Brenda approves of Leon, perhaps a little too much. Peggy’s birthday lunch is tough for Lilian.

Radio Times: Leon shows off his attributes.

Characters: Brenda, Helen, Jennifer, Leon, Lilian, Peggy

• Brenda and Helen have met for a chat. Brenda’s defending Matt, saying Chalkman’s a crook and a thug and dragged Matt into it. Also, it was the only bit of decent work on her CV. Helen’s brother’s sausage business isn’t the same. Leon arrives with Helen’s forgotten phone, meeting Brenda for the first time. She’s very impressed with Helen’s beau. Helen’s pleased, now all her friends approve apart from Ian and Adam, and they’ll meet him on a double date next week.
• Tom, aged about three, liked to wear a pair of Helen’s pants with pink dragons on them.
• Lilian’s not heard from Matt yet; there are delays in him getting telephone access. Despite this, she wants to go to her mum’s birthday lunch as she hasn’t seen her in weeks, although she fears she looks the older of the two.
• Peggy’s sympathetic but keeps making things worse. Her constant questioning about the Spanish holiday, that she’s heard so little about, prods at Lilian’s open wound. Jennifer almost gives the game away with talk of jet-lag, “From Spain?” Peggy correctly points out that the sooner Matt starts his sentence, the sooner he’ll be out. And thank goodness they managed to get away for a lovely holiday together.