A special secret
Charley and Mariette share exciting news with Pop…
With the usually carefree Pop at a seriously low ebb thanks to the machinations of the dastardly Jerebohms, the Larkin patriarch could do with a stroke of good fortune.
However, things don’t get off to the best start this week when Reverend Candy’s mass christening in the Larkins’ pool is a disaster, and poor Miss Pilchester, who’s pining for Pop (Bradley Walsh), ends up a bit worse for drink, and has to be carted home in a wheelbarrow!
Luckily, Mariette (Joelle Ray) decides to cheer up her father by sharing the news that she and Charley are expecting, and Pop is going to be a grandpa! But can Pop, who’s been sworn to secrecy, keep the news to himself?
Family matters
For Bradley, whose son Barney is also in the cast as local bobby PC Harness, the grandad plot line really struck a chord. ‘I asked especially if I could wear my own grandfather’s hat,’ says Bradley, who became a grandad last year when his daughter, Hayley, had a son.
‘It is from just prior to the war, and is the only thing I kept of my grandad Daniel Walsh’s when he passed away. So I’m carrying a bit of him while playing Pop Larkin!’