Nearest And Dearest

The elixir of youth - old wives' tale or a racing certainty? Well, if it worked for Stan...

The girls are leaving Pledge's Purer Pickles, and Nellie is determined to get to the bottom of what is causing it. One of the girls whispers that it is Stan, he keeps chasing them around the factory. Stan thinks the reason he is like it is because of a secret stash of pickles from the 1914 - 18 war, found at the back of a store cupboard.

Eli reasons that if these pickles can get even old Stan going, he can make good money by selling them down the Spread Eagle to all and sundry. Nellie is even feeding them to Arnold Ackroyd in an attempt to woo him, but he is only interested in talking business. Even Lily thinks the ancient stash might pep old Walter up a bit!

Nellie decides to send some of the pickles to the chemist to be "dognosed", but she also finds out Eli is selling them to make a tidy sum. When the vicar pops round to preach how immoral this whole episode of pickles is, Nellie makes Eli flush the whole lot down the pan.

Meanwhile, Stan has just discovered at the back of the pickling shed a First World War supply of beetroot...