One Foot In The Grave

Unexpected visitors drop in and mistakenly believe Victor has killed an elderly blind man. A charity concert gives Victor the chance to use his ventriloquist's dummy.

Victor has retrieved his old ventriloquist's dummy from storage and begun practicing with it. Unfortunately, the aged prop keeps bursting and spilling sawdust, so, finding it somewhat creepy at the best of times, Margaret banishes it to the downstairs toilet when not in active use.

Margaret goes out to work, and whilst delivering a bouquet of flowers comes across an elderly blind man, living alone in a less salubrious part of town, and without contact from his Australia-living son or grandchildren on his seventieth birthday. She attempts to lift the gent's spirits and pretends his son has in fact written to him, before making her excuses and departing.

She returns home to find Victor entertaining Patrick and Pippa - but neither Meldrew has any idea where they've seen the couple before! It has grown late so, as good hosts, Victor enthusiastically encourages them to stay and use their bed. It's only at this point Margaret realises who they are - their new next-door neighbours who went on an extended holiday the day they moved in!

Later that week, talked into performing a short ventriloquist routine at a local fundraising show by Nick, Victor is giving his best on stage when dreadful news reaches them - the old blind man, someone Nick regularly helped, has been found murdered, his flat robbed and ransacked. When Pippa learns of this, her mind goes into overdrive.