All Things Brighton Beautiful

Businessman Sidney Myers arrives at Arthur's lockup inside a packing case, which tells you something about his business and his state of mind. Told he had terminal cancer, he paid a skinhead to kill him so his wife would collect the insurance money. Then the diagnosis turned out to be wrong, and the hired killer became a loose end with a schedule. The packing case, it must be said, beats the usual way Arthur's business partners present themselves.

Arthur packs Sidney off to Brighton and into Dave's sister's caravan, where things stop being merely absurd. The journey is a disaster and the caravan burns down, taking the last of Sidney's luck with it. Meanwhile Ray finds the skinhead, who explains the job properly: Sidney never wanted himself dead at all. The target was Benny the Bosh, a psychopathic ex-convict. And naturally, at the Salvation Army hostel where Arthur and Sidney have taken refuge, in walks Benny the Bosh, reformed, born again and in the mood for hymns. Sidney, who paid to have the man killed, ends up singing along beside him. It is the strangest forgiveness scene imaginable.

Tony Hoare and Leon Griffiths wrote it, with Gordon Flemyng directing. Andrew Sachs makes Sidney twitchy and grateful by turns, with George Cole, Gary Webster and Glynn Edwards as Arthur, Ray and Dave. Peter Kelly, Sheila Steafel, Liam McKenna, Danny Earl, Diana Berriman and Susan Derrick support.

The ending is tidy in one direction and messy in another: Benny gets his soul saved, and Dave's sister is not remotely forgiving about the caravan. Only Arthur could turn a murder contract into a hymn singalong and still come out owing money. The episode keeps its tone light without ever laughing at the man's fear, which is a balance few of these episodes bother with.