Life in the Trotter's twelfth-floor flat at Nelson Mandela House continues much as normal - or as normal as it has ever continued. Del (David Jason) has just bought 125 Latvian radio alarm clocks that "go off any time they bloody want"; 200 "aerodynamic cycling helmets" that he discovers are "horse riding crash hats that some git has sprayed red"; and a boxful of baseball caps "that even E17 fans wouldn't wear". And to complete his gloom, Del has just heard that his application for a home-improvement grant has been turned down by the local council.

But there is some sunshine on his horizon. Mike (Ken MacDonald), at the Nags Head, is organising a Saturday Night"Publicans' Party" and Del is eager to get tickets. So when Raquel (Tessa Peake Jones) tells him she plans to take young Damien (Jamie Smith) away for the weekend to meet her parents, with whom she has recently been reconciled, and Cassandra (Gwyneth Strong) decides to take a break from trying for a baby with Rodney (Nicholas Lyndhurst) and spend a week at her parents' villa in Spain, the way is clear for the Trotter brothers to relive their younger days and get down to some serious partying.