Alistair’s gambling losses mount and he is forced to confess to Shula.

Radio Times: The stakes get high for Alistair.

Characters: Alistair, Jill, Matt, Shula, Stephen Chalkman

• It is not Alistair’s night; the cards have not been kind and he is running low on chips but he resists encouragement by Matt Crawford and Stephen Chalkman to call it a night. David calls on his mobile about the £200 that Alistair promised to return by this evening; he hears Matt in the background.
• Pat has urgent need of a vet and cannot get hold of Alistair; so she may be another customer lost to the Hollerton practice. Shula confides in her mother that he also has not paid the school for Daniel’s trip not Eddie for his work on the car park and he has not told her where he is. She suggests that David might know, which indeed he does.
• Alistair is keen for another round for which he offers yet another IOU but his playing partners will have none of it; when he has worked out how to pay what he owes them, he will again be welcome at the table.
• When he returns looking exhausted he quickly realises that he cannot lie his way out. He thought he could sort it out and win back the money he has lost over several weeks, £8000. Shula is staggered that he could lose so much. What an idiot. He describes the adrenalin rush that comes from winning; Shula’s Christmas visit to Botticelli’s was in the wake of a good win. Where did the money come from: his account, then their joint account (hence the embarassing incident with Shula’s card), unpaid bills and he has even borrowed from David and Ruth. Has he even considered Eddie and Clarrie, to whom that money is very important? He had better find some bedclothes because he is sleeping downstairs tonight!