08/02/2021

Brian’s dismayed to find Alice is thinking of taking a year’s maternity leave. She’s been invaluable in the office, and fun. He presents her with a cheque to help out her and Chris with baby expenses. Alice is touched. She calls Chris to tell him about the money, and admits her first thought was that it could go towards paying off the credit card debt run up by her detox. She feels awful that it’ll be spent on something no-one even knows about. Chris tells her not to worry. They’re discussing this evening’s visit to Peggy when Chris traps his hand in the van door. Alice rushes to his side. Her thoughts had run away with her and she admits she was worried he’d done something really serious. Chris is everything to her and keeps her on track. Full of mutual love, they cancel their planned trip to The Lodge. Susan’s looking forward to the article she and Neil were interviewed for appearing in The Borchester Echo. She might even get her radio show back. Neil’s shocked when Brian calls him to haul him over the coals – Brian can’t believe what Neil’s said in his interview which has been published online. Neil insists his words have been twisted but Brian’s implacable. Neil apologises; they only wanted to raise awareness. But Martyn Gibson’s ready to strangle him and Brian’s got to try and defend him. It’s not looking good for Neil’s job. Tearful Susan blames herself; Neil tries to reassure her it’s not all her fault.