Plot[]
Wally Hunt arrives for work in an even worse mood than usual. He has had no sleep all night as his new "Charmaster" teas-made has been brewing cups all night - 244 of them - and constantly ringing its alarm. His temper is not helped by the thought of their new sports department being opened that day by the fearsome Lady Dobson. Pride of place in the department, and due to be unveiled by her ladyship is the FA Cup, on loan from Everton FC. The problem is that two crooks, "Fingers" Ferguson and Judy O’Grady plan to steal the cup, keep it for several weeks and then "find" it, claiming the inevitable reward. Ferguson clears the store by making a hoax bomb call and then puts the cup in the pram that Judy is pushing but they are stopped in their tracks by a police constable who recognises the pair and retrieves the trophy. The only matter left open now is the bomb and Swindley and Hunt continue their investigations round the store and come across a ticking parcel in the canteen. They dump it in Mrs Edgeley’s tea urn as Miss Sinclair comes in with the news that “Fingers” has confessed - there was no bomb - and she’s there to collect the package she left behind: Mr Hunt’s Charmaster which he was on the point of returning. A livid Hunt goes for Swindley’s neck...
Cast[]
Regular cast[]
- Mr Hunt - Robert Dorning
- Miss Sinclair - Joy Stewart
- Leonard Swindley - Arthur Lowe
- Mrs. Edgeley - Betty Driver
Guest cast[]
- Mr Blenkinsop - Aubrey Morris
- Fingers Ferguson - Michael Robbins
- Judy O'Grady - Diana Ashley
- Lady Dobson - Judith Furse
- Police Constable - William Moore
Notes[]
- William Moore joins Betty Driver in this episode, three years before they were teamed together as husband and wife Cyril and Betty Turpin in Coronation Street.
- Everton FC were indeed the holders of the FA Cup, having won it on 14th May 1966 in a match against Sheffield Wednesday.
- The storyline of this episode was suggested by the real-life theft of the World Cup on 20th March 1966. It was found by a dog, Pickles, one week later, hence the line in the episode that "Fingers" Ferguson will claim that his cat found it at the bottom of his garden when he comes to collect the reward.
- This episode was transmitted on Wednesday 22nd June at 9.10pm by both Border Television and Tyne Tees Television; on Thursday 23rd June at 6.30pm by Television Wales and the West and on Friday 24th June at 9.10pm by Scottish Television. Along with the rest of the second season the episode was not transmitted by Westward Television, Ulster Television, Channel Television or the Teledu Cymru service of Television Wales and the West.
- Viewing Figures: First UK broadcast - 6,900,000 homes (4th place).
Commercial releases[]
This episode was included in Network DVD collection Pardon the Expression - The Complete Second Series, released on 24th August, 2009.