Susan begins to have regrets, and disaster strikes at the Village Hall.
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13:16
28/01/2025
Lynda’s delighted Berwick Kaler’s accepted her offer of accommodation. She and Lilian move on to the pressing matter of casting for the panto, using Lilian’s impressive availability chart. Kind-hearted Joy has put Mick forward for Buttons so that he can play alongside Berwick, and they’re hoping Alice will play Cinders. Vince accuses them of being unscrupulous, having cast a professional actor. He reckons it’s against the spirit of the thing – but not the law, declares Lilian. Vince bumps into Jazzer and quizzes him about the ‘ringer’ who’s been cast in the panto. Is he being paid? Jazzer reckons he might be – he saw Mick doing a deal with him yesterday. This gives Vince the ammunition he needs and he heads off.
When Leonard agrees to take on anything if he’s unsuccessful in the Dame-off later, Lynda pounces and puts him down for set building duties. Sure enough Leonard doesn’t pass the Ugly Sister test even with the help of Jill’s dressing gown, and Lynda consigns him to the under-stage store, where he finds Jazzer following instructions from costumier Paul to check for hats. Leonard becomes enthused when he finds an old Cinderella’s coach, however, and sets about planning a renovation. Meanwhile at the auditions Tony dons the discarded dressing gown and finds success as ‘Antonia’ – Lynda’s secured her second Ugly Sister. Vince puts in a cryptic appearance, claiming to suspicious Lynda and Lilian that he’s just passing. He heads off, commenting that he hopes it will all be worthwhile.
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13:16
27/01/2025
Lynda enthuses to Lilian about putting on Cinderella. She’s convinced it’s the right choice of panto. They just need a good script, and the star attraction, which is down to Joy.Joy and Mick chat awkwardly about their future, and Mick wonders whether they should give themselves until the end of the week to decide whether their current living arrangement can continue. Joy talks about the panto and reveals that Berwick Kaler, the well know pantomime dame, is in town, and she wonders whether she might approach him. Mick warns Joy off of interfering, as she did with Rochelle. But Joy seeks out Berwick, and he turns down her request for him to perform for no money. Joy and Jazzer share some mutual frustration, as he’s caught between feuding Tracy and Susan; they should just have their scrap and get over themselves. Joy wonders if that would work for her and Mick. Later Mick confesses to Jazzer that Joy’s a mystery to him. In the spirit of helping, Mick organises a secret meeting with Berwick Kaler at the Bull, with Jazzer looking on intrigued. Berwick’s answer is still no, but Mick explains Joy’s motives. With some business over a piece of paper and mystery financial offer, Berwick seems ready to negotiate. Later, excited Joy informs Lynda and Lilian that Berwick has changed his mind; she has secured her star. Joy worries briefly that other potential cast members might be intimidated, but when news spreads they’re inundated with volunteers to play the other Ugly Sister – they’ll have to have a Dame-off!
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13:14
26/01/2025
Lilian does her best to pacify fretful Joy, who’s taking the cancellation of the Felpersham pantomime very hard. Lilian assures her all is well, and she’s not to blame. Lilian asks about Mick, and the real cause of Joy’s disquiet becomes apparent as she admits they’re not really speaking. Mick blames her for Rochelle leaving, and Joy doesn’t know where she stands with him now.Tracy’s cross with Susan, who’s borrowed her best shoes and lost one of them. Later Susan and Joy share their angst over being got at by people.
Lynda enjoys a bit of an ‘I told you so’ moment with the panto cancellation; she feels Felpersham never really puts its heart into productions and that they could learn a lot from her, but they’ve missed their chance having turned down a proposition from her in the past. Vince disagrees that village productions are better, and he and Lynda have a spat. He’s annoyed with Joy for building up the excitement over the Felpersham show and now he has disappointed employees and families to deal with. Lynda takes issue with this and defends Joy. Moreover she declares she could do better than Felpersham in a fraction of the time, and finds herself betting five hundred pounds she can put on a panto by Friday. Later she quails a little, but Lilian buoys her up. Lynda will do a fine job – Lilian is right behind her. They suggest enlisting Joy’s help. Joy’s nervous initially but eventually agrees to find the star attraction for the panto.
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13:01
24/01/2025
Ben apologises again to Zainab for last night’s takeaway incident. Zainab brushes it off – Ben should stop saying sorry all the time. Later Ben tries to track down Azra. He tells Zainab he’s worried he might have got something wrong at work, oversharing his own mental health experience with a patient. Zainab recommends he doesn’t beat himself up, but takes a step back. He did what he thought was right at the time, and no-one’s been harmed. Ben thanks her for her wise words.Vince continues his campaign to move in to Lower Loxley. Contrary to Elizabeth’s claim that the private quarters are small, he reckons there’s tons of room. Elizabeth counters good naturedly that she thought they’d resolved this. Vince accepts it and they change the subject. Elizabeth remarks she thinks Joy sounds a bit low – she’s meeting her later for tea. As they banter contentedly Elizabeth admits to Vince that she loves him. Things are pretty near perfect right now and she doesn’t want to spoil it. To cheer him up she presents Vince with the gift of a signet ring she’d been saving for their anniversary. She’s very committed to him. Vince is delighted with it. Later, pleased for Elizabeth and Vince, Joy admits that she and Mick are struggling a bit. Having Rochelle around has changed the dynamic. But as Joy starts to open up her phone rings. The roof at the Felpersham panto venue has virtually collapsed. The show’s off. Joy despairs – everything she does turns to disaster, and Elizabeth doesn’t know the half of it.
Colombia