Writer: Sarah McDonald Hughes
Director: Peter Leslie Wild
Editor: Jeremy HoweDavid Archer…. Timothy Bentinck
Helen Archer…. Louiza Patikas
Henry Archer…. Blayke Darby
Kenton Archer…. Richard Attlee
Natasha Archer…. Mali Harries
Tom Archer…. William Troughton
Lilian Bellamy…. Sunny Ormonde
Ian Craig…. Stephen Kennedy
Ed Grundy…. Barry Farrimond
Emma Grundy…. Emerald O’Hanrahan
Akram Malik…. Asif Khan
Zainab Malik…. Priyasasha Kumari
Lily Pargetter…. Katie Redford
Oliver Sterling…. Michael Cochrane
Dane…. Stavros Demetraki
Naomi…. Aoife Moss
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13:17
22/05/2025
Emma and Ed are irritable after a long day working on trees at Grey Gables. It’s their anniversary but Emma can’t be bothered to do anything special. However Oliver surprises them with the offer of an overnight stay at the hotel with spa passes and dinner, as an anniversary gift. They accept graciously, but over dinner they continue to bicker as Emma can’t let Ed’s attitude to her work go. His constant instructions to her from the ground today weren’t welcome or helpful. Oliver checks in to make sure they’re having a great evening. They assure him they are. They realise they shouldn’t be arguing – it’s the tiredness talking. Emma suggests they skip dinner and have an early night.
Helen wonders to Ian how Adam’s doing. Ian thinks he’s ok but sad. Helen reports much the same from her side of the family, particularly Lilian. They speculate on possible explanations as to where Peggy’s money’s gone; Ian jokes she probably invested in a donkey sanctuary. He’s looking forward to the big family holiday though. He’s impressed with Helen’s adept brushing off of Martyn Gibson’s advances. Helen admits someone else has caught her eye. Ian’s flabbergasted to learn it’s Dane from Grey Gables. He comments Dane’s nice enough but always ‘on’ and cracking jokes. Helen ventures that this could be a good thing. Ian agrees; he’s sure they’ll have a great time. Helen admits she’s nervous, putting herself back out there. Ian assures her everyone feels this way. He stays positive for her, and Helen thanks him for the chat.
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13:02
21/05/2025
Kenton’s surprised David’s now going ahead with Open Farm Sunday. David explains he doesn’t feel he should cancel so he’s putting increased security in place. Lilian’s late for a pub shift and Kenton’s reluctant to push it as her mood’s so low at the moment. David volunteers to jump behind the bar to help out. Lilian arrives but soon needs a break to regroup. With Justin out at a function, she insists she’d still rather be working than sitting alone at home.A customer approaches the bar and asks for Angela, but David misunderstands the signal and the woman goes and sits down again. Lilian spots the man she’s sitting with is behaving aggressively towards her. It becomes clear David’s made a mistake and missed the woman’s coded request for help. Lilian’s appalled at the error, and finds a subtle way of extricating the woman from the situation. Safely upstairs, the woman, Naomi, explains she’d been set up with this man by a friend, and whilst initially charming, her date became angry when she declined a second meet-up with him. Naomi’s very grateful for Lilian swooping in like a fairy godmother to rescue her. After Naomi’s gone, Lilian suggests refresher training for everyone who might be working in the bar. The incident has shaken her. She’s frustrated too that the man got away with his bad behaviour and may well just carry on with it in the future. Kenton’s worried about Lilian and checks in again with her; is she alright? Lilian admits she’s not really, but there’s nothing anyone can do.
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13:14
20/05/2025
Oliver asks Lily to help with interviews for a new receptionist at Grey Gables. Dane will be on the panel as well; Oliver comments that his style is very informal. Sure enough, Dane and Lily are soon giggling together and try to compose themselves as Oliver brings in the first candidate, Zainab Malik. As Dane excitedly engages her in conversation about her scooter, Oliver attempts to get back to the job in hand. Zainab answers some unconventional questions competently, and declares she’s enjoyed herself. Dane and Lily are impressed and convince Oliver to give her a try out despite his concerns that she didn’t have many relevant questions to answer. Lily reckons Zainab will have no problem getting her head around the hotel’s systems. Natasha’s disappointed to hear Helen’s not keeping on top of her dating app. Helen shares her latest status and they laugh about some of the profiles that have come up. Natasha spots one of them is Martyn Gibson. She jokes she might swipe right on Helen’s behalf. They fill Ian in on the dating site, Helen insisting it’s not a big deal, she just wants to see how she feels about dating. Then she notices she’s a match with Martyn, and realises to her horror that Natasha must have swiped the wrong way earlier. She can’t ignore him, but doesn’t know how to reply to his message of condolence about Peggy. Ian suggests telling Martyn the truth but Natasha thinks this will break his heart. Helen’s at a loss. She wishes she’d never downloaded the app!
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12:56
19/05/2025
Oliver and Ian await the arrival at Grey Gables of the new temporary manager, who’s late. Oliver lists his credentials and Ian admits he does sound very good. Ian reckons he’ll run a tight ship; Oliver thinks that’s just what they’re looking for/need. Dane arrives and proves to be chatty and quirky. Both Ian and Oliver are slightly stunned. Dane’s a breath of fresh air, but not quite what either of them was expecting.
Natasha prompts Tom to tell Helen about Henry hiding his phone from her. He does so and Helen tackles Henry in a quiet moment as he makes a birthday card for Jack. He’s defensive at first, worrying that Helen will be mad at him. Eventually he admits he was checking up on some of the names in a dating app Helen’s joined. Helen’s shocked Henry’s been looking at her phone, but understands when it becomes clear he’s fearful for her safety. She reassures him, reminding him that it’s her job to look after him, not the other way round. She puts Natasha and Tom in the picture. Natasha’s excited that Helen’s online dating, though equally shocked at Henry’s actions. Tom thinks it's quite sweet – Henry’s obviously looking out for Helen. Helen points out Henry’s clearly worried about the possibility of another Rob. Tom doesn’t think so. But Helen reckons she’ll delete the dating app. Natasha persuades her to give it a chance. It’s great Helen’s being proactive about finding someone. Natasha’s happy to be her wingwoman; it’s very exciting.
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