The parish council election approaches and Pagford is on tenterhooks awaiting the next post from "The Ghost of Barry Fairbrother". Who is The Ghost, and what will they say? Is anyone in the village safe from humiliation? One by one the candidates are picked off, and as tensions rise the finger of suspicion points in many directions. Samantha decides to give a dinner party for all the warring factions on the parish council. But when Howard and Shirley unexpectedly arrive, the party soon spirals out of control. Across in The Fields, Terri is waking up from the mist of her addiction, on the fragile road to recovery. Krystal begins to hope there might be a future for her family.

With the parish council election imminent, tensions rise in Pagford as each side steps up their campaign. Who will triumph in an election fraught with passion, duplicity and unexpected revelations? The battle lines are drawn, and the fate of Sweetlove House hangs in the balance. Meanwhile Samantha and Miles' marriage has reached breaking point. Miles pleads for a quiet life: once the election is over everything will quieten down, but Samantha doesn't believe a word of it. Howard's dark secret is revealed in The Ghost's final post, and in The Fields, Krystal returns home to find Terri back to her old ways. Hope seems more fragile than ever, and news of a tragedy leaves the whole community reeling.