They said they thought it stemmed from the hen party which was held in Milton Keynes so links Bianca and Lauren. Jack is slightly odder but he might have seen Lauren between her returning and getting ill. The incubation period is usually between 24 & 48 hours so wuite possible as she is his niece.

The actors clearly weren't available. At least the excuse is better than them just not being there.

It's clearly leading to something big... the bins in the square are overflowing, attracting pests and rodents of all varieties. People in the square are coming down with a crippling virus.

The virus will become resistant to antibiotics, and infect the rats in the bins, who will grow into 7ft mutant rats. They stage a hostile takeover of the Vic, and the residents are left with a moral dilemma when the mutant rat landlord proves to be more personable than Mick, and with far greater charisma and charm.

Very reasonable ale prices too.

Thanks.

I thought it was good that they wrote in Jack being ill, rather than just mentioning it and us never seeing him.

could be all the fruit & veg you get in via France - where the extra cargo slips away unnoticed, so the now contaminated cargo is not dumped but distributed to all the shops, and sold on to unsuspecting punters