Episode Guide (Series 7)
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1: Pardon? (19 Apr 98)
Lionel seems to be going deaf, but he won't admit it. Jean tries to explain to him that there's nothing to be ashamed of when you start to lose one of your faculties. She uses her problems with her eyesight as an example, but Lionel gets hold of the wrong end of the stick and thinks she's worried about her sight. He tells Alistair about it and Alistair arranges for Jean to see an eye specialist. Eventually, Lionel is also persuaded to see a specialist. He discovers that his hearing problems have been caused by a build up of wax in his ears.
2: An Old Flame (26 Apr 98)
Judy comes home from work and tells Jean that a man has been trying to get in touch with her. He's left his phone number, so Jean rings him. He's James Penny, an old friend she hasn't seen for years. Jean agrees to meet him for dinner.
Jean keeps her date with James and discovers that he's rather too fond of drink. He passes out before they get chance to eat, so Jean leaves and goes home.
3: The New Neighbours (3 May 98)
Jean and Lionel have new neighbours. Jean is dying to know what they are like, but can she find out without being caught snooping?
Alistair invites Sandy and her new boyfriend to join him and Judith for an evening out. The two men don't get on - Harry thinks Alistair is "flash".
Lionel begins to get tired of Jean's constant curiosity about the new neighbours. She decides that she'll invite them round for drinks, only to find that Lionel has already invited them. They turn out to be very argumentative. They also seem to be even more boring than Penny and Stephen ... or are they?
4: The Bypass (10 May 98)
On a visit to the house in the country, Jean and Lionel hear that the villagers are organising a protest over a proposed bypass. Jean assumes that the villagers are against the idea and acts accordingly. Then she discovers that the locals are actually in favour of the bypass.
5: Too Old ... Or Too Nosy (17 May 98)
Sandy is planning to go to Jersey for a week with Harry. Jean volunteers herself to help out in the office while Sandy is away. Judy isn't happy about the idea, but doesn't want her mother to know.
Penny and Stephen come to lunch. Penny arrives first, saying that she's travelled over by train while Stephen is coming by car. They're not speaking, and Penny won't explain why.
Alistair and Lionel take Stephen out for a drink while lunch is cooking. Stephen reveals the reason for his current rift with Penny. His dental receptionist is leaving and Penny wants to take her place. Stephen thinks his wife is much too nosy to do the job. In order to "spare her feelings", Stephen tells Penny that she's "too old". She hasn't been speaking to him since.
Next day, Sandy comes home upset. She's discovered that the week away with Harry is actually a Rugby Club tour. She doesn't want to see Harry again.
6: The Old Folks' Party (24 May 98)
Jean has taken a voluntary job in a 'Help The Aged' charity shop. She decides that it would be a good idea to organise a party for the residents of the local old people's home. She wants everyone to help with the organisation and preparation.
Sandy still doesn't want to see Harry. When he calls round to see her, she refuses to see him.
Before the old folks' party, Jean is told to "look out for Mrs Thrupp". The lady in question turns out to be an old woman who refuses to enjoy anything, saying that she's "given it up". At the party, Jean does her best to cheer her up without success. Rocky also tries and fails. It looks as if nothing will succeed until Alistair, who's acting as DJ, decides to do a striptease.
7: The Proposal (31 May 98)
The house next door is up for sale again. Lionel is dreading weeks of "I wonder what the next lot of neighbours will be like".
Alistair comes round to tell Judy that he won't be able to meet her for lunch. He's meeting an old friend from university who was, he says, his "role model".
Jean decides to intervene in the rift between Sandy and Harry. She rings Harry up and invites him round, pretending that Sandy wants to see him. When he arrives, she tells him that Sandy stopped seeing him because of his obsession with rugby. When Sandy comes home, Jean drags her in to see Harry so that they can patch up their differences.
Alistair comes round to see Judy. He suddenly proposes to her and she accepts. Later, she suggests that they should buy the house next door. Jean thinks it's a wonderful idea, but Lionel and Alistair don't agree. Eventually, Alistair talks Judy out of the idea
Harry upsets Sandy when he says that he came round to see her because his rugby match had been cancelled - otherwise he'd have come round after the match.
Alistair tells Judy that he proposed to her because the old friend he met was a "wreck", from burning the candle at both ends, and he doesn't want to end up the same way. She goes off in a huff.