The Smoking Room - series two
Episode synopses
Episode One - Bzzzzzzz
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Janet's nephew, Dominic (Mathew Horne), is conducting
a psychological study into workplace dynamics for his university thesis.
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As a basis for this, Janet has suggested that he shadow Robin for a
day - a day he is now doomed to spend entirely in the smoking room.
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The rest of the smokers do their best to ignore him, a task they find
easier after they detect the presence of another intruder in the room
- an angry bee.
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As he witnesses the growing panic spreading around him, it's clear
to Dominic that he's not perhaps in the best place to advance his university
studies.
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Episode Two - No Place Like Home
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It's the end of the working day, but a heavy snowstorm has brought
chaos to public transport and gridlock to the roads, thus trapping everyone
in the smoking room after hours.
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Sharon is forced to spend an uncomfortable half hour in the company
of her staff as she waits for her car to turn up - small talk not exactly
being her strong point.
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Fortunately, Sally has been to the shops at lunchtime and happens
to have bought a bottle of vodka; unfortunately the only thing she has
to mix it with is a bottle of pasta sauce.
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Episode Three - 1987
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Robin has discovered a box of photographs in his office dating back
to the company brochure of 1987. A wave of nostalgia washes over the
older smokers as they're reminded how they used to look nearly twenty
years ago.
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Only Lilian enjoys the experience, being significantly slimmer and
more glamorous now than she was then.
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Even Sharon takes a reluctant trip down memory lane, to a time when
she was just starting out as Barry's secretary. The ensuing discussion
reveals a terrible misunderstanding between the two of them all those
years ago which is still troubling their relationship today.
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Episode Four - Smashed
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There has been a break-in overnight and the smoking room has been
vandalised. The police have been called, but in the meantime the smokers
set about trying to identify the culprit themselves.
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Led by Sharon, the finger of suspicion points at just about everyone
in a skewed version of a classic 'whodunnit'.
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Robin hasn't helped his cause by turning up to work with a black eye,
and doesn't appreciate it when his friends, or colleagues anyway, turn
on him.
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Meanwhile, Sally and Annie have hatched a plan to turn the whole affair
to their advantage.
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Episode Five - Pity the Fool
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It's April Fool's Day and despite Sharon's protestations,
Head Office have given instructions that the occasion should be marked
with suitable practical jokes to boost staff morale.
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Janet has been issued with a box of 'amusing' props
to distribute around the building, but the smokers are having none of
it - for once, most of them share Sharon's viewpoint on this pointless
enterprise.
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Talk instead turns to the cruel jokes life plays on
you, and the general mood isn't improved when Clint arrives, uncharacteristically
down at heart and stubbornly refusing to share the source of his woes
with his friends.
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Episode Six - Quitters
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An anti-smoking seminar has been organised in the smoking
room and all the smokers have been ordered to attend - not because Sharon
fears for their health, but because too much time is being wasted on
breaks.
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The general atmosphere isn't helped when Derek (Dave
Lamb), the unfortunate man charged with running the session,
manages to alienate most of the smokers in turn with his overly jolly
and patronising manner.
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In the end even Sharon is moved to join forces with
her staff to put an end to matters before they get out of hand.
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Episode Seven - Last Night a Graphic Designer Saved My Life
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Sally has made the front page of the local paper by saving an old
lady from a vicious mugger.
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Len and Clint are both slightly star-struck to be suddenly in the presence
of a celebrity, whilst Robin wonders if all the attention might be going
to her head.
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Gordon arrives and immediately launches into some detailed and passionate
advice on how to best exploit her new found fame, but then events take
a sudden and dramatic turn that will test Sally's heroic qualities to
the full.
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Episode Eight - Significant Others
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Janet's new boyfriend Noel has unexpectedly asked her to marry him,
and she has joyfully accepted.
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All of the smokers, or most of them anyway, are delighted for her -
even more so when she decides to celebrate with champagne over lunch
in the smoking room.
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It's supposed to be a happy occasion but Robin is concerned that she
might be rushing into things, and his constant sniping eventually causes
Janet to snap - setting in motion a series of revelations that will
change the lives of more than one of the smokers for ever.
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