The Darling Buds of May (TV series) series ended, Ferris wished to film more episodes. Having performed it for radio in 1996, she theorised in 2008 that the reason the fifth book was never adapted for television was because the storyline featured Pop recovering from a heart attack, something the producers likely thought the audience would not want to see. In 2016, having filmed a cinema adaptation of another classic TV series, "Dad's Army", Zeta-Jones responded positively to suggestions that "The Darling Buds of May" might also be similarly remade, stating "I'd be playing Ma Larkin, but I'm up for it". Locally produced food and drink intentionally
H. E. Bates Bates was a keen and knowledgeable gardener and wrote many books on flowers. The Granary remained their home for the whole of their married life. After Bates' death Madge moved to a bungalow, which had originally been a cow byre, next to the Granary. She died in 2004 at the age of 95. They raised two sons and two daughters. Their younger son Jonathan was nominated for an Academy Award for his sound work on the 1982 film "Gandhi". Bates died on 29 January 1974 in Canterbury, Kent, aged 68. A prolific and successful author, his greatest success was posthumous,