It is spring at Wiveton Hall and the beginning of the busy Norfolk tourist season. In a bid to raise the profile of his cafe, Desmond has organised for a restaurant critic to write a review. On the farm, the asparagus is ready for harvest. But nothing is straightforward at Wiveton Hall and Desmond's bid to renovate a dilapidated cottage is in danger of derailing the entire operation.
Summer has arrived and at Wiveton Hall that means one thing - selling fruit. Over the next few months, several tonnes of strawberries and raspberries will need to be shifted. After a slow start to the season, the pressure is on Desmond and his Eastern European farmhands to deliver. Summer is also the time to start thinking about the shooting season, one of Desmond's greatest passions. A new gamekeeper has been brought in to protect the pheasants on the farm. Can he meet Desmond's expectations? And on the home front, Desmond's 19-year-old son and heir apparent Edmund is hoping to win a place at university, but he'll need top marks in his A-levels first.
It's high summer, but with the cafe and farm underperforming, the pressure is mounting on Desmond and his team. After a washout bank holiday weekend sees the cafe take another big hit, Desmond's latest brainwave is to bring a bluegrass band all the way over from America to play in one of his barns. Away from the stress of the cafe and farm, Desmond's mother, and Wiveton's oldest living resident, Chloe, is about to turn 100. Over a hundred friends and family will descend on Wiveton Hall to celebrate her centenary in what promises to be a quintessentially English garden party. Despite his busy schedule, Desmond still has time to mark the beginning of the duck-shooting season in style. Conditions are perfect, but Desmond's novice gundog still has a lot to learn.
As winter approaches, life on Wiveton Hall farm is slowing down and the eastern European farmhands are heading home. Not one to miss out an opportunity to play with fire, Desmond is putting on a pyrotechnic extravaganza to thank them for their efforts. The end of the tourist season marks the beginning of one of Wiveton Hall's enduring traditions, the pheasant-shooting season. This year, the responsibility of making sure there are enough pheasants on the farm has fallen to new gamekeeper Mark. After months of preparation his hard work will be put to the test when Desmond's close friends and family arrive for the first shoot of the season. But has Desmond still got what it takes to put on a good show?
In this episode, the Wiveton cafe is beginning to thrive, but profits are devoured by the maintenance of the house and gardens. Desmond, with the help of his loyal team, begins to promote the Edwardian wing of Wiveton Hall as a place to stay and takes a booking from an international yoga retreat.
The walls of the beautiful 17th-century Wiveton Hall are lined with portraits of Desmond MacCarthy's ancestors. There is one question hanging in the air - who will take over the running of Wiveton Hall after Desmond? With his son Edmund now at university, Desmond ponders the future of Wiveton. Will it stay in the family for a fourth generation or will Desmond be the last of the MacCarthy's to make Wiveton Hall their home? Elsewhere on the farm, a crisis in the cafe water supply prompts Desmond to go looking for an ancient water well, and Edmund and Desmond go on a night shoot hunting for rats.
It is October at Wiveton. Pigeons are attacking the rape crop, the pigs are getting ready for their final journey to the abattoir and Desmond is cajoling his 101-year-old mother into buying him a new pair of binoculars for his looming 60th birthday. Whilst Desmond does battle with the pigeons, friends and family gather at Wiveton Hall for Desmond's birthday celebration, complete with homemade cockerel korma and poppadoms.
This week, Desmond goes global. As the cafe closes for the winter months, Desmond must rely on other aspects of his business to bring in an income. Keen to attract overseas guests, he launches his holiday cottages on Airbnb and lures an international interiors magazine to do a photoshoot and feature on his ancestral home. Worried about the impact of Brexit, Desmond buys a second-hand caravan in need of renovation which he hopes will help attract eastern European seasonal workers to Norfolk.
Christmas is approaching at Wiveton Hall and Desmond MacCarthy is in a sociable mood, hosting a pheasant shoot for his old friends. The hall and cottages are decorated with Christmas trees and Desmond organises an end of the year party for his staff, where cockerel korma vol-au-vents are on the menu
Wiveton has been in hibernation for the winter months but as spring arrives, the farm comes alive again. Desmond and his team make frantic preparations to reopen the cafe on Mother's Day, complete with a brand new electronic till system, a new mini Wiveton playhouse for the kids and a new set of loos with amazing views. But all does not go according to plan. Just as the mothers settle down to their roast beef lunches, Desmond manages to knock the electricity supply off and panic sets in.
