Lionel's in bed, reading. Jean walks over to her dressing table and begins to file her nails. She tells Lionel that she'd like to go out. "Now?" he asks. 
No -- more often. He tells her that they did go out today. She reminds him that that was to the cooker showroom and it doesn't count. She's talking about things like going out to dinner. He tells her that they went out for a curry just last week. It was over a month ago -- five weeks ago actually. That surprises him -- the weeks seem to be flying by. They do, and they all seem to run into one -- not the days, but the evenings. She gets up, takes off her robe and heads for bed. She tells him to ignore her -- she's just having a moan. He takes her at her word and continues to read his book. Mistake. She was hoping that he would press her on the subject. Okay, now he wants to know what he should do. She tells him that he's only pressing her because she asked him to. He tells her that he's in a no-win situation. Once again she tells him to ignore her. "Fine," he says. She gives him a dirty look. He tells her he was joking. "You're bored, that's what you're saying." She assures him she's not bored with him -- it's just that there don't seem to be any surprises. He was going to ask her if she'd like a surprise, but he cuts himself short. 
She tells him, when she asks what he was going to say, that yes -- she would like a surprise, but if he asks her when she'd kick him out of bed. He assures her he wasn't go to ask that. Just sometime, he tells her. Times, actually -- she says. Timezzzz-uhh, he repeats, to show he understand. Jean leans towards her nightstand, when all of a sudden Lionel lets out a roar. She's startled. She yelps. She holds her heart. She asks him why he did that and he tells her that he thought he'd just get the first surprise out of the way so that she didn't have to sit around waiting for it to happen. She tells him that this wasn't the sort of surprise she had in mind. It was all he could come up with at the moment, but he promises her that he will come up with something. He honestly doesn't think of himself as a surprising sort of a person. He starts to think and she tells him not to look like that. Once again she says that she really doesn't want a surprise -- it will be too much of a strain to have him thinking of a surprise and her wondering when he will and what it will be. He still can't get over the fact that it's been so long since they've been out to dinner and he tells her that he'll take her out to dinner tomorrow. He starts to ask her where she wants to go but decides instead he's just as soon surprise her and go somewhere where they've never been. She ways that would be lovely -- then she remembers that tomorrow is Thursday and she can't go because there's something she wants to see on television.
When Jean walks into the kitchen the next morning, Judith and Sandy begin to giggle. She asks what the joke is and Judith tells her that they heard her scream last night. Sandy tells her that they're not asking why. 
She says if they must know, Lionel was giving her a surprise. They seem to find that funny. "Not that kind of surprise -- he suddenly roared and I screamed, that's all," Jean tells them. Judith wonders if Lionel has taken to roaring. Jean tells them that she simply told him that life had become a little bit flat and she thought that a surprise now and then wouldn't come amiss. She wishes now that she wouldn't have said anything about a surprise -- it's like saying "tickle me when I least expect it" in the sense that it's a strain on both of us. She says that's she'll put him off the idea and tell him that it was just a mood. She loves Lionel, but thinks that he's turning into a slippers and pipe man a little early. 
Jean wonders if they shouldn't be off at work. Judith asks her to come in with them in her advisory capacity. She knows what they're up to and she's convinced that perhaps it was only one of her moods. "Off you go," she says. Before she leaves Judith asks if Lionel was ever a surprising sort of chap. Jean looks as though she's straining to think of a time, sucks in a breath of air, smiles and tells her he had his moments. The girls pass Lionel in the hall just as he's coming down the stairs. On their way out the door they roar at him.
Lionel walks into the kitchen, points towards the hallway and tells Jean that he just got roared at. Jean says that they heard her scream and she told them why. He asks if she'd like to go to the Imperial War Museum. She's surprised by the question. "Why?" she asks. He just wants to have a look around. She doesn't want to go because it's all tanks and things. She asks that he forget she ever said the word "surprise." He tells her that if he were indeed planning a surprise, he hopes he'd come up with something more inventive than the Imperial War Museum. He suggests the Victoria and Albert Museum instead. She wants to just forget surprises altogether. 
She asks if Lionel is going to go to the museum and he thinks he probably will -- to say hello to the tanks and things. She tells him not to stand still too long or they'll take him for an exhibit. Yes, he muses -- "subaltern, Middlesex Regiment, Korean War ... slightly the worse for wear." She tells him that she thinks he's lovely. "Off you go," she says. He tells her that he hasn't had his breakfast yet. She's seems surprised that she had forgotten about it. She asks what he'd like -- he doesn't know, let him think. While he's considering his options, she stands with two strips of bacon at the ready, knowing he's going to have what he always has. "Eggs and bacon," he says.
Later that day Lionel walks into his house with Alistair, who tells him he's lucky to have caught him when he did -- another minute longer and he would have missed him. As they walk into the living room, Lionel tells him that his visit to the Imperial War Museum was quite remarkable. Lionel asks if he wants something to drink. 
Alistair checks his watch and says yes. There's a note from Jean on the bar. He thinks that's a funny place to leave a note, but Alistair reminds him that he did find it after all. He starts to read it: "Gone shipping..." He realizes he made a mistake. "Gone shopping. You found the note you old boozer." Alistair tells him that he had lunch with Judith that afternoon and that's why he wanted to talk with him. He heard about the roaring in the night. Lionel wonders why what he does in the night is suddenly everybody's business. Alistair just wants to help. Lionel tells him that it isn't like snoring -- he doesn't do it when he's asleep. No, he means he wants to get at the root cause. He knows that the problem is that things seem to be getting a tad predictable these days. Lionel asks if his bedroom is bugged. Judith told him. Lionel tells Alistair he plans to have a word with her about discretion, but Alistair says that she only has his welfare at heart -- and so does he. Lionel says he doesn't need any help. In fact, Jean told him that very morning that it was all just a mood. "Uh oh." 
Alistair tells him that he is committing the ultimate sin -- that of believing her. Lionel protests that Jean is an honest person. Alistair assures her that while Jean may rate an 11 on an honesty scale from 1 to 10, she is still lying. Lionel wonders if he has taken a page from the Alistair Deacon Guide to Understanding Women. Alistair tells him that it is a slim volume -- while he doesn't pretend to understand women, he is familiar with the "Please-don't-do-that" syndrome. He explains: you're out shopping and the woman falls in love with a piece of jewelry, so you offer to buy it for her. She says it's far too expensive, you mustn't. Does she mean it? Lionel is wiggling around, not giving him the answers that he's looking for so Alistair finally asks if Jean means it when she says no surprises. Lionel thinks he's talking a whole lot of nonsense and he says that if he'd have come back a minute later he'd have missed Alistair altogether. "And you would have been too late," Alistair tells him. He asks "for what?" but they are interrupted by the sound of the front door.
Jean comes into the living room carrying two shopping bags. Alistair looks at her and says "those ain't Tesco's."
Jean walks into the living room and reports that she still likes both dresses. She tells Lionel that he looks a bit peculiar. He thanks her. She asks what Alistair wanted. "Oh, this and that -- you know Alistair." She wonders why he's coming back later. For this and that.
Lionel goes out into the hallway to tell the girls about the Barbados trip. They take their coats off and start to walk towards the living room,
Lionel and the girls are fixing dinner. Lionel seems almost embarrassed. He says that he thought the idea was ridiculous. They think that the two weeks in Barbados sounds so romantic. Lionel tells them that it had to be those two weeks because it was the only time that the villa was free.
He walks into the living room where Jean is reading a newspaper. He tells her, in answer to her question, that the dinner is going well.
It's Alistair.
Judith tells Lionel and Sandy that she thinks Jean must really be getting old if she'd rather watch a serial on television than go out to dinner. Lionel explains that he did his best. Sandy wonders if it's a loud serial and Lionel says it probably can't be because it sent him to sleep. She thinks maybe they can try tiptoeing upstairs and packing.
Judith, Jean and Sandy are watching the end of the serial on television.
They get into the kitchen only to find Alistair on the floor singing into a carrot which serves as his microphone.
Jean can't understand it -- Alistair only had two glasses of wine with dinner.
After Jean has fallen asleep Lionel tiptoes out of Judith's room. He turns on the hall light and then changes his mind and switches it off. He walks upstairs to Sandy's room and knocks on the door. Judith and Sandy are waiting at the door and walk into the hall immediately. What took him so long? Jean wouldn't fall asleep. He says he'll go with them, but they tell him to go back to bed in case she stirs.
The next morning Alistair, Sandy and Judith are talking about how Jean and Lionel are now on the way to Barbados.
Jean and Lionel are sitting in the living room. He tells her that this is the last time he'll ever try to arrange a surprise. She tells him that he did brilliantly -- they all did brilliantly.
Talking of kids, he says, he's got another surprise for her. She asks if he's pregnant. He ignores that and tells her that he was going to wait until they got to Barbados, but he's decided that he doesn't want to wait until then.
She bought two ridiculously expensive dresses. She doesn't know why -- she liked one, then the other, then just thought why not and bought them both. She starts to leave. Alistair gives Lionel a knowing look. She comes back and asks what the look was for and they claim that they have no idea what she's talking about. She says she's going upstairs to try them on and hopes she'll still like them. After she leaves Lionel asks what was that look for? That was a sign of the "I-don't-know-why-I-bought-two-dresses" syndrome. 
That's one that Lionel does recognize. According to Alistair it is now surprise time. Lionel knows, but he's not clanking down the street in a suit of armor. Of course not, says Alistair -- "you are taking her to Barbados." Lionel can't believe he's serious. "When?" he asks. Alistair tells him that it will happen tomorrow. He assures Lionel that he'll take care of everything. But remember -- not a word to Jean until the moment before they leave. He tells him that he'll see him later. On his way out he meets Jean in the hallway and tells her that the outfit she's wearing is one he really likes. As luck would have it, that's the one she came in wearing.
She keeps pressing the point: 
this and that what? Finally he says that Alistair is trying to persuade him to write another book. He says that he told him no. She wonders, then, why he's coming back. He tells her he's probably coming back to try again figuring that the longer the day goes on, the less resistence he will have. She thinks he still looks a bit peculiar and asks if he's sure everything is all right. He hears the door and he's delighted that the girls are back because he's feeling the strain of this constant interrogation. He leaps up and Jean's puzzled by his excited reaction to their arrival. He says it's always nice to see them.
where Jean is sitting, but Lionel whispers that he needs to talk with them and he motions that they should go towards the kitchen. Jean walks into the hallway and asks where they're going. Lionel tells her that they've decided to cook the dinner. Jean tells him that's nice. She asks if it isn't a little bit early. He realizes it is. Sandy says she's going to go upstairs and change and indicates Lionel should go up there. Judith says she'll change as well. Lionel starts to walk up the stairs, too. Jean asks where he's going and he tells her that he's going up to change. Jean starts up the stairs. Lionel wants to know why she's coming. She passes Lionel on the stairs -- "if everyone's going to get changed I don't want to be left out," she tells him.
They're glad he said yes. So is he, he thinks. Sandy wonders what he plans to do about packing. He tells her it won't take him long. She says she was talking about Jean. You can't just wake a woman up and tell her she has half hour to pack for a fortnight's holiday. This catches him off-guard. Can't you? he asks. Judith tells him that "mom will go to pieces." He'll be starting the whole thing off on the wrong foot. He says he'll sneak up and pack a case for her later. Judith rolls her eyes. They tell him that that's a terrible idea. He wouldn't know what to pack. He agrees -- women always talk about "little tops" when they go on holiday. He suggests that they might be able to do it for him. They wonder how they'll be able to pack a case with her in the house -- she's bound to hear. He says he'll just go an tell her about it now. They tell him not to spoil the surprise. "What do we do then?" he asks. Think of something, Sandy says.
She points out that he never did change his clothes -- he just sat on the bed and talked with her while she changed. He suggests they go out for dinner. She reminds him that Sandy and Judith are in the kitchen cooking dinner now. He says it isn't very exciting, but she says she doesn't understand why she should need an exciting dinner. He says that perhaps they should break the mold a bit. She motions for him to sit down and tells him that they had this very conversation the night before. 
He asked her last night and she said no. She wants to know why he's asking her again. He says that women have been known to change their minds. She tells him again that there was something she wanted to watch on television. Oh, that serial thing. She says it isn't a "serial thing," it's a serial. He tells her that he can't tell one person from another. She thinks that's because he fell asleep during the first episode. He keeps trying. "They're sure to repeat it." She suggests they go out to dinner tomorrow. "We can't," he says, getting him in even deeper. "Why?" Well, he says, we could.... She tells him to make his mind up. He grins at her and tells her that tomorrow they shall have dinner somewhere where they've never eaten before and that's a promise. She thinks that would be lovely. His attempts to get her out of the house are all frustrated. He tells her he'll go get the sprouts on. The doorbell rings and he says he'll get it. She tells him that if it's Alistair he should stand firm about another book.
He's got everything arranged and hands Lionel the tickets and traveller's checks. Lionel tells him that he's very grateful. Naturally Jean walks into the hallway just at that moment and asks what the two of them are whispering about. Lionel hides the tickets behind his back and says "It's a surprise." Alistair is incredulous: "What!" he shrieks. "What?" asks Jean? Alistair recovers. He tells her that it's a surprise for Judy. She thinks that's lovely and asks Alistair to come into the living room. Lionel says he'll see to the sprouts and he heads towards the kitchen. She asks about the surprise and he tells her that he's flying Judith to Paris tomorrow for lunch. She wishes.... She doesn't finish the thought. Alistair asks if he heard Lionel mention sprouts. She says that he and the girls are fixing dinner. She asks him to stay. He wonders if there will be enough. She assures him that Lionel always makes more than enough because he tends to think in Army portions.
She asks him to do her a favor. "Anything," he says. She tells him to leave Lionel alone. He looks puzzled. Don't pester him to write another book. He says he hasn't been, but she tells him that Lionel told her that he came there earlier in the day to ask him to write another book. "Oh that." he says, trying to wiggle out of it. He claims that was just a gentle nudge. She asks when he is going to tell Judith about the surprise. He says he'll tell her tomorrow because surprises are always best when left until the very last moment. She supposes so.
Alistair rushes into the kitchen saying that Lionel should have warned him about the cover story for being there earlier. He tells him it's all taken care of -- he managed to squeeze out of it and he's staying to dinner on top of it. He tells them they could all rush into his arms. 
Judith tells them perhaps they will if he can solve their problems. He asks her to name it. She says that they wanted Jean out of the house so that they can do her packing for her, but she wants to watch television. He'll need a second or two for that one. "As long as that?" asks Lionel. Judith tells him not to be sarcastic and asks if he can think of something. Lionel still feels they should just give up on the whole idea of secret packing and tell Jean now. Alistair starts concentrating. Suddenly he hushes them and says that he's about to be brilliant. He asks if Jean is a heavy sleeper. Judith tells him that you can't bang about and pack a suitcases with her in the same room. "What if it weren't in the same room?" he asks. What if she doesn't sleep in her own room tonight? Lionel wonders how they're supposed to arrange that -- wait until she's asleep and just dump her on the landing? Something a little more subtle -- something he hasn't thought of yet.
Sandy says it was very quiet. "Quiet as in boring?" Jean asks. No, quiet as in not having a lot of noise in it. Jean is puzzled by that observation -- she thinks that's a funny thing to say. Judith thinks the sister with the limp was at the bottom of it. Jean disagrees: she couldn't get up and down the stairs in time. It could have been a fake limp. Again Jean disagrees: she fell off a horse when she was five. Judith didn't see that because she missed last week's episode and Jean tells her that she shouldn't jump to observations about fake limps then. Jean wonders what Alistair and Lionel are doing in the kitchen and Sandy suggests that they're having quality guy time. Suddenly they hear Lionel in the other room shout "Oh my God!" He races into the living room and asks if someone can lend him a hand because Alistair has fallen over. Jean asks if Alistair is hurt. Lionel assures her that in the state he's in, he's feeling no pain whatsoever.
They all walk into the kitchen and stare at him. He asks if he's shrunk or if everyone else has suddenly gotten very tall. "Alistair Deacon, you're drunk," says Jean. "I've shrunk and I'm drunk as a skunk." Jean thinks this is all Lionel's fault. Lionel tells her he was fine when he was sitting down. She points out that he's sitting down now. "I'm a mole and I live in a hole," he tells them. 
Sandy and Lionel lift him to his feet. A very amused Judith wonders what they're gonna do with him. Jean tells them to take him upstairs and put him to bed -- they can't ask him to drive home like that. Sandy tries to lead him towards the hallway, but Alistair protests: this is "guy stuff" he says. Lionel tells Sandy that he can manage. Alistair looks up at Lionel, says he wishes he were his father and plants a big kiss on his cheek. Lionel pulls him out into the hallway and pushes him down the hall. He tells him that he's overacting. The three women look out of the kitchen doorway with their mouths open.
. Yes, says Judith, but they polished off another two bottles while they were watching the serial. Jean doesn't know why they would have done that. Boys will be boys, Judith tells her. And so will grown men sometimes. Jean observes that Lionel seems perfectly all right. Sandy tells them that she's tasted his chili con carne -- that proves that Lionel has guts of iron. Lionel walks into the living room and says that Alistair is sleeping like a baby. Jean isn't a bit surprised. She wonders whose room he's in -- Judith's or Sandy's. "Ours," Lionel tells her. He says he didn't feel like barging about in the girl's rooms. She wonders where they'll sleep. Judith says she'll sleep with Sandy and they can have her room. It's not what she would have wanted, but it appears to be the only solution. Jean thinks it's all pretty silly and she collects some of the glasses and brings them out to the kitchen leaving Lionel alone with Sandy and Judy. Judith asks him to get Jean to sleep as soon as possible. He wonders if they expect him to sing her a lullabye. They tell him to just knock on their door when she's asleep. "And for goodness sake," cautions Sandy, "don't fall asleep yourself." He guesses it's all worth it. Sandy asks if he wants a punch on the nose. Make that two punches on the nose, as Judith puts in her two cents.
He just hopes that she doesn't spread out or he'll never be able to get back in bed again. The girls walk into Jean and Lionel's room where Alistair is lying in bed. They turn on the light. Alistair rubs his eyes and says "Now is this a fantasy or is this a fantasy?" Judith tells him that if it is a fantasy it's a very peculiar one. Two beautiful women creeping into my room in the middle of the night? Takes all sorts, Sandy supposes. 
He gets out of bed and goes to the closet to help pull the suitcase off the top shelf. He tells them it's heavier than it looks and that there must be something in it. He pulls it out, but the weight of it forces him to lose control of it. It hits the floor with a loud thud. The girls know that they've awakened Jean because they hear them in the hallway and they turn off the light and hide. Jean is telling Lionel she heard a thump. Lionel says she's imagined it. He screams loudly "let's just go back to bed." Jean tells him not to talk so loudly. She walks into her bedroom and turns on the light. 
She sees Alistair lying on the floor. "He's fallen out of bed," she tells Lionel. He wants to go back to bed. She tells him that they can't just leave him like that. She takes the quilt from the bed and covers him. "He's sound asleep." Lionel tells her not to wake him or he might start singing again. They leave. The girls were hiding on the other side of the bed and they pop up. Judith says to give Jean a minute to get back to sleep before they start packing. Alistair gets into bed, motions for the girls to join him and says they might as well have a lie-down while they're waiting.
Judith will never forget the look on her mother's face when Lionel told her about the trip. She thanks Alistair for doing this for them. He said he had the fantasy of having those two beautiful women sneaking into his room at night and packing the suitcase -- what more could a guy ask for? They're startled to hear the front door open. Jean and Lionel walk in with disappointed looks on their faces. Why? Alistair says he double-checked everything. Lionel tells him that he didn't check everything. Jean says it wasn't his fault -- he couldn't have known: her passport was out of date.
"'Never mind' sounds totally inadequate," he says. Alistair and the girls come into the room. "Don't unpack," he tells them. "You are leaving for Barbados tomorrow." Jean doesn't know how. Judith and Sandy will stand in line at the passport office and get her a new one. Alistair will make a few calls and change the travel and ticket arrangments. They'll have all day to pack and that night they'll all be able to get some sleep. "How lovely!" she says as they leave. Lionel tells her that they're good kids.
She wants to know what it is. "The Imperial War Museum," he tells her. They had a BFPO exhibition on... Jean asks if that's a tank. No, he tells her it's not. It was an exhibition of letters home from the front to wives and sweethearts. She tells him she's sorry, but she doesn't ... Suddenly she realizes what he means to tell her. "The letter?" He shakes his head. "Yes ... there it was, all faded in a glass case. A letter from Second Lieutenant Hardcastle to Nurse Jean Pargetter posted in Korea." She's thrilled. 
"But it never arrived -- how could it have ended up in the Imperial War Museum!" He hasn't the faintest idea. "We've got to see it!" she tells him and starts to get up. He says it's all right -- they've made him a photocopy. He reaches into his jacket pocket, pulls it out, unfolds it and gives it to her. Her mouth his wide open. She begins to read it. There's a word she can't understand. She asks him what it is. "Miracle," he tells her. As Time Goes By begins to play in the background. "If I'd have got that..." she says. "No ifs, he says. "Oh, it's a beautiful letter, Lionel. You really did love me." "I still do," he assures her and kisses her on the top of her head.