One Foot In The Grave

A day out in the country and a gentle trip on the river leads to epic complications for the Meldrews, Mrs Warboys and Nick Swainey when they find themselves marooned in the middle of a misty river.

Victor, Margaret, Nick and Jean go for a day out in the countryside. Typically, Victor's hot-tempered nature gets him into multiple spats before they've even arrived at their destination. After a brief stroll they hire a boat and take a gentle trip down the river, but as a mist descends and they stray too far from their point of origin, the quartet become hopelessly lost - and then lose both oars to boot!

After a joyless game of Trivial Pursuit (Mrs Warboys knows every question and answer off by heart), they finally manage to reach dry land, but find themselves equally lost as a thunderstorm sets in. Taking shelter in a builder's van they come across, seemingly crashed in the storm and abandoned by its driver, Victor and Jean are soon weighed down - quite literally - by a bag of cement.

Eventually night sets in and Victor, exasperated enough to have gone on a rescue expedition on his own, stumbles across a large country manor, now being run as a retirement and nursing home for the elderly. After calling for help, a chance encounter sees him realise that the residents are being badly mistreated by the staff - and he knows just how to achieve justice...