1984

S2.E1 ∙ The Taxman Cometh

Sun, Jan 05, 1986

A young Portuguese couple,the wife heavily pregnant,arrive at Tom's. They have come for hotel work but are in the wrong town. Fortunately Alison can speak their language and she and Tom agree they should stay with them. Tom is summoned by a tax inspector who,wondering why he has no income but appears well off,gives the option of paying the bill or marrying Barbara,his daughter - whom he wrongly believes to be Barbara's boyfriend. Alison gets Barbara to bring her real fiancé to the house,ahead of the Portuguese couple's uncle Mateo,who is so pleased with Tom for looking after the youngsters that he showers him with expensive presents. The downside here is that the tax man now believes Tom really does lead an expensive life-style.

6.7 /10

S2.E2 ∙ For Whom the Bell Tolls

Sun, Jan 12, 1986

As Alison and Tom get ready for Barbara's wedding to Terence another bride,Penny,rings the bell,asking to use the phone as the horse pulling her wedding carriage is feeling faint. However the vet that comes to cure the horse is Penny's old flame and she decides she cannot go through with the wedding,sending Tom to tell the groom,who ends up getting drunk in the hotel booked for Barbara and Terence's reception. When the horse pulling the carriage bolts it lands Terence in casualty so he too is late for his wedding but by this time it has transpired that Tom has told the wrong groom,whose pregnant bride comes looking for him. Much mayhem ensues as the three couples and their folks slog it out in the hotel but Tom and Alison,oblivious to it all,have the first dance and he proposes to her.

7.1 /10

S2.E3 ∙ The Lost Weekend

Sun, Jan 19, 1986

Tom visits a garage,explaining truthfully that 'a buzzard has shattered my windscreen',unaware that this is the code for a courier to be given a consignment of heroin. Tom however believes the white powder is wallpaper paste and uses it to help Alison's father decorate,being mystified when a brick comes through the window from the angry drug dealer. Further misfortune follows at the golf club where Mr Little and Tom are mistaken for robbers out to steal the club's trophies - thanks to another brick - before a policeman friend with a sniffer dog works out what is happening. Mr and Mrs Little are not exactly overjoyed when Alison and Tom announce their engagement.

7.3 /10

S2.E4 ∙ And What Shall We Do for a Ring?

Sun, Jan 26, 1986

Due to yet another of the coincidences that Tom always attracts he ends up with the spoils from a supermarket robbery and a jewel heist due to an identical suitcase and an identical car to the robbers - not to mention a stash of live ammunition. Whilst he and Alison revel in their unaccountable good fortune Special Branch visit and the pair celebrate their engagement dinner in a police cell - though Tom does finally produce a ring for his betrothed. A further misunderstanding means that Alison's parents are also arrested.

7.6 /10

S2.E5 ∙ Winning Streak

Sun, Feb 02, 1986

Somehow Tom manages to win a supermarket trolley dash,every single prize in a charity raffle and a novelty prize from the policeman's charity ball. However a man digging for buried treasure in Tom's garden has cut through the electric cable so that when Tom and Alison host an American couple,Mr and Mrs Burrows,they have to improvise. With the Burrows gone Tom impresses Alison by buying every single ticket at the library's upcoming slave auction to spare her humiliation.

7 /10

S2.E6 ∙ Naming the Day

Sun, Feb 09, 1986

Tom searches the local paper for the announcement of his engagement but finds that by mistake he is on the obituary page and at the library he runs into Joanna,the married lover of the man who died,who thinks he has survived and kisses him. Alison takes evasive action with a yoghurt carton and Joanna comes to take a bath,at Tom's house,which she has mistaken for her aunt's. When the local journalists arrive to apologize to Tom they find him in the presence of a towel-clad Joanna and a soaking wet vicar who has come to ask Tom's advice on plumbing.

7.1 /10