One Foot in the Grave Episode Guide

Episode Guide

One Foot in the Grave: Season 6 (2000)

• Season 6 Episode 6: Things Aren't Simple Anymore

  After years of frustrated anger and railing against the system, irascible retiree Victor Meldrew breathes his last 'I don't believe it' after falling victim to a hit-and-run driver. At first it seems as if the shock of his death will take a long time to settle for long-suffering widow Margaret

• Season 6 Episode 5: Dawn of Man

  Victor is invited to talk about evolution at the Women's Institute, and finds plenty of inspiration when he decides to take up fishing. Meanwhile, Pippa is left shattered after a three-week visit by Patrick's equally stuffy brother. Comedy, starring Richard Wilson and Annette Crosbie

• Season 6 Episode 4: Threatening Weather

  A power cut on a sweltering summer night gives Victor and Margaret time to reflect on their lives together and look forward, without enthusiasm, to a visit from their elderly neighbours. Comedy, starring Richard Wilson and Annette Crosbie

• Season 6 Episode 3: The Futility of the Fly

  Victor decides to hire a daily to help out around the house - but it's by no means a clean sweep and a visit to the fish shop unleashes all manner of nameless horrors. Comedy, starring Richard Wilson

• Season 6 Episode 2: Tales of Terror

  Victor's unease at the possible outcome of a medical test is compounded by the discovery that he's just bought a car with an obscene number plate. Then when he attends an amateur dramatics rehearsal at neighbour Nick Swainey's house, things really start getting him down. Richard Wilson stars

• Season 6 Episode 1: Executioner's Song

  Patrick's plans for a quiet birthday with Pippa are left in tatters when the Meldrews join them for a meal in a Chinese restaurant. Comedy, starring Richard Wilson and Annette Crosbie

One Foot in the Grave: Season 5 (1995)

• Season 5 Episode 5: The Exterminating Angel

  Victor receives an unlikely job offer which paves the way for disaster, and Margaret plays Cupid between Nick Swainey and a nurse. Meanwhile, the Meldrew household is plagued by a malfunctioning shower, marauding rugby players and a seemingly endless supply of frozen veg

• Season 5 Episode 4: Hole in the Sky

  Margaret comes into money, Victor tries to help a Dutch girl get back on her feet and builders arrive to start the loft conversion, bringing chaos in their wake. Comedy, starring Richard Wilson and Annette Crosbie

• Season 5 Episode 3: Rearranging the Dust

  Victor gets held up on a visit to the solicitor, where close encounters with a pigeon, a pair of underpants and some human remains on the window sill ignite his already very short fuse. Comedy, starring Richard Wilson, Annette Crosbie and Antony Sher

• Season 5 Episode 2: The Affair of the Hollow Lady

  A sultry widow surprisingly sets her sights on cantankerous pensioner Victor, who is having difficulty getting to grips with his new home security system. Comedy, starring Richard Wilson and Annette Crosbie, with a guest appearance by Barbara Windsor

• Season 5 Episode 1: Only a Story

  Victor and Margaret invite Mrs Warboys to stay at their house until her flooded flat dries out. However, it's not long before they come to regret their generous offer as she begins taking over the entire household. Award-winning comedy, starring Richard Wilson, Annette Crosbie and Doreen Mantle

One Foot in the Grave: Season 4 (1992 - 1993)

• Season 4 Episode 6: Secret of the Seven Sorcerers

  Victor lands himself in a pickle thanks to a conjuring trick which proves to be far from magic, while busybody Mrs Warboys becomes convinced her husband is having an affair. Comedy, starring Richard Wilson and Annette Crosbie

• Season 4 Episode 5: The Trial

  Richard Wilson goes solo in this special episode which sees Victor stuck at home while waiting to be called for jury service - but as time ticks on and his frustration grows, the grouchy pensioner soon begins to feel like he is the one on trial

• Season 4 Episode 4: Warm Champagne

  The Meldrews return home from a dreary holiday to find the neighbours about to sell their house to a weirdo - and while Victor's busy moaning about everything under the sun, a long-suffering Margaret considers embarking on an affair. Comedy, starring Richard Wilson and Annette Crosbie. Postponed from January 15

• Season 4 Episode 3: Hearts of Darkness

  The Meldrews, Mrs Warboys and Nick Swainey become marooned when they spend a day on the river. Victor heads out to get help, but stumbles across an old people's home. The residents are badly treated so he resolves to put things right. Richard Wilson stars

• Season 4 Episode 2: Descent Into the Maelstrom

  Long-suffering Margaret finally collapses with exhaustion, so Victor tries to nurse her back to health : but his bedside manner only makes matters worse. Comedy, starring Richard Wilson and Annette Crosbie

• Season 4 Episode 1: Pit and Pendulum

  A hole appears at the bottom of the garden, causing Victor to fly into a rage : much to the alarm of his long-suffering wife. Comedy, starring Richard Wilson and Annette Crosbie

One Foot in the Grave: Season 3 (1992)

• Season 3 Episode 6: The Worst Horror of All

  The Meldrews broaden their cultural horizons with a visit to the BBC in the company of a comatose window-cleaner they think is Mrs Warboys' cousin. Later, Victor makes a fresh start with a new job - but soon blots his copybook with a characteristic outburst. Comedy, starring Richard Wilson

• Season 3 Episode 5: Beware the Trickster on the Roof

  The Meldrew household falls foul of an evil curse, so ever-moaning pensioner Victor resolves to drive it out. However, it soon becomes clear the task is easier said than done. Comedy, starring Richard Wilson and Annette Crosbie

• Season 3 Episode 4: The Beast in the Cage

  Victor and Margaret get stuck for hours in a bank holiday traffic jam : with miles of cars behind them, and nothing but the unwelcome sight of a horse's backside in front. Richard Wilson and Annette Crosbie star

• Season 3 Episode 3: The Broken Reflection

  Victor tempts fate by agreeing to look after neighbours Patrick and Pippa's house while they're away : a situation made even more volatile by the arrival of his brother Alfred, who proceeds to rub him up the wrong way. Comedy, starring Richard Wilson, Annette Crosbie and Richard Pearson

• Season 3 Episode 2: Dreamland

  Margaret is haunted by a nightmare in which she plans to murder her husband. Meanwhile, their neighbour is busy preparing for his annual fete. Comedy, starring Richard Wilson and Annette Crosbie

• Season 3 Episode 1: Monday Morning Will Be Fine

  Victor returns home from a disastrous shopping trip to discover he's been burgled : and things turn worse when he receives an unwelcome wedding invitation. Comedy, starring Richard Wilson and Annette Crosbie

One Foot in the Grave: Season 2 (1990)

• Season 2 Episode 6: Timeless Time

  Victor endures a sleepless night - and naturally ensures the eternally put-upon Margaret and their neighbours share in his suffering. Comedy, starring Richard Wilson and Annette Crosbie

• Season 2 Episode 5: Love and Death

  Victor and Margaret set off for a break by the seaside - but the discovery of a dead gull in their boarding-house bathroom sets the scene for what turns out to be a weekend of sheer hell. Comedy, starring Richard Wilson and Annette Crosbie

• Season 2 Episode 4: Who Will Buy?

  A persistent door-to-door salesman makes grouchy Victor Meldrew see red - and an unending stream of junk mail through his letterbox threatens to push him over the brink into insanity. Richard Wilson, Annette Crosbie and Angus Deayton star

• Season 2 Episode 3: Dramatic Fever

  The Meldrew household echoes to the sound of laughter, as Margaret joins the local amateur dramatic society, and Victor begins penning a sitcom script. However, his mother-in-law's bath-time accident and a run-in with British Telecom soon leave the curmudgeonly codger in no mood for jokes. Comedy, starring Richard Wilson and Annette Crosbie

• Season 2 Episode 2: We Have Put Her Living in the Tomb

  Victor and Margaret agree to pet-sit for a friend, and although most animals ought to have enough sense to start running at the mention of the name Meldrew, this doesn't get a tortoise very far. Richard Wilson and Annette Crosbie star

• Season 2 Episode 1: In Luton Airport No One Can Hear You Scream

  The Meldrews return from an overseas holiday to find yet another disaster awaiting them - their home has been demolished. Richard Wilson stars as the grouchy pensioner, with Annette Crosbie as his long-suffering wife

One Foot in the Grave: Season 1 (1990)

• Season 1 Episode 6: The Return of the Speckled Band

  Victor and Margaret get ready for a holiday in Athens - but their preparations are delayed by an unhelpful electricity board representative - not to mention an escaped snake. Starring Richard Wilson and Annette Crosbie, with a guest appearance by Clive Mantle

• Season 1 Episode 5: The Eternal Quadrangle

  Petulant pensioner Victor takes up life drawing classes and Margaret is only too happy to see the back of him - until she learns the subject is a nude woman whom he has volunteered to drive home. Award-winning comedy, starring Richard Wilson and Annette Crosbie

• Season 1 Episode 4: I'll Retire to Bedlam

  Victor and Margaret are trapped in the shed by a swarm of escaped bees - and not unexpectedly where the mishap-prone Meldrews are concerned, that is just the start of their troubles. Richard Wilson and Annette Crosbie star

• Season 1 Episode 3: The Valley of Fear

  The Meldrew household is disrupted by a pesky plumber whose penchant for morbid practical jokes would try the patience of a saint - and Victor is not exactly next in line to be canonised. David Renwick's award-winning comedy, starring Richard Wilson and Annette Crosbie

• Season 1 Episode 2: The Big Sleep

  Margaret attempts to take Victor's mind off his depressing situation by encouraging him to attend a fitness class and read a book on how to cope with old age. Comedy, starring Richard Wilson and Annette Crosbie

• Season 1 Episode 1: Alive and Buried

  Victor Meldrew finds himself forced into early retirement, but is determined not to end up on the scrap heap, pouring scorn on the modern world and driving everybody crazy in the process. Richard Wilson stars in the first ever episode as misery guts Meldrew, with Annette Crosbie as his long-suffering wife

One Foot in the Grave: Special (1990 - 1997)

• Special Episode 1997: Endgame

  Victor plans a quiet rural break in the West Country to escape the pressures of suburban life as neighbours old and new contrive to drive him mad, but experience cannot prepare him for the unbelievably terrifying events which unfold. Comedy, starring Richard Wilson and Annette Crosbie, with a guest appearance by former Goodies star Tim Brooke-Taylor

• Special Episode 1996: Starbound

  Victor's famous temper gets no better as a series of calamities make for another catastrophic Christmas for the Meldrews. An embarrassing experience in the red -light district while away on a short holiday is only the start of his problems, which are made worse by an eventful trip home and a hernia that just won't get better. However, a spooky encounter with paranormal forces seems to completely change his outlook on life. Has the suburban Scrooge finally seen the light? Comedy, starring Richard Wilson and Annette Crosbie, with guest appearances from Rula Lenska and Ray Winstone

• Special Episode 1995: The Wisdom of the Witch

  Patrick's joy at moving house is marred by a threat to his life, while the Meldrews' wedding anniversary celebrations turn sour as they learn cousin Ursula has died while watching Noel Edmonds : forcing Victor to defy a witch's grim warning and set out to put her affairs in order. Comedy, starring Richard Wilson and Annette Crosbie

• Special Episode 1994: The Man Who Blew Away

  Domestic disharmony ensues for the Meldrews as a routine trip to the garden centre starts a trail of turmoil involving a scowling snowman, a laughing policeman and a mysterious saboteur. Richard Wilson stars as Victor, with Annette Crosbie and Angus Deayton as his long-suffering wife and neighbour

• Special Episode 1993: One Foot in the Algarve

  A holiday in Portugal lands the Meldrews in a dingy cell instead of a luxury villa.

• Special Episode 1991: The Man in the Long Black Coat

  Victor's continuing campaign against bureaucrats finds another victim : a health and safety inspector who comes to check on the compost heap at the bottom of the Meldrews' allotment. Eric Idle guest stars as the poor man with his foot in something other than the grave

• Special Episode 1990: Who's Listening?

  Grumpy Victor says 'Bah humbug' to Christmas by refusing to appear in the panto or buy any presents. His mood isn't improved by the mistaken delivery of 263 garden gnomes - but he starts to get into the spirit once he receives a bottle of wine. Festive special from 1990, starring Richard Wilson and Annette Crosbie