Father, Dear Father

- Season 7

(1973)

Returning from their honeymoon Anna and Tim see a flat that is suitable but they are four thousand pounds short of the price. Patrick supplies the difference but,fearing the young couple will refuse his charity,claims it's a legacy from recently deceased Uncle Emlyn in Wales. They send a wreath for his funeral - but then Uncle Emlyn turns up,wanting to know what is going on.

Bill has a younger girl-friend,Gloria,whom he is seeing at a holiday cabin and asks Patrick to keep his secret. Having mistaken a charity collector for Gloria,and attempted to hide her in a closet, Patrick has to pretend that she is his date,and not Bill's, for Barbara's benefit, ending up with her girdle.

After reading a book on self-assertiveness Patrick tells Tim that,if he wants a raise,he should be more forceful but,when Tim tells his boss,Mr. Fletcher,he'll leave if he doesn't get the pay rise,Fletcher,who has also read the book,calls his bluff and lets him go. Patrick gets everybody to ring the office to give the impression Tim is indispensable and he gets his job back but, sadly, has got the impression he is so in demand he can go elsewhere.

Film mogul Muswell Lemming is coming to talk about filming one of Patrick's books. Unfortunately,whilst discussing a theoretical literary situation involving handcuffs,Patrick and Tim get handcuffed together and,after various attempts to get free,are like that when Lemming arrives so Tim has to hide behind the sofa. Fortunately Nanny has a bright idea.

Karen and Howard are going to a weekend pop festival where they will be camping. Patrick gets the impression they are going to get married and can only afford to live in a tent. Bill and Barbara are happy to go to the festival and arrive in hippy clothes at the same moment as the wedding cars and the wedding cake arrive.

Rather than go on a big family holiday the Glovers decide that each couple will go somewhere on their own but begin to regret it and ultimately they all change their tickets in order to have a mass trip to Tenerife. The airport is fogbound but when the fog clears Patrick discovers that his passport has expired so that ultimately they all end up in Frinton-on-Sea.