Vera discovers her unmarried daughter Karen is pregnant. Years of frustration lead to an embarrassing outburst by Karen in her hospital bed. Irene pays Vera a visit and finds that she gets on very well with Karen, who decides to spend a few days with her mum's pen pal. Karen tells Irene all about her brother Howard, and Irene immediately writes toVera saying how impressed she is by her tolerance. Vera is puzzled. So what if Howard likes feather boas and has moved in to a converted sheep-bothy with his friend Anthony? He may be a vegetarian but that's all the rage these days.

Meanwhile, Irene has joined a local committee to protest at the siting of a nuclear fuel dump under the local golf course. They plan a themed sit-in - green beach wear - and Vera helpfully suggests that Irene could wear the dayglo lurex tankini Irene (unwisely) bought the previous summer.