Elizabeth has to stay away with her mother for a couple of days, as the hippopotamus needs to go to hospital. With a dinner party having already been planned, Reggie goes ahead anyway but with a twist - this will be a dinner party with no dinner! Meanwhile, Joan is increasingly concerned with Reggie's eccentric behaviour, and asks Doc Morrissey for his opinion. C.J. asks Reggie to give a speech about desserts at a fruit seminar later in the week, and Reggie gets his own back on a school acquaintance...

Reggie Perrin, 46, wife away, strange behaviour. Getting more brazen every day!

At the start of the episode, Elizabeth is on the phone to Reggie explaining that mother is very ill, and has to go into hospital. Cue three hippo shots in short succession as Reggie comments "Oh dear" each time. Having to face C.J. twice in this episode, Reggie alternately sees himself throwing rotten fruit at C.J., who is in a stock, then stretching C.J. on a torture rack. In Wednesday's meeting, when C.J. informs Reggie that he is human, Reggie sees C.J. sitting at his desk dressed as an animal. Later, when C.J. asks Reggie if he sees him as a monster, this is exactly what we see Reggie visualise. At the end of the episode, and just prior to calling Elizabeth, we get a final hippo shot when Reggie thinks out loud about telling Elizabeth that he'll never think of her mother as being a hippopotamus again.

On Tuesday morning, the first word is composed of HINE and the second word has just an ES, a space, and an ER. During the day, the sign is repaired and back to normal. On Wednesday morning though, the letter D is missing.

On Tuesday morning, it's due to "overheated axle at Burylands". The train that Reggie takes arrives at Waterloo. On Wednesday morning it's "defective axle at Wandsworth".

"...biting people in the changing room."

"...without knowing the Algarve when I see it."

"...wearing underpants decorated with Beethoven."

Other choice C.J. phrases include "It's no use kicking against the bricks" and "We aren't one of those dreadful firms where people can engage willy-nilly in hanky panky with their secretaries" (which leads to a short flashback of Joan and Reggie all over each other at his house from Episode 3). C.J.. wants Reggie to give a speech on the role of luxury desserts in a competitive industrial society at a forthcoming seminar.

On Tuesday, Tony is in a meeting with C.J., who is pleased with Tony ("Great!") and tells him he's going places in the firm sooner than he thinks ("Great!"). On the other hand, C.J. is not at all pleased with David's work ("Sorry C.J.!"). We get three Super's from David during the course of the dinner party, while his colleague Davina's catchphrase is "Gorgeous!". When Tony is made to reveal his underpants in C.J's office on Wednesday, he remarks "Great!" when C.J. approves of his plain blue ones in contrast to David's Beethoven ones.

On Tuesday, C.J. rings Reggie to tell him he wants to see him. Reggie replies that "Any time this morning would suit me best." He then informs Joan that he is "Seeing C.J. 2.30 this afternoon." On Wednesday morning, C.J. again rings Reggie, who says that "Straight away would suit me best." Surprisingly, he exclaims to Joan that he is "Seeing C.J. straight away!" Reggie gets his own back on Campbell-Lewiston - when the latter pops into Reggie's office on Tuesday morning, saying that any time that morning would suit him, Reggie tells him that he'll see him at 4.30 tomorrow afternoon!

On Tuesday morning, Reggie offers Peter the Greater Manchester Development Plan supplement to blow his nose with. On Wednesday morning, Peter asks Reggie if he has the same item, but Reggie offers him a face towel that David Harris-Jones has been using.

Campbell-Lewiston bit Reggie in the changing room at school. Mrs C.J. doesn't like fish. Having been mentioned in Episode 3, we see Reggie's Uncle Percy Spillinger at the dinner party. Mrs Spillinger was buried at Ponder's End. Reggie doesn't invite Joan to the party as he tells her that he likes her. In this episode, we see Reggie's back garden, which is very large. David doesn't smoke cigars and doesn't have a girlfriend. He went to boarding school. All of which, along with his Beethoven underpants, leads C.J. to accuse him of being a homosexual, which David strongly denies.