Derek strikes again!

Derek strikes again!
Derek strikes again!

OK. Who thought we would never hear of dirty Derek again - except in the rows between Lisa and Zak? Well, you were very wrong. Dirty Derek has attacked another woman and now the police want to reopen Lisa's case. That's what she has to tell Zak as he apologises for the way he's been behaving. It should be good news (of sorts; at least there's a chance Derek will be put behind bars), but Zak doesn't seem to see it that way... It looks like Jackson is trying to get on with his life. First a successful dinner date with Aaron and now a winning trip to a football game with Aaron and their personal gang of supporters: Hazel, Jerry, Chas, Rhona and Paddy. Yay! Go team Jackson... just don't push him too hard too fast. Life is changing fast at Butlers Farm and Farmer John may soon be just plain John. He has plans to extend the lease on the property for another 15 years, but his landlord, Declan, has plans to sell up. Ah, so that's why he had Adam help him show a surveyor around the farm. John's furious, but Adam doesn't care; he plans to move out anyway. *Second episode* Farmer John is definitely not as happy as a pig in muck. He's convinced Declan has used Adam against him and marches up to Home Farm to tell Declan just that then storms off. Declan insists Adam knew nothing of his plans to sell Butlers (and he didn't - he wasn't bright enough to put two and two together), but Adam discovers Mia did know what her dad was up to and he storms out, too. That's just Round One, though. It all kicks off again in The Woolpack and John takes a swing at Declan, who declares war... Amy wants to make love, not war and her lover of choice would be David. She's only 16 (and not always sweet with it), but David has a soft spot for his foster sister and unwittingly shows Amy the attention she craves when she helps out at a council dinner at the B&B's restaurant. Zak finally tells Lisa what she's been longing to hear: that he will stand by her through every step of the horrible business with Derek - and he gives her a big cuddle to emphasise that he's not keeping his distance any more. About time, too, Zachariah Dingle!

Patrick McLennan

Patrick McLennan is a London-based journalist and documentary maker who has worked as a writer, sub-editor, digital editor and TV producer in the UK and New Zealand. His CV includes spells as a news producer at the BBC and TVNZ, as well as web editor for Time Inc UK. He has produced TV news and entertainment features on personalities as diverse as Nick Cave, Tom Hardy, Clive James, Jodie Marsh and Kevin Bacon and he co-produced and directed The Ponds, which has screened in UK cinemas, BBC Four and is currently available on Netflix. 

An entertainment writer with a diverse taste in TV and film, he lists Seinfeld, The Sopranos, The Chase, The Thick of It and Detectorists among his favourite shows, but steers well clear of most sci-fi.