There’s chaos at the offices of Kingdom and Kingdom: Gloria (Celia Imrie) hasn’t turned up for work, Beatrice (Hermione Norris) is plotting to try to win Alan back, and there’s a squirrel in the attic. Angela and Tony Forshaw (Daniel Ryan), who have an appointment with Peter (Stephen Fry), are left waiting in an empty reception.

Lyle (Karl Davies) searches for Peter and bumps into Beatrice as she is putting the finishing touches to seductive red lipstick. She demands that Lyle meet her at the market square at 11.30 looking his best. Meanwhile Peter is in the attic with Ted (Thomas Fisher) and Snell (Tony Slattery). They are discussing whether to bait the rogue squirrel with nuts, or shoot it, and Snell is proclaiming his latest scheme to stop the gas company building on a piece of local sheep grazing land.

When they finally get to see Peter, Tony (Daniel Ryan) and Angela Forshaw (Clara Salaman) tell him their daughter Laura (Hannah Field) has been refused a place at Cambridge, even though she did well in her exams. They believe that it’s a case of discrimination against a girl from a poor family, and they want to sue for damages

Gloria arrives late, and she is evidently upset, but does her best to avoid discussing the issue with Peter. Meanwhile Beatrice kisses an unsuspecting Lyle in the middle of the street, right in front of Alan. Her tactic works, Alan asks her out for coffee and they start seeing each other again.

Peter visits Laura Forshaw’s school and discovers that his old Cambridge tutor, Professor Geoffrey Barkway (Richard Wilson), interviewed Laura and denied her a place. He also meets Gloria’s son, Scott (Angus Imrie), who is waiting outside the headteacher’s office and about to be reprimanded for an offensive internet viral he created.

On Market Shipborough Common, surrounded by sheep, Peter, Snell and Lyle discuss the gas company problem. Peter’s answer is to visit Auriel and find an elderly local person who can testify that grazing is a long standing custom and thus contest the building plans.

Peter returns to the Kingdom offices and finds Beatrice showing off about her revived fling with Alan. Gloria is in a very strange mood, and Peter suddenly remembers that today is the first anniversary of the death of her husband. He orders her a bunch of flowers.

Scott, Gloria’s son, continues to play up while suspended from school– drinking, disorderly behaviour and suspected vandalism. To try to keep him occupied, Peter asks for his help with a computer programme that traces tides – he is trying to estimate when and where Simon’s body should have turned up. The software calculates three months ago.

Scott is arrested for smashing some windows. But when Lyle looks over CCTV footage of the vandalism Scott is acccused of, he discovers that Scott didn’t break the windows. He also sees some more incriminating evidence; Alan kissing a woman in a doorway, and it’s not Beatrice.

Peter and Lyle take a trip to Cambridge and discover that Laura sabotaged her own interview. Professor Geoffrey Barkway also reveals to Peter that Simon called him a month before he died – to ask for money.

Snell thinks that he’s lost his case because the gas company prove that the grazing field was under water in 1189 - the crucial date for legally proving that a custom is old enough to justify its continued existence. But further investigations reveal that the Common was an early fish farm, and therefore technically still a grazing spot in 1189.

Peter confronts the Forshaws with the news about Laura and she admits to it. Laura is frightened of leaving home and is worried about what will happen to her father (who is illiterate) when she is no longer there. Peter encourages the family to support each other to have confidence in Laura taking the opportunity to study.

When Alan returns from his picnic with Beatrice, Peter walks calmly over to him and punches him in the face.

Later, Peter and Laura go back to Cambridge for a second interview, and she tells him that her father has decided to take evening reading classes at the adult education centre.

9:00pm - 10:00pm on ITV1.