May to December

- Season 3

(1991)

Alec has been a solicitor for twenty-five years but most of his cases have been mundane,domestically-orientated with nothing to get thrilled about. So when he falls asleep he dreams that he is his idol,the fictional American brief perry Mason,with Miss Flood as his Girl Friday Della,Jamie as trusty sidekick Paul and Zoe as his dream girl. Somewhat unflatteringly Simone is cast as the murderess whom he brings to book.

It is a year since Zoe and Alec first began dating and he is being urged to propose. Zoe,however,having come out of a fairly recent divorce,is less keen to walk up the aisle again and wonders how to turn Alec down without hurting him. Jamie,meanwhile,gets into the spirit of things to help Miss Flood commemorate the anniversary of singer Buddy Holly's death.

Zoe is keen for her and Alec to buy a house together and wonders why he is spending so much time attending to his current home. In fact he is doing it up to sell and,just as he gets a buyer,Jamie turns up wanting to move back in as he has split up with his girlfriend. At the office Miss Flood is taking time off to look after her poorly mother and Hilary,in her absence,is making changes that the Callenders do not appreciate.

With the homeless Jamie sleeping on Zoe's sofa the house hunting begins in earnest though it takes a while for Zoe and Alec to find a home upon which they both agree and even then their troubles are far from over. Not only does Alec employ a cowboy builder but the house just happens to be opposite Simone,who does not approve of her father living in sin on her doorstep. Hilary,meanwhile,decides to learn Esperanto.

Zoe is going for promotion at work and Alec is unsuccessfully attempting to prove to her that winning is not everything - though she manages to beat him at chess and he only wins at Trivial Pursuit because,he suspects,she let him. In the event she loses out to her colleague Roy and learns to live with it. Hilary,meanwhile,is having a trial separation from her boyfriend Derek and is very interested when Miss Flood's young nephew Anthony arrives in town.

Zoe is nervous as Jean-Claude,Alec's brother-in-law is visiting from Paris and Simone's constant praise of her late mother makes Zoe feel she should act like her. Sensing this,and wanting Zoe to act naturally,Alec pretends to have put Jean-Claude off but she sees through this when Jean-Claude rings to say that he will be late. However she appreciates the gesture. Miss Flood does not appreciate that Anthony and Derek are now both fighting over Hilary.

Whilst Miss Flood is extremely happy because she has a gentleman friend,Gerald,who makes plaster casts,Hilary is miserable because Anthony has returned to Newcastle. Alec is not happy either because Jamie does not seem to be pulling his weight at work and plans to sack him until it is discovered that Jamie has a growth in his throat . An anxious Alec and Zoe wait at the hospital whilst it is operated on - successfully.

Back with his father whilst recovering from the operation Jamie finds he is falling for Zoe but masks it by paying court to Hilary though he is relieved when Hilary goes to Newcastle,returning with Anthony. Miss Flood on the other hand is not dancing for joy. Zoe announces that she is pregnant and Alec decides they should visit his mother in Scotland to break the good news. However,on the way they stop off at Gretna Green for a secret wedding.