Hazel moves a step closer to control of her father’s money.

Radio Times: Life’s a beach for Ed.

Characters: Clarrie, Ed, Eddie, Hazel, Jack, Lilian, Peggy

• Lilian is happy because Matt’s decree absolute has come through. Peggy is worried because Hazel is up in the bedroom with Jack and she has been to see a solicitor. When they appear, Jack wearing the cardigan that Hazel has given him, she bundles him and Lilian out into the garden so that she can talk to Peggy without him hearing. Jack has told her about the enduring Power of Attorney (not strictly true!) and she can see Peggy’s game: to cut her out of everything. Well, she is determined to get her rights as his daughter. Peggy points out that for years she could not even bother to send him a Christmas card but this is dismissed as a pitiful excuse.
• Ed has something to talk about to his parents. He explains his plan to go to Australia for a year. He has the fare and Oliver has agreed to help with a loan of the emergency funds; he thinks it will look great on Ed’s CV. Clarrie and Eddie are not happy about it but they agree that, if he is serious about it, they must support him.
• Peggy does not want Jack to hear the argument between her and Hazel but in fact the returning footsteps belong to Lilian; Jack is still in the garden, waiting for Hazel to join him. Lilian thinks it doesn’t matter that she has found out about the Power of Attorney because Jack isn’t keen on it, so there is nothing that ‘madam’ can do.
• Meanwhile Hazel is leading her father up the garden path. Enduring Power of Attorney is a sensible idea – for Peggy’s sake. She is a proud woman but she is worried that she will not cope with looking after him and his businesses. But Hazel has the solution: she and Peggy can be co-signatories and between the two of them, they will manage – no need to have a solicitor as one of the signatories, just keep it in the family. Jack is sure that, when he tells her, Peggy will be so pleased.