Episode 2

It is early 2020, and Tom Kerridge is adding a fourth pub to the list of businesses he wants to support. The Black Bull in Stirlingshire has been serving the villagers of Gartmore for more than 200 years. Struggling to survive, the pub was put on the market and 250 locals clubbed together to buy it. In an impressive display of community spirit, the pub is almost entirely staffed by volunteers. The management team have big plans, including the renovation of six bedrooms to attract tourists. Tom worries that a voluntary workforce could tire of mopping floors, pulling pints and making beds. Tom recommends they add paid professionals to the team, but recruitment proves a tricky business. In south London’s Golden Anchor, Tom needs to convince Lana to push ahead with the modernisation of her once-thriving pub. For inspiration, he takes her to meet the enterprising landlord of the nearby Prince of Peckham pub and enlists Eve, his sister-in-law, to push ahead with refurbishments. Miles and Lotte, the tied tenants of the Prince Albert in Stroud, are struggling to make a living from their popular music pub. Tom raises the issue of high beer prices with the boss of the company which owns the pub and urges Miles and Lotte to offer food to customers to help turn a profit. The historic White Hart in Chilsworthy, Cornwall, can’t survive on local trade alone, so landlords Amy and Ian are gambling on major building work to transform it into a destination pub. But it is a race against time to get the work completed in time for Cornwall’s famous St Piran’s Day celebrations. Just as the hard work in all four pubs seems to be paying off, the pandemic strikes Britain. Now every pub in Britain faces a fight for survival.