The hairy-knuckled woman at the DSS has arranged an interview for workshy Jake. His flatmate, Rab, can't stand the idea of losing Jake to the workforce so, together, they try to sabotage his chances of getting the job. Eddie doesn't get the homecoming he expects after a stretch in jail, while his downstairs neighbour, Jimmy, finds himself with an unwelcome lodger.

Frank's regular diet of crisps, fry-ups and fish suppers have turned him into a walking time-bomb. On his doctor's advice, Janet immediately puts him on a diet but Frank is having none of it. Rab struggles to pass the time while Jake is at work, and Tex plays cupid, putting a word in for Jimmy with Eddie and Alice's daughter, Claire.

There have been a spate of burglaries in the flats and ex-con Eddie is the number one suspect. A situation not helped by Eddie's recent furtive behaviour. Jimmy realises he has a rival for Claire's affections in Rab, and Janet, disillusioned by Frank's unwillingness to move his backside off the sofa, succumbs to Tex's charm and agrees to go line dancing with him.

Jimmy and Claire finally have a date of sorts, listening to Jimmy's song being played on the radio. The date, however, is anything but smooth, interrupted by faulty radios and annoying neighbours Rab and Jake, who discover that Jimmy has managed to get his hands on some premium quality dope. As Tex steps up his charm offensive on Janet, she agrees to go for a drive with him.

When Rab defends her from bullying, 15 year-old Tracy tells her mates that he is her boyfriend, leaving a horrified Rab determined to shake her off before her father, Frank, finds out. Jimmy and Claire finally get together but are rudely interrupted by Tex, and the tensions between Eddie and menopausal Alice finally come to a head.

Everyone is getting ready to move out of the flats and into their decantment properties. Except for Tex, that is, who has nowhere to go. As his relationship with Janet begins to really heat up, his future begins to look bleaker and bleaker. Rab and Jake, however, are about to set off for a dream trip to Amsterdam when Frank takes a bad turn.