Work, Rest & Play

Harry has a contract to guard the puppies that a pedigree Afghan hound is expecting. When the puppies are born, it turns out that the father was a mongrel! Because the puppies are not pedigrees, the contract falls through and Harry is left with a lot of surplus surveillance equipment.

Willie Connolly, a Scottish footballer from Dundalk, wants Ken to act as his minder. Shortly after moving down to play in a local Nottingham team, his car was vandalised by a gang of thugs. Ken is warned off by a Glaswegian who freely admits smashing up the car and tells Ken to pass on the message to Willie that “he’s got twenty-four hours”. Willie and his girlfriend, Belinda, are planning to buy a house nearby. While they are looking round the house before buying it, a woman arrives and catches Willie and Belinda kissing... she is Willie’s wife, Moira! Willie was separated from Moira whom he had left in Scotland. The “mad Glaswegian bookie” who smashed up the car is Moira’s father, Donny McGregor, who is determined to make sure that Willie will suffer for leaving Moira.

Ken suspects that Willie’s manager, Bob Barnet, is not all that he seems. His suspicions are confirmed when he finds that Barnet’s office, rented only a few weeks ago, is now empty again. Belinda had suggested that Willie should put the house in her name to stop Moira taking her half-share, but could there be a more sinister explanation? Ken suspects that Barnet and Belinda are planning something.

Smudger, the landlord of the local pub, asks Harry to organise the pub’s football team for their match with a team from a nearby prison. Tom, the trainer of the prison team, is cocky and sure that they will beat Harry’s team. Barry, the normal goalkeeper, injures his knee, so Harry gives the job to Rocky who proves to be singularly inept and realises that he will let everyone down.

On the day of the match, Willie is at the pub. When McGregor and his thugs arrive, Willie makes his escape by hiding on the coach being used by the pub team. He had arranged to meet Barnet and Belinda to sign the financial papers for the house, but once inside the prison walls, he cannot get out again until the end of the match. The pub team and the prison team are evenly matched and by full time there is no score. Consequently the game goes to penalty shoot-outs. When one of the pub players is injured, Harry has to go on as substitute. Willie gives Rocky some advice: to put his hat in the corner and then dive that way when saving the penalty. This bit of psychology pays off and Rocky saves the goal – and the game!

Back at the pub afterwards, Barnet and his solicitor, Mr Knight, are on the point of getting Willie to sign away the house when Ken walks in with (of all people) Brian Clough [real-life manager of Notts Forest]. Brian Clough confirms that Barnet is a fraud and isn’t managing any of the Forest players as he claims. Willie and Moira get back together.

The episode title is taken from the advertising slogan for Mars Bars: “A Mars a day helps you work, rest and play”.

Notes and episode list © Martin Underwood, 1998

Page last modified: 17 December 2008, 23:48