07/03/2025

Playing football outside their Beechwood house with Akram, Khalil’s shot just misses Joy and Lilian. Akram apologises before disappearing inside to check on the workmen’s progress, while Khalil offers to try and repair the broken robot vacuum cleaner Joy is carrying.

At Bridge Farm Tony is touching up the scenery on his model train layout when Natasha probes into the awkward atmosphere between Pat and Tony. Tony admits there’s an issue over Pat’s new-found zeal for campaigning against Borsetshire Water. Natasha is sympathetic to Pat but Tony remains sceptical it will achieve anything. Tony then asks if Natasha is hiding and she admits to putting something off that she doesn’t want to do.

Later, Akram introduces himself to moody Kirsty, who curses her bad luck with her house while touching up some external paintwork. While helping Kirsty with this Akram talks about how the best laid plans can go awry. He always thought his family would return to Pakistan permanently one day, but the others seem settled in Ambridge – or at least they would be if they could get back into their house.

In the meantime Khalil has taken the vacuum cleaner apart before confessing he can’t put it back together. But when they take the vacuum over to Bridge Farm Tony is able to diagnose the problem and fix it, to Joy’s great relief.

Conciliatory Natasha finds Kirsty to apologise for her tone yesterday, but explains they really can’t shift on their position. Neither can Kirsty. Natasha doesn’t want their friendship to suffer, accepting that if the house sale isn’t meant to happen then so be it.