The Bounder - Episode Guide

Howard Booth, a smoothly plausible former investment manager, emerges from prisonafter serving two years for fraud. Having nowhere to go and no funds, he imposes himself on his trusting younger sister Mary and her cynical estate agent husband, Trevor Mountjoy.

Determined to treat Trevor and Mary to a wedding anniversary dinner at a posh hotel, Howard cons his way into a private party, pretending to be a school old boy. After being exposed by the manager, he attempts to impersonate the head waiter. Despite his initially successful plan, he comes badly unstuck.

Howard romances Laura, a well-off widowed neighbour. Having done some creative writing whilst in prison, he pretends to be a dashingnovelist and romantic poet. But she soon learns the truth.

When Trevor won't advance Howard a small loan, he cons a bank manager into investing in an African diamond mine he claims to have discovered during a fictitious trip to Africa. But the scheme is quickly exposed as a fraud.

Howard gives Laura a £7000 diamond bracelet, which he's obtained on approval using Trevor's name. Laura likes it and Howard has to face paying for it or persuading her to reject it.

Howard and Trevor are shopping at an expensive clothes shop, but Howard spots his former cellmate ‘Greasy" at his usual occupation - shoplifting. When Greasy slips the purloined items into Trevor's shopping bag, Howard has to do some quick thinking, includingimpersonating a police officer.

Laura is being wooed by an Italian, Count Montefiore, which leads Howard to jealousy. He engages an enquiry agent to check up on the Count and see if he's really who he claims to be. But the investigator mistakenly checks Howard out, rather than the Count.

Mary has left Trevor and the house is a mess. Trevor engages a cleaning woman, but Howard thinks she's Trevor's girlfriend and scares her into leaving.

Howard starts the HB Matrimonial Agency, but the first (and only) two clients are dissatisfied with his bumbling efforts and demand their money back.

Laura's house is burgled and her jewellery stolen. The police suspect it's the work of a known thief, nicknamed ‘Raffles', but Howard's criminal record causes them to suspect him instead. Howard discovers Raffles breaking into Trevor's house, but realises it's really ‘Greasy', who he shared a cell with in prison.

Howard is still smitten with Laura, but she isn't as gullible as he supposes and resists his advances. To compound her resistance, she acquires ‘Sabre', a German Shepherd Dog, who takes Howard's presence as a threat.

Howard and Laura believe that Mary is seeing another man, but it turns out that he's only trying to sell her insurance. But then Laura falls for him – or does she?

Howard meets ‘Softly' Simpson, a painter and forger he knew in prison, and persuades him to paint Trevor. But the painting looks more like the portrait of the Duke of Wellington on a five pound note (withdrawn in 1991) than Trevor.

Mary sues Trevor for divorce. Laura is attracted to Trevor, but Howard sets him up with Gloria, Trevor's secretary, who is already engaged. They all meet at a social function where Trevor is due to speak, and it's a disaster. Mary phones to ask to see Trevor, and he hopes for reconciliation, but the situation is left unresolved.