فصل 17

As the new year begins in Beckindale, Kathy and Jackie are planning their wedding. But the future is less rosy at NY Estates where Joe Sugden must make the entire workforce redundant.

After a Christmas spent apart, Joe confides in Ruth. Alan is becoming increasingly grumpy with his staff, especially Seth. Malcolm clearly disapproves of his daughter Kathy marrying a farm labourer, Jackie. Kathy even sobs and has to be comforted by Jackie. Christopher Meadows arrives to do an inventory of goods at Home Farm. He is surprised to see Home Farm had a fish farm as he thought it was a sewage works. Archie finds an abandoned car at Crossgill and has plans to renovate it. Dolly is desperate to move to Crossgill but has to convince Matt.

Jack and Joe hatch a plot against NY Estates, while house-hunting adds to Jackie and Kathy's pre-wedding nerves. Jock is offered a job in Norfolk, at the NY branch there.

Woe betide anyone who gets in Alan's way after he hears NY Estates plans for his future. When Seth has problems with the birds in the woods, he asks to speak to Alan for advice but Alan gives Seth an earful and Seth walks out. Caroline says that he was very harsh with Seth there. Alan goes to The Woolpack and says a few home truths to Amos, upsetting him. Jock does not want to take the job in Norfolk as he wants to stay in Beckindale with his mates. Liz accuses him of being more loyal to his friends than his family.

Joe has an unexpected encounter with two angry women. Jock wants to make amends with Liz. Liz has stayed with Matt and Dolly at Emmerdale Farm. And at The Woolpack, Amos is frosty with Alan after his rant at him last night. Alan tries to talk to Amos but Amos ignores him. Jock is drinking heavily. Jackie is offered a wedding gift by Hinton. Joe, Alan and Henry discuss the future of Home Farm. Amos is annoyed to see Alan in the back room. He wants him to apologise for his outburst the other night.

It's the end of an era when Mrs Bates arrives for her last day of work as Turner's secretary. Jock accuses Matt and Dolly of persuading his wife Liz to leave him. Jackie is excited about his upcoming wedding.

Phil arranges a stag night dinner for Jackie, but he's not prepared for the arrival of an unexpected guest. However, everyone is shocked when Tom turns up all of a sudden. He attends the stag night at Mill Cottage. Tom and Jack almost argue again. Jack is annoyed that Joe has not come to the stag night, and not even rung. Sgt MacArthur pulls a prank on Jackie by faking an arrest, saying that Dolly has been charged with being drunk and disorderly. MacArthur says another police officer will be coming to see them, and they answer the door but it is only Joe, as the special guest. Jackie laughs when he realises MacArthur played a joke on him.

It's the day before Jackie's and Kathy's wedding, and also the day of the sale at Home Farm, which Sandie will be conducting. Alan is interested in buying furniture for his and Joe's new venture, but Joe is more hesitant

It is the big day for Jackie and Kathy, but not before Kathy's dress is ruined in a flood at the Bates home while she is having her hen do at The Woolpack.

The reception for Jackie's wedding to Kathy is held at Emmerdale Farm. Seth plays the piano. Everyone has a good time and makes speeches. Archie makes a speech. Tom says to Jackie that he will not like it for long at Emmerdale. Jackie disagrees. Kathy looks forward to life as Mrs Merrick. Jack makes a sarcastic jibe at Kathy's father Malcolm. When Malcolm walks off, Jack smiles. Joe is told by Ruth that she is marrying Liam. Jackie and Kathy then leave for their honeymoon and drive to Leeds Bradford Airport. Kathy asks where they are going and Jackie tells her to look at the tickets. It is Tunisia. She is pleased.

Jackie and Kathy are in Tunisia for their honeymoon. Tom prepares to leave Beckindale. At Mill Cottage he says goodbye to Phil and then tells daughter Sandie to be good and look after No 1. Joe and Alan are preparing for the auction of Home Farm to see if they can get to buy the property. Joe says he has some final business to see to with Christopher Meadows. In Tunisia, Jackie and Kathy lose track of each other when walking around the El Djem, a Colosseum type amphitheater. Kathy chats with a stranger called Amir. Jackie sees them and tells Kathy they have to go now. When walking away he says she should not talk to strange men. As Jackie and Kathy leave, Amir looks on, in a slightly sinister way.

Jackie and Kathy are still on honeymoon, and Kathy wants an adventure on her honeymoon. As they are waiting to get the car fixed, Amir pulls up beside them. Jackie realises it is the man who Kathy spoke to yesterday. Jackie worries that he is following them. However Amir gets their car fixed for them. Joe wants to speak to Ruth but she still has not changed her mind about the deal. Joe thumps his car. Jackie and Kathy go to a high vantage point. The big day for the sale of Home Farm is looming and Turner and Joe are ready. Amir takes Jackie and Kathy to his family home. They have a dinner with them and watch Amir's family dancing.

It's the big day in Beckindale, the sale of Home Farm and the rest of NY Estates' holdings in the area. Jack is in a very good mood, which doesn't go unnoticed. Alan is tense before the auction and his mood isn't helped when Seth, Jock and Bill turn up at Home Farm.

Alan Turner and Joe Sugden are delighted to be the new owners of Home Farm. But there is tension between the workforce. Barry and Jock argue and Seth has to stop them from almost fighting.

Everyone is talking about Jack's romance with Barbara - but Annie is furious when he puts it before Jackie and Kathy's return from their honeymoon.

As Jackie and Kathy start to enjoy married life, Phil and Sandie find their relationship tough going. Matt is told that Crossgill Farm will be transferred into his name and he has to see his lawyer to get it transferred. Jock and Bill are offered a weeks work at Home Farm but are being considered for a full-time job by Alan. At The Woolpack, Amos is sceptical about the new nozzles for the beer pumps but when he is alone, he tests them. Annie confronts Jack about putting his love life with Barbara before his family. Jack is quite stubborn and will not stop seeing Barbara. He then goes off to tend to his crying son.

Matt and Dolly try to decide whether to stay at Emmerdale Farm - while Jack has thoughts of Barbara living there. And at Home Farm, Jock is accused of backstabbing by Barry, as Jock and Bill have been taken on full-time whereas Barry hasn't. Barry thinks Jock and Bill getting a weeks work at first was them sliming their way into getting a full-time job there. Barry then leaves, disgusted. Alan has some very important guests coming to Home Farm and they arrive in style. But Turner is not impressed by Seth and Bill embarrassing him by arriving in toff's clothing. Turner tells them to wait well away from the front of Home Farm. When Jack visits Barbara in Hotten, the play music and kiss passionately.

Ruth is riding Saint the stallion around a field. And it is love and war in Beckindale. Love proves difficult for both Jack and Joe but war proves all too easy for Amos and Henry in the battle of the beers. Joe takes his difficult love life out on Alan by shouting at him when Alan wants to discuss business. And Jack finds out that Barbara is still in love with another man, so they decide to end their relationship. Jack drives off into the night, content. Jack drives to Home Farm and has a brotherly chat with Joe about women.

Jock, Bill and Caroline all get the good news that they can have their jobs back permanently if they want them. Naturally they all accept. Annie's going to Hotten to visit a sick friend so Kathy offers to cook instead.

Kathy is still worried that she is not fitting in well at Emmerdale, and worries that Annie does not want her around.

Nick has been out all night. His mum Caroline is worried. Nick has stayed with Archie at his caravan. Alan berates Jock for being late with the Land Rover yesterday.

Sandie's relationship with Phil is about to change dramatically - today will confirm or deny her suspicions. Jock is fast becoming a liability at Home Farm as he is hungover.

A crisis at the fish farm brings Joe and Ruth closer together, but all it promises Jock is the sack. There is a blockage in one of the inlets at the fish farm. When Jock returns he realises it was his job to check the inlets. The blockage was caused by a dead animal. Ruth pulls the dead animal out of the inlet.

An increasingly depressed Jock mouths off at Turner in The Woolpack in front of Charles Douglas, a friend of Turner. Jock says it is not his fault what happened at the fish farm as no one showed him how to check the inlets for blockages.

It's the morning after the night before. Alan regrets what he did do, while Joe and Ruth regret what they didn't. Alan faces the wrath of his business partner Joe when Joe is angry at him for drink driving, and losing them a very important client.

Sandie's pregnancy is causing problems between her and Phil, when, suddenly, everything changes - and Beckindale is suddenly full of twitchers. Seth chats to one of the twitchers but gets no response. Amos is then inundated with customers at The Woolpack - the bird watchers. Kathy goes to the pub to help Amos out. Jackie thinks that they are not spending enough time together now they are married. Sandie tells Phil that she has had a miscarriage. Sandie then says that Phil should be pleased she lost the baby as he never wanted the baby. Phil accuses her of being sorry for herself.

Amos is determined not to be caught out twice by the bird-watchers. Also he is still worried that Henry is going to move to Italy, seeing as Seth saw Henry at the travel agents in Hotten earlier on.

Amos reveals the secret of his black stockings, while Jack comes from the library with a mystery, a romance - and a date! Joe has a plan to make him and Alan fast cash at Home Farm. As they need to pay off the mortgage, Joe plans on having acres of trees on Home Farm land felled. Joe takes Alan to the woodland where he announces his plan. Joe has called a surveyor called Stephen Fuller. Fuller arrives, and says that the trees are full of knots, and the previous owners did not take care of the trees. Alan walks off in a huff. Joe tells Fuller that Alan was the previous manager and Joe was his boss before they recently bought the place. Fuller admits he was a bit hasty with his remarks about the previous managers. Eric wants his old job back as the auctioneer at Hotten Market.

The only way Joe and Turner can stay in business is to cut down hundreds of beautiful trees - and Jack is determined to stop them. When he hears this, he leaves The Woolpack to see Joe. After Jack has gone, Stephen says to Sandie that they will be cutting down enough trees to make Jack really mad. Jack confronts Joe and says the trees belong to Beckindale but Joe says they are his now. Joe says that the cutting down and sale of these trees will keep Home Farm in business and will be beneficial to the community in the long run. Jack leaves in disgust. Jack also invites his new girlfriend Sarah Connolly round to Emmerdale.

Kathy doesn't want a job, while both Sandie and Eric do and Alan and Seth find themselves with not one job, but two. Annie says that Jack seems to be in a odd mood. Jack says it is due to Joe and Alan cutting down hundreds of trees to make money for Home Farm. Seth and Amos are embroiled in an allotment war, and said the sewage works go under Amos' allotment. The second of Seth and Alan's jobs is to help Alan and Bill repair the flood damage at the Bates house. But while doing the work, Alan breaks one of Caroline Bates's ornaments. Alan then starts to fall through the ceiling, but manages to grab the bannisters so only his legs go through the ceiling. He assures Caroline that he is quite alright. Jackie is stood watching and laughs.

Seth has left his onions at The Bates' house after helping with the repairs last night, and his chances of winning the Master Gardeners Competition are scuppered when Alan, Nick and Caroline eat the onions for their dinner.

Phil risks his relationship with Sandie when Eric persuades him to step the wrong side of the law. Sarah Connolly visits Jack at Emmerdale Farm. Having had his onions accidentally eaten, Seth wants to win The Master Gardeners Competition, and steals some flowers from Home Farm. He is seen by Nick who pretends to be Alan, and Seth starts to make his excuses, but he turns round and realises Nick is playing a prank on him. Seth lets him in on the secret. At the competition in The Woolpack, Seth is found out and exposed as a cheat. He plays innocent but everyone in the pub boos him and calls him a cheat.

Nick and Caroline are settling in well at Home Farm during their temporary stay there. Seth has been barred from The Woolpack due to cheating at the Master Gardeners Competition. Nick has high hopes of finding work when Alan fixes him an interview - while Sandie makes a frightening discovery about Phil and Eric. Eric has bought a £180 Victorian chest which Phil is doing up, maybe as a con to make money. Sandie tells Phil that she is on to him.

Nick and Caroline are eating Alan out of house and home during their stay at Home Farm. They agree to go Dutch. Joe has a bull delivered to Home Farm, and it seems to frighten Nick a bit. Sarah is getting fed up of Jack's arrogance and attitude, and his sly digs at her best pals. She tells him it is 1988 now and he needs to grow up. She then walks off. Ruth returns from a weekend in Ireland with her fiancé with some startling news for Joe. She says she has split from Liam for good. She says her and Joe can be together.

Suddenly, there's nothing to stop Joe and Ruth being together - but Sandie and Phil are being forced apart. Bill takes the bull to the market. Eric and Phil plan to make fast cash. He has bought a Victorian chest for £180, which Phil has made up to look Georgian so he can sell it for a profit and rip people off. Phil sells it for £2000. Eric gives Phil the money. Alan is facing his day in court over his drink driving incident but orders Seth to hurry up with the repairs at The Bates' house as he feels that Nick and Caroline are eating him out of house and home at Home Farm. Jack has ordered some tree trunks, so he can plant them and grown them into trees. Annie thinks Jack is reading too much into the tree felling at Home Farm.

Alan counts the cost of his brush with the law, while for Annie, of all people, crime apparently does pay! Sandie confronts Eric about him and Phil's dodgy antique fraud. She says she should expose him as a fraud and when he threatens her, she grabs him by the collar. He backs off.

Dolly decides that it's time Archie found a new home, while Joe and Ruth move a step closer to living together.

Seth's new look gives the rest of Beckindale something to chew over, while a dinner guest at Emmerdale Farm gives both Jack and Dolly food for thought.

Amos considers buying his eggs from somebody other than Dolly, noting that his current eggs are of better quality. At Emmerdale Farm, Dolly wonders why her hens aren't laying many eggs.

Phil risks his life and saves Annie from Crossgill , but Jack is suspcious about how the fire started. Dolly is devastated. She has flashbacks to all their hopes and dreams for the place. Alan still has no voice, and Caroline has to read the speech in front of the amused guests. Seth disposes of his false teeth, in a scarecrow.

Matt tries to pick up the pieces and start again after the aftermath of the fire, but Dolly has lost interest in their future. Jack still wants to know how the fire at Crossgill Farm started. Phil knows he left some rags near the stove, but does not tell Jack this, so fobs him off. Matt suggests faulty wiring may have started the fire. Alan still has no voice, so Seth decides to play on this as he also thinks Alan is deaf. Seth goes to the pub, but Alan follows, and when Alan tries some egg in vinegar, he gets his voice back. He is annoyed at Seth for thinking he was deaf as well as temporarily mute and had conned his way to skiving off down the pub. Phil claims the fire at Crossgill was just an accident but Dolly says Annie almost died.

Sandie strikes up a friendship with Stephen, and it looks like Phil's problems have only just begun. The 2 tourists, Simon Dowling and his sister Lucy complain about the local water, and also are not impressed by the attitude of some of the locals so quickly leave.

Dolly takes off from the routines of Emmerdale Farm, and a chance encounter with Stephen promises excitement - but danger too. She gets a small piece of straw in her eye, and Stephen - used to working in timber yards etc - tells her he is something of an expert at getting bits of sawdust out of people's eyes, and manages to fish it out with a handkerchief. Henry is doing more bird watching and notices a peregrine falcon.

Henry and Matt rescue an injured peregrine falcon near the farm. Matt also speaks with Alan about fixing a faulty wall at Emmerdale. Dolly finds herself far away from Emmerdale, from Matt, and all the certainties of married life. She meets Steve by chance in Harrogate where he teaches some days at the agricultural college. She mentions how she was going to have another child after Sam but that went wrong, and she still feels very sorry about it. She says that she is happy at Emmerdale though. As they part, Stephen asks to see her again, next week. Hesitant initially, she agrees to meet him.

Dolly's absences from the farm have not gone unnoticed, and Matt is determined to find out what's been going on. Stephen goes to the rendevous point he and Dolly had arranged, but Dolly was unable to go: Matt had insisted they spend the day together to try and sort things out. Dolly had tried phoning to let him know, but was unable to reach him. Later, Phil jumps to conclusions when he sees Stephen chatting to Sandie outside the Woolpack, overhearing the end of the conversation, gaining entirely the wrong impression.

Phil, his suspicions about Stephen and Sandie getting the better of him, confronts Stephen in the Woolpack, threatening to punch him, whereupon Stephen puts him straight, telling him that Sandie actually thinks the world of him. Ironically, Matt defends Stephen, telling Phil he's being ridiculous. Later, Stephen meets Dolly at the rendevous place they'd agreed before, and pressures Dolly to spend the afternoon with him. Dolly resists, and they part, but as she is driving away, changes her mind and follows him to his cottage. Time is running out, and she knows she's risking losing both Matt and Stephen.

Sam is taken ill and Dolly is nowhere to be found. But Matt has a pretty good idea where she is. Stephen has been offered a job in Scotland. She says she loves him and does not want him to go away to Scotland for his new job. Joe calls round to the forresters cottage, but Dolly hides in the bedroom. Dolly returns to Emmerdale and is met by a furious Matt who knows she has been with Stephen.

Stephen tries to stop the affair with Dolly before any more damage is done - but as far as Matt's concerned it's already too late. Stephen then leaves for Scotland alone. Donald Hinton says that he saw Dolly leave the forresters cottage where Stephen was. Matt confronts Dolly about her affair with Stephen. Matt says that their marriage is over

Stephen has gone - and Dolly's attempts to pick up the pieces of her life are hard enough, without the village gossip. Eric cracks nasty jokes at Matt and Dolly's expense. Alan asks him to keep quiet.

Nick foils a raid on the Beckindale Shop and post office. He proves to be a hero of the hour. But as the robbers flee the scene, they drop some of the money onto the floor. Nick cannot help but take some of the money that the robbers dropped on the floor.

A quiet drink in The Woolpack turns into a nightmare for Matt, while Joe and Sandie discover that both Ruth and Phil have guilty secrets. Matt storms out of the pub when Phil asks how he is, and goes to his truck and cries. Jack follows him and provides a shoulder to cry on for Matt. They go back to fix the fence and then decide to call it a day. Nick is becoming friendlier with Clare Sutcliffe.

Joe has to decide whether he still wants to marry Ruth - and Nick discovers that the money he stole has gone missing. He goes to phone the police but then decides not to. Nick tells Archie. Archie gives him a lift into Leeds. Joe is horrified to discover that Ruth saw Liam while she was in Ireland. Ruth wants to be with Joe but he feels she may still remain in touch with Liam and that he cannot risk that. He says that every time she goes out, he will think she is going to see Liam or to phone him. She tries to talk him round but he says the trust has gone. He decides to break up with Ruth for good and asks her to leave.

Annie and Dolly have a chat about her marriage to Matt. Dolly has booked a holiday but Matt is not in the holiday mood and ends up tearing up the tickets. Phil is in trouble with the Inland Revenue and Sandie finds that he has been lying through his teeth about their debts. Nick is hiding his grief over stealing some of the money left over by the robbers in the Post Office raid. He and Archie meet Clare's sister Helen while in Leeds. They go to a department store and then onto a nightclub.

Eric chats up Dolly at Hotten Cattle Market and an angry Matt threatens to break his neck. Ruth and Joe call off their relationship once and for all and she decides to return to Ireland so she can marry Liam. Matt says he should have hit Eric. Matt and Dolly still have a lot of marriage troubles but plan to work on it. Nick takes Clare around Leeds. He then gets a bus back to Beckindale and invites her to visit him there.

Nick is still in a strange mood. Mrs. Bates and Kathy Merrick try and find out what is wrong with him. They even worry he may be on drugs but Kathy knows he would not do drugs. Dolly gets a letter from Stephen saying his offer to join her in Scotland is still on. Nick, Archie, Jackie, Clare and Helen have a party at Emmerdale Farm while Annie Sugden goes out for the evening.

Matt, Dolly and Sam are packing to go on holiday in Spain. While Matt takes a look around the farm to see that everything is alright, Dolly talks to Annie about the future

Someone calls the Woolpack in the middle of night and wakes up Amos. Kathy tells Jackie that she thinks there is something odd about Clare.

Matt, Dolly and Sam are back from their holiday, but there's still tension between them. Nick is looking for Clare, but Archie's sure she's left Beckindale for good.

Amos is fighting the death watch beetle in The Woolpack, but it looks like he's got a fight on his hands with Donald too, if he wants to hang on to his clothes!

An evening spent remembering the past takes Jack and Marian to the brink of a startling new future.

The longer Marian stays with Jack the more she risks, and Henry is determined to send her home.

It looks like Caroline has found a companion. Alan decides that only desperate measures will even the score!

Alan decides that the best way to get over Caroline's affair is to have one of his own. While, Matt finds disturbing evidence that Dolly's affair might not be in the past.

Annie returns to the farm keen to catch up on the news, but Jack makes an announcement that shocks not just Annie but the rest of the family as well.

Amos' brother Ezra turns up at The Woolpack. Amos wonders why he has suddenly turned up after not seeing Amos for a few years. At Home Farm some people are surveying the land. Turner notices them and is wondering why they are here. Ezra says he has suddenly got a phobia for meat and is going vegetarian.

The alarm on one of the barns at Emmerdale Farm is going off. Matt stops it as a distressed Dolly worries the police may arrive. Amos' brother Ezra is staying at the Woolpack

Jack is getting ready to leave Beckindale to live with Marian in Italy. It is the 2nd anniversary of the death of his wife Pat as well and tensions are running high at Emmerdale Farm. Jackie accuses Jack of being selfish and also for forgetting the anniversary of Pat's death. Meanwhile, Ezra fights his sudden phobia of meat once and for all by carving up and mincing meat in a shed at Emmerdale Farm with Amos, Jack and Jackie watching. He then leaves to return to Whitehaven.

It is an emotional day at Emmerdale Farm as Jack is preparing to leave again to live with Marian in Rome. He bids an emotional farewell to everyone and then leaves for the airport. Turner has been invited to lunch in Hotten with Denis Rigg. Denis turns up late and when he suggests to Turner that he buys Joe out of Home Farm. Turner walks out saying he will not see his partner out of a home, leaving Denis with a flea in his ear.

Sandie has welcomed her new lodgers at Mill Cottage. They are Kate and her teenage children Rachel and Mark. Mark and Rachel now have to adjust to living in new surroundings. Turner is nursing a massive hangover and even has a touch of diarrhoea. Joe meets Kate again at the local supermarket. She says that is her day job. Kate says she saw Denis Rigg at The Feathers last night with a well dressed big man with a posh voice. Joe suspects it was Turner. Alan has not yet met Kate officially. Joe worries that Denis is trying to play him and Alan into selling their shares in Home Farm.

There's a dog on the loose in Beckindale attacking sheep, but while Joe tries to track it down, Alan is more than interested in a visitor from the skies!

When he finds the dog that's been killing sheep, Joe thinks his troubles are over, but they're only just beginning. Jackie, too thinks his future's looking brighter as he takes over at Emmerdale Farm, but, like Joe, he's a nasty shock in store

The balloon goes up at Beckindale fete, as Seth sets out to prove that Amos's tales of daredevil flying are so much hot air, while Joe's joy-ride turns out to be anything but and Dolly's emotions are up in the air when she hears that Stephen may be around.

Henry sets off to investigate the strange disappearance of Amos - last seen two days ago wandering on the Yorkshire Moors!

Tensions between Joe and Jackie come to a head when Annie is involved in an accident at Emmerdale Farm.

Amos is back in Beckindale with a surprise for the village. There's a surprise too for Joe, who finds himself the third person at an intimate dinner for two.

For the second night running, an unexpected guest ruins Joe's evening - but Nick is determined not to let a surprise visitor ruin his.

It's not only pheasants in the firing line as Home Farm stages its first shoot of the season. Alan's gunning for Seth, while Nick finds himself in Eric's sights.

Three's a crowd at The Woolpack - but who should go, Gloria, Amos or Henry? Alan, meanwhile, has no such problem about who should leave Home Farm.

Joe becomes the unusual white knight defending Rachel - but who's going to defend Joe against Denis?

Unexpected visitors mean that the party's over for both Amos and Archie - but when Joe turns up to celebrate Kate's birthday, the party's not even begun.

Nick is determined to get Helen out of his hair, but he's reckoned without the fury of a woman scorned.

Intrigue at Home Farm as Alan gets ready to stab Joe in the back, but it looks like Joe may be about to make a move of his own.

Seth is determined to get his old job back at Home Farm, and decides it's time he took the law into his own hands.

When Joe discovers that Alan has stabbed him in the back it's Phil who bears the full brunt of his fury.

While Eric and Phil plot their revenge on Sandie - with Nick's help, Seth is making the new gamekeeper pay dearly for taking his job.

Joe's beginning to think he has no chance in his battle against Denis, but help is on the way from Joe's unlikeliest ally - Kate Hughes.

Denis has a shock in store for Alan who, in turn, has a shock for Seth and Hugh - and the shocks don't even end there, as Joe discovers.

Joe has to decide where his future lies, while Henry and Amos decide where Archie's does.

Neither Joe nor Dolly are looking for love - instead, love comes looking for them, and from unexpected quarters.

Is Kate with Phil or Joe? Amos is puzzled, but, little does he know that Kate can't decide either.

The Sugdens and Skilbecks celebrate with champagne while Nick ends up in a ditch.

Sandie catches Kate and Joe in a compromising situation, while Kathy hears a confession. Stephen is killed by a tree.

A visit from a policeman causes Dolly to take flight - while the rest of the Beckindale practices their scales.

Sandie finds she has a most unlikely admirer. Jackie feels Kathy is interfering in something that doesn't concern her.

For Dolly and Matt, it's the day of Stephen's funeral, but Joe and Kate decide it's picnic time!

Kathy is in a tough frame of mind; first standing up to Eric and then giving Annie a stern warning.

Sandie gets a shock when bailiffs from the Inland Revenue arrive at her house - accompanied by Phil!

Joe decides to move back to Emmerdale Farm - and he's determined to take Kate with him.

As Eric and Phil try to entice Nick to break the law, Joe tries to entice Kate to Emmerdale Farm for Christmas.

Nick and Phil go over their plan for the robbery. Phil threatens to drop Nick in it with the police about the robbery money if he doesn't turn up. Matt puts presents under the Christmas tree and finds one addressed to him by Dolly.

Boxing Day festivities at the farm mean Give Us A Clue time for Annie and the family, while Henry plugs into his Christmas present and Alan falls asleep where he shouldn't.

While Kate is becoming one of the family it's moving day for Jackie and Kathy - and maybe for Matt and Dolly too.