Top-rated
Fri, Jan 13, 1989
Snobbish dentist Laurence Rodenhurst and his flirtatious wife Liz see their socially-conscious daughter Jenny marry Paul, scruffy son of lower-class Ted and Rita Simcock. At the reception Jenny argues ethics with Ted's friend Rodney Sillitoe who owns a chicken factory, his wife Betty gets drunk, and melancholy widower Neville Badger tells anyone who will listen how much he misses his wife. Rita's father embarrasses her in front of Laurence, making her lament that the Rodenhursts must look down on her; she's unaware that Ted and Liz are having sex in one of the hotel rooms. When Jenny announces that she's pregnant, social niceties vanish and Ted's other son, brusque would-be philosopher Elvis, punches Jenny's estate-agent brother Simon.
Top-rated
Fri, Jan 20, 1989
Ted and Rita are Laurence's guests at the dentist's dinner dance,where,due to a misunderstanding,they are the only people in evening dress and where Ted tries to drum up trade for his foundry. Neville is still miserable, Elvis - working as a waiter - still arguing with Simon and Jenny still political,prompting a drunken Rodney to give up his factory. There are shocks in store for both Ted and his wife when Liz tells him she is pregnant,Laurence tells Rita that he knows their spouses have been having an affair and Rita's father collapses on the dance floor.
Top-rated
Fri, Jan 27, 1989
Now living apart from Rita Ted takes Liz to the Anglers' Club Christmas ball where everybody tries to persuade him to go back to his wife. Neville arrives dressed as Henry VIII,having lost his way to a fancy dress party and Rodney,his crisis of conscience having passed,offers Elvis a job at the chicken factory. Both Rita and Laurence turn up and Rita's rendition of a Christmas carol shows how popular she is with everybody,finally leaving with Laurence. Furthermore Ted is accused of cheating in order to win the Wisbech fishing contest and is forced to resign as club chairman. All the guests leave early and he admits to Liz that the evening has been a total disaster.
Top-rated
Fri, Feb 3, 1989
Ted is now bankrupt and Liz has left him,incurring Rita's scorn when they all meet at a charity evening to raise money for the local playhouse. Nonetheless Rita,now working as a secretary and fond of her independence,refuses to have Ted back and Liz is similarly unwilling to get back with Laurence,leading both husbands to suspect - wrongly - that Neville is more than just friends with the ladies. Paul,now the father of baby Thomas,is embarrassed when Carol,with whom he had a drunken one night stand,shows up.
Fri, Feb 10, 1989
Rodney has now bought Ted's foundry,causing some bitterness, so that when Ted turns up for the crowning of Miss Frozen Chicken (UK) sponsored by Rodney's Cock a Doodle chicken factory he refuses to speak to him. Rita also falls out with Betty after pointing out that her extreme drinking is well-known though,strangely,Elvis and Simon become friends. After letting in feminist protesters Paul admits his indiscretion with Carol to Jenny,who leaves him. However the evening's biggest shock comes when Liz and Neville announce that they plan to marry,upsetting Rita,though she still refuses to reconcile with Ted.
Top-rated
Fri, Feb 17, 1989
Liz and Neville get married,though Laurence's recent suicide throws a shadow on the proceedings.Jenny and Paul have reconciled as she is pregnant again, Elvis is dating Carol and Simon,under Elvis's tutelage,having an affair with a married woman. The reception is held at a small restaurant where not only are the Sillitoes dining but Ted working as a waiter alongside young waitress Sandra,whom he is dating. He is terribly embarrassed to have to serve his ex-wife,especially as she too has a younger squeeze,the handsome politician Gerry Lansdown,with whom she announces her engagement as soon as her divorce comes through.
Fri, Oct 20, 1989
Rita is marrying Gerry but Paul stays away from the wedding out of protest. The bride also fails to show but at the reception she announces that she does not want to get married as it would sacrifice her independence. After Gerry has left for the honeymoon on his own Rita also announces her intention to stand as a Labour candidate at the council by-election. Ted meets sophisticated financial advisor Corinna whilst Betty and Rodney are full of their latest venture - opening a vegetarian health food store.
Top-rated
Fri, Oct 27, 1989
At the christening of Liz and Neville's son Rita,now a Labour councillor is a guest but Ted,the child's real father,who is not invited ,turns up with Corinna,to whom he is now engaged. Simon is horrified to learn that the married woman with whom he was having an affair is the wife of Neville's annoying nephew Andrew,Jenny announces that she has split from Paul whilst Carol feels that Elvis's ambitions as a local reporter is driving them apart.Sandra is upset to see Ted with another woman,leading to an outburst revealing to all and sundry that he is the child's father. It literally all ends in tears.
Top-rated
Fri, Nov 3, 1989
Betty and Rodney,along with employees Jenny and Rita,celebrate the opening of their health food shop and vegetarian restaurant. Carol dumps Elvis,who ends up with Jenny,one of several reasons to put a damper on Liz's evening,along with the fact that the new ring road Rita is supporting will run through her house - and the site of Ted and Corinna's planned bistro - and the discovery that her brother Geoffrey,an anthropologist returning to England after twenty-two years, is Rita's new boyfriend. For all that the evening goes with a swing,largely due to the vodka in the carrot juice,and Ted is persuaded by Corinna that they should open a restaurant in Nairobi.
Top-rated
Fri, Nov 10, 1989
Ted holds a fancy dress party to celebrate his departure to Nairobi with Corinna,though she is conspicuous by her absence. Rita annoys Liz when both come dressed as Good Queen Bess and the Sillitoes advertise their store by coming as peppers. Simon proposes to girlfriend Lucinda but for Ted there is only bad news when the police inform him that Corinna is a bigamist and con-artist who has been arrested for tricking him out of his money. Paul has also been arrested for throwing an egg at the Prime Minister. Ted has to tell the assembled company that he will be staying in England after all but unsurprisingly gets no sympathy from Sandra.
Fri, Nov 17, 1989
At the reception for the inauguration of the ring road Ted feels out of it when the Sillitoes offer him a job and Geoffrey eulogises on his sex life with Rita but feels cheered when Sandra agrees to give him another go. Liz succeeds in getting Neville jealous at the expense of Rodney,who gets drunk and denounces his new-found vegetarianism. Rita also denounces the ring road,for Paul is serving six months after the demonstration,and she discovers her true priorities,uniting her in opinion with Ted. The true hero of the evening,however,is camp barman Eric,who forcibly ejects a lager lout.
Top-rated
Fri, Nov 24, 1989
It is the day of the funeral for Neville,killed in the car accident that has left Ted in plaster. Liz wants the wake to be a happy occasion as Neville would have wanted but finally the mask slips and she and Rita have a heart to heart,resulting in their ending their feud. Elvis lets Simon know that he is about to expose him for corruption in supplying phoney mortgages to dishonest landlords and Jenny is still concerned about the imprisoned Paul,despite being his brother's supposed girlfriend. There is good news for Carol as she embarks upon higher education and Rita, when Geoffrey proposes to her. Ted,however,makes a fool of himself when he wrongly believes that Betty is making a pass at him.
Top-rated
Fri, Dec 1, 1989
Rita is marrying Geoffrey though Liz,annoyed that Simon lost his job through Elvis,is hoping the bride will again fail to show. She is disappointed but Rita is staggered to find Ted and Sandra have married just ahead of her and both couples are having their receptions in the same hotel. The guests circulate between the two rooms with minimum hostility though Jenny dumps Elvis to go back to Paul and he fails to get back with Carol. He is further displeased when Simon tells him that,due to his actions,he now has a far better job but there is compensation for Elvis when Liz suggests a private dinner party. Ted announces that he and Sandra will be opening a mobile transport cafe,leading to an outburst which at least reconciles everybody,though Liz makes it clear she does not want Ted to see their son. Rodney and Betty end the proceedings by wishing that everybody lives happily ever after - though they express their private doubts.