The Meldrews set out for a routine visit to a garden centre little imagining the good luck that fate has in store for them. But their fortune is short-lived: a phone call is about to turn their world upside down.

The Meldrews decide to step up security on their home. But when the new locks jam Victor is confronted with a problem: how to break out of the house in time forthe European Cup game at Wembley. Meanwhile, red-headed Millicent Miles , widow from the local greengrocer's, arrives on the scene with designs on Victor that are more animal than vegetable.