Waiting for God

- Season 2

(1991)

Following the death,alone, of a resident,Tom puts himself forward as a counsellor to aid and comfort the terminally ill. A new female resident arrives and has afternoon delight with old Basil. Some time later Basil seems to be dying and Tom rushers to counsel him but he is merely suffering from exertion after sex with the lady. However the lady dies and Tom organizes a splendid send-off for her.

Tom is depressed because he is missing his late wife but Marion and Geoffrey are not keen to have him home on respite. He turns his attentions to Diana and suggests that they shack up together, a proposition that offends her so much that she has a partition built between their shared verandah. Her mood is not helped by the arrival of new resident Daisy,who has a strong personality like herself and with whom she soon clashes,though Tom gets on well with her.

Baines threatens Diana with expulsion unless she removes the partition but they both have more pressing matters to consider as Daisy becomes completely domineering,taking over the home with her ideas and threatening to get current staff sacked. Finally Tom organizes a revolt against her, causing her to leave . . . and Diana to remove the partition.

Resident Betty claims that her sewing basket has gone missing and Tom and Diana decide to investigate. Not fully believing Betty's story they follow her and Tom intervenes when they see her apparently shop-lifting. Tom is arrested and conducts his own court case,being found Not guilty of theft but guilty of contempt of court. Later Diana recalls that she had the sewing basket all along,having borrowed it from Betty and forgetting she still had it.

Tom 's belief that one should always tell the truth offends Jane,who has made herself look glamorous to appeal to Baines and Tom says she looks hideous. He also upsets Marion by telling her what he thinks of her,leading to a big row. Sarah introduces her boy-friend Sam,who is looking for investors for his proposed beauty salon franchise but Diana and Tom suspect he is a con-man and Tom - to make his peace with Marion - 'persuades' Sam to let his daughter run her own beauty salon for free.

Diana falls and breaks her hip whilst throwing a brick at the home's incompetent South American gardener. She is taken to hospital where she rows with the Welsh doctor over a hip replacement operation and Sarah,about to marry Sam,comes to visit. Sarah knows that Diana dislikes Sam and wonders if she will try to stop the wedding..or even attend. In the end Diana turns up for her niece's big day, using a Zimmer frame. Marion,meanwhile,is not making a success of the beauty shop and Tom suggests Sam take back the franchise.

Tom has a bet with Diana that she can't be nice to people for a work. Such untypical actions only lead to confusion. Baines wants to organize a glamorous grandmother contest for the old ladies in the home,the prize being a cruise for two. Since Basil wants to marry Betty,Tom approaches his son-in-law Geoffrey,whose firm are sponsoring the contest to let Betty win, but when Betty gets cold feet and refuses to enter,Diana,having made sure a journalist friend is present to expose any 'fixing' the contest,replaces her and wins. She lets Betty and Basil have the prize.

In order to cut costs Baines decides to employ illegal immigrant workers at Bayview. To Diana one incompetent foreigner,the gardener,is enough and, after the residents have staged a protest,order is restored. Tom has been overdoing physical exercise in his efforts to get as fit as Linford Christie and his collapse leads Diana to persuade him to slow down.

A group of students comes to Bayview and Baines bribes Bob, one of them, into being seen in a compromising situation with Diana. This will enable him,under an old church covenant from the 1600s which was bestowed upon the home,to have her thrown out for immoral actions. As it happens Bob much prefers Marion and goes off with her instead.

In addition to her alcoholism Marion's fling with Bob becomes the last straw for Geoffrey,who finally decides to leave her. But where can he go? Answer,move in with his father at Bayview but Geoffrey is so boring that before long Diana and Tom are planning to get him back with Marion.