When the schoolchildren drive their teacher out of the school, Emma Timmins steps in. She feels like she's found her calling as the children behave and listen to her stories with rapt attention. When Margaret Brown hears that the teacher has fled, she immediately goes to the school as she feels it is her duty to help out. Soon, both Margaret and Emma are competing for the children's attention. After a visit to Oxford to collect his new uniform, Thomas Brown returns to Candleford intent on getting a regular 8-hour workday. He creates a local postman's association and threatens industrial action. Dorcas is at something of a loss and is intent on finding our what is truly bothering him. With her eyes firmly set on Alf, Minnie decides she's going to make herself beautiful.
—garykmcd