neil says Rebecca was very sympathetic and he feels better for having got it off his chest. He hopes the article does some good, and Susan is confident that it will. Neil agrees, and says “After all, we are all victims, aren’t we?”  When the article is published and your name is linked with all these dodgy contracts, Neil, you might well find that some people are more victims than others.