2point4 Children

- Season 6

(1996)

On a Saturday afternoon Jenny comes into the house evidently upset and it becomes apparent that something has happened between herself and Clive. Bill and Rona compete with Ben and David to find out what has happened,Bill ringing Laura to discover that Clive is going to buy a ring. Bill assumes that he is buying Jenny an engagement ring against her wishes but when the family arrives at the shop they find that the ring is for Clive's recent piercing.

On Hallowe'en Bill dismisses the supernatural as ignorant suspicion. However,when a foreign-accented gentleman delivers what appears to be a coffin to Mrs Curdaal from next door,she has second thoughts,particularly when a bat flies into the bathroom and,after seeing a sinister figure at Mrs Curdaal's house she realizes the name is an anagram of Dracula. Furthermore the lady is not answering her phone. The Porters and Rona take appropriate action using garlic and a huge crucifix,only to find there is a rational explanation for their fears - or is there?

Whilst perusing magazines with Bill for work purposes Rona comes across Psychic Sadie's horoscopes,which tell her that something unpleasant will happen to her. Bill is cynical but then they get a call to visit Aunt Belle who is not opening the door to visitors to her high rise flat. In fact she is stuck on a ledge,having gone out to feed the pigeons but fear that she will be put in a home if the authorities are called so Bill and Rona go out to save her - and get stuck themselves. Fortunately they are saved by a lift repair man but Bill eventually has to agree that ...

Bill is considered mean when she refuses to allow the family to have a dog so,to get her used to the idea,they pretend to have an invisible dog,whom they call Harry. Bill is roped into walking him which gets her some funny looks,but on returning home finds an actual dog in the lounge. He turns out to be a guide dog called Barry,or so it was thought but after he has guided his owner into the path of Ben's van,the real Barry is discovered and the Porters have their own dog at last.

To the annoyance of Jake the Klingon - now a member of the Thunderbirds Society - Ben receives the Purple Plug on his windscreen,inviting him to become a member of the Brotherhood of the Plunger,the masonic society for plumbers though he has to perform some bizarre public rituals to show that he is worthy. The rest of the family believe the whole thing is a wind-up engineered by Jake so that when Ben goes for his initiation ceremony he dowses the Grand Master in fire-fighting foam and shows his contempt for the supposed prank. Unfortunately the Brotherhood is all too ...

Bill is left a heavy antique wardrobe and its content, a mink coat,by a deceased aunt. Though opposed in principle to fur coats she cannot resist trying it on but when Jenny comes in she hides in the wardrobe - which is promptly taken to an auction. Bill manages to escape but walks straight into an anti-fur demonstration headed by Jenny. Ben,suffering from menopausal depression,goes missing whilst Rona,disappointed to learn that her pregnancy symptoms are actually diabetes,finds an abandoned baby in the hospital grounds.

Ben has still not returned or arrived at work and he has taken a black banana instead of his phone. But Bill has another concern when she discovers that Rona has brought home the baby she found at the hospital - and almost lost her through the floor-boards. Having retrieved the baby Bill uses Harry as a sniffer dog to track down Ben and eventually discovers him singing on stage with David's boy band.

Tina is going on a two-week Mediterranean cruise for Christmas so the Porters drive her to Southampton docks,where Ben crashes into the captain's car and the crew's van. Bill,Ben,Rona and David go on board to see her off but discover that the ship has sailed before they can disembark. Whilst they hide Tina tries to sneak them meals but is side-tracked when elderly lecher Fletcher takes a shine to her so Ben dresses as a waiter to steal food but ends up serving the captain's table. Rona finds herself on stage with the ship's dance troupe whilst Fletcher transfers his ...