Some Mothers Do ‘Ave ‘Em: Series 2, Episode 3 (Summary)

The Public Relations Course

First Aired: 06-12-1973

Written by: Raymond Allen

Frank has lost yet another job and is upset because he feels he has let Betty down. Betty, as ever, tries to be supportive and while Frank is looking through the paper something catches her eye:

“Is ?3,000 a year enough for you? If not, why not develop it in Public relations?”

Frank Spencer and a public relations course? That’s hardly a match made in heaven but, nevertheless, Frank is soon enrolled on a five-day residential course at The Watson School of Friendly Persuasion.

Frank and the rest of the pupils arrive the day before the course is due to begin and enjoy a few glasses of Sherry together in the drawing room. At this point the Jinxed Mr Spencer even manages to keep out of trouble. For a while anyway.

The trouble starts later on in the cafeteria. The cafeteria is the kind where you choose what you want by looking at the labels on the doors and then lift open the doors to get your food. When you remove your plate of food the next plate moves forward to take its place. It all runs like clockwork until Frank gets the wrong thing and tries to force his plate back in again. Suffice it to say that it is not very long before there is more food on the floor than on the plates, everyone is wearing his or her dinner and an awful lot of smoke is billowing out of the machine.

There is futher bedlam at bedtime. All the male members of the course are sharing a dormitory and Frank is having a little trouble again, this time with his hot water bottle, and he ends up causing a punch up in the dorm.

It has not been a promising start so far and next morning it is a rather glum-looking class that sit together around the table for their first lesson in public relations and Frank is not the only problem.

Some of the class believe that Mr Watson is a charlatan and a fraud; and maybe he is, but one gets the feeling that his class would have run a lot smoother without Frank. However, Watson has not yet realized what a spanner in the works Frank Spencer can be and he makes the mistake of choosing him for a demonstration of correct customer relations techniques.

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