Out to Lunch

Lovejoy is spending more and more time with Victoria and rather less on his business, which is his own lookout until it costs him money. Together with Jane and Alexander, he and Victoria go away for the weekend to a friend's cottage, and somewhere along the way there is an antiques fair.

At the fair Lovejoy cannot believe his luck. He picks up a set of drawings by the famous artist Lionel Beckwith for a mere twelve pounds, sells them to a local gallery for a good profit, and feels very pleased with himself. The satisfaction lasts until Beckwith himself walks into the gallery and denounces the works as forgeries. Even the artist says they are not his. Lovejoy is sure they are, and a little detective work reveals why Beckwith would want adverse publicity: interest in his work is falling, and a scandal, even a false one, is better than being forgotten. Meanwhile Lady Jane saves the day for Eric, who has been conned by a supposedly bereaved pensioner. Eric's misfortune is the B-plot, and it is the kind of small, believable con the show hands out to its regulars.

Ian La Frenais, Jonathan Gash and Roger Marshall wrote it, Sarah Hellings directed, and it aired on 19 January 1992. Ian McShane is Lovejoy, Phyllis Logan is Lady Jane Felsham, Dudley Sutton is Tinker Dill, Chris Jury is Eric Catchpole, and Pavel Douglas is Lord Alexander Felsham. Joanna Lumley is Victoria Cavero, James Villiers, one of the great smooth-voiced English character actors, is exactly right as an artist defending his reputation. Susan Tracy is Yvonne Dalrymple, Jonathan Coy is Edward Carr, and Vivienne Ritchie is Diana Carr.

There is a lovely puzzle at the heart of this one: an artist denying his own work, a dealer insisting on its truth, and a reason for the lie that has nothing to do with the paintings at all. Twelve pounds' worth of drawings turns out to be worth considerably more as an education.