Alan plans to celebrate his third favourite day of the year (after boxing day and the anniversary of his divorce), by attending the Southampton International Boat Show. There’s just one problem: Lynn has thoughtlessly neglected to supply Alan with his accreditation.
Alan discovers that Lynn is in hospital due to heart palpitations (apparently caused by stress, triggered by a nephew’s nasty chemsex addiction). After swiftly establishing that she’s probably fine, Alan suggests that he goes to her home to take the accreditation he needs.
With his long serving assistant somewhat selfishly out of action, Alan begins a characteristically diplomatic and definitely #metoo-friendly search for temporary replacement, before letting himself into Lynn’s house to find the aforementioned accreditation. During his intimate though necessary exploration of her home, Alan stumbles upon Lynn’s deceased mother’s Stannah chairlift, giving a test run to check its key features, including performance and corner handling.
Lynn’s busybody neighbour, Julie, interrupts Alan’s firm but fair critique of Lynn’s paintings. Moments later, he uncovers his own letters to celebrities and organisations, intercepted by Lynn in an attempt to protect him from himself. Overwhelmed with gratitude, Alan requests that Julie buys a card for Lynn (from him) on her way to the hospital, to ensure he gets another couple of hours at the boat show.
