The Great Trilby

An Australian private investigator named Bill McCabe turns up at Arthur's door with news of a fortune, and Arthur, who is never not desperate for a stroke of luck, listens hard. A distant relative, Joshua Daley, has died intestate in a place called Woolomoroo, and Arthur may be the last of the line. What stands between him and the money is proof of kinship, plus a clause in the Will demanding that the inheritor be of good character. For once, nobody has stolen anything yet, which in Arthur's world counts as a good start.

The proof takes Arthur and Ray to the Family Records Centre, then still at St Catherine's House, where they work through parish records until they find what looks like clinching evidence: Arthur is the last surviving descendant of the family. But the good character clause is a problem, because Arthur has just been charged over parking infringement notices, which are themselves forged. Thanks to Ray, the fraud charge that would have finished his claim is dodged, and the pair fly off Down Under to collect. It is inheritance by photocopier, and the most civilised scheme Arthur has ever run.

Bernard Dempsey, Kevin McNally and Leon Griffiths wrote it, and Roger Bamford directed. George Cole and Gary Webster carry the double act, with Glynn Edwards's Dave, Nicholas Day's D.S. Morley and Jonty Stephens's D.C. Field in support. Simon Chilvers plays McCabe, Pip Torrens is Muldier, Emma Cunningham plays Gloria, Frank Baker is Spiky and Richard Avery plays Dayglow.

The best joke is the paperwork: Arthur, the man who would sell his own grandmother a damp caravan, has to prove he is a pillar of the community. He does it, more or less, thanks to Ray's quick work on the parking notices, and the episode ends with the pair on a plane to Australia. Whether the fortune survives contact with the Daleys is a question the next episode has to answer.