The Archers - 26/08/2008

Joe notices that Bartleby is lame, and the vet confirms that the pony has had a thorn in his foot. Joe's worried that not only will this threaten his promise to take Usha to the church, he'll also have trouble fulfilling his Swap Club 'errands'. Then he'll miss out on all sorts of other things in return. Bert tells him about the solution he and Clarrie have come up with of an IOU. Joe's inspired, and is soon running up IOUs all over the village. David stops to talk to Ruth on his way to ploughing. As he pulls away, disaster strikes as Alan approaches on his bike and has to swerve to avoid David's tractor. Alan's shaken but OK. Ruth's horrified when David admits he didn't get the faulty indicator on the tractor fixed. But Alan's more worried about his trousers, and is delighted when David offers to take him to Borchester General for a check up. All is revealed when they get to Underwoods so Alan can deliver his wedding trousers for alteration. David's keen to return home before he gets into even more trouble with Ruth. Alan's just anxious to make sure that no-one tells Usha about the trousers. Episode written by Carole Simpson Solazzo.