Loveknots

Jane decides to sell an Anatolian rug, and at the auction an elderly lady, Harriet Fisher, buys a Berber rug for her dog, an Irish wolfhound of impeccable taste. A young Moroccan man named Abdel, who also wanted the rug, promptly steals it from Harriet's house. Lovejoy is curious, and curiosity in this show is a full-time occupation. An Irish wolfhound with a rug of its own is the kind of detail the show drops in without fuss, and it earns its keep.

He buys a second rug to examine. Abdel is after that one too, claiming the rugs were woven in his village by his girlfriend and contain the answer to his marriage proposal. Lovejoy is not convinced, and he is right not to be: the prospective uncle, Said, has a far more mercenary reason for wanting the rug. Lovejoy gets it back for Harriet, and the romance in Abdel's story turns out to be about as authentic as a ten-pound note with a smiley face on it. The episode went out on 1 March 1992, and it quietly brings Jane's marriage to an end, a change that shapes the rest of the season.

Ian La Frenais, Jonathan Gash and Jeremy Paul wrote it, Baz Taylor directed. 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. Virginia McKenna plays Harriet Fisher, Tony Caunter is Russell Potts, Nadim Sawalha is Uncle Said, Christopher Simon is Abdel, and Robin Soans is the Auctioneer. Virginia McKenna, best remembered for Born Free, plays Harriet with a gentle certainty that makes you want the dog's rug back for her.

Running underneath the rug business is a quieter drama: Jane splits from Alexander after refusing to move to Hong Kong for his job, and Lovejoy is there to comfort her. The episode needs both halves. A stolen rug for a dog's bed is a fine puzzle, but it is Jane's broken marriage that gives the whole thing its weight.