I thought that Sam's farewell address to the Herd was really touching, until that tart Ruth came into the cowshed and broke the magical bond between mand and beasts. God, she's hard.

She should have got Alister to put Sam to sleep (God knows Alister has that effect on me). Instead, poor Sam will now have to rove the airwaves alone, turning up occasionally to beg at the doors of miserable hovels like Start the Week and You and Yours. I don't know where he'll find work - I can't think of any other herd on the air. You can't call walk-on parts in Thomas Hardy serialisations a life can you?

As I write here it's just been on R4 that a listener found Ruth and Sam's failed tryst to be an "anticlimax".

Suggestions for next shocking plotline?