06E02 - Guess Who's Coming to Dinner

With Louisa back at work, the Ellinghams hire nanny Mel; but, she keeps scratching; and, when Martin tells her she has an infection caused by obesity, she leaves. Fortunately, Mike Pruddy steps into the breach, impressing Martin and allowing him to take Louisa to the school play. Here, they meet chair of governors Dennis Dodd, and his younger wife Karen, and ask them to dinner. The dinner party is awkward, as Martin believes Dennis is drunk, and tells Louisa so when they have to tend to baby James, unaware that their guests can hear them on the baby monitor. Whilst Morwenna inherits a house and takes Al in as her lodger, Ruth is roped into doing a phone-in for local radio; and, takes a call from Joe Penhale, under an assumed name, worried that he has no friends. She advises him to be nice to everybody; so, he takes her at her word, reluctantly arresting Dennis, who has crashed his car. But, when Dennis later has a fall, Martin discovers that his slurred speech is due to his having Parkinson's Disease.