Loveday Writing

The episode kicks off with Mr. Ryder, Mr. MacKenzie, and Mrs. Ambrose discussing the fact that Goodes’ gowns are being copied, specifically the disastrous affect it will have on their reputation if the copies appear in the society pages (or elsewhere) before Goodes have them. Mrs. Ambrose suggests that the person who stole the Look Book could be spying for the competition or “opening their own boutique,” clearly accusing Magda of stealing it.

Mrs. Ambrose tells Mr. Ryder that Harrods would do sporadic spot check of staff lockers, whilst Mr. Ryder is hesitant to agree, he does so when Mr. MacKenzie suggests to Mr. Ryder that he give the master key of the ladies’ lockers to Mrs. Ambrose to search, whilst the catalogue photo shoot is taking place.

Meanwhile, Lisa, Magda, Angela, and Fay are dressing the models for the photo shoot, where Fay meets Christina who talks about her new “continental” boyfriend. In the studio, the photographer, Don, asks for Magda’s opinion on one of the models. Magda thinks the hat on the model is too small and gives her a bigger one, telling Lisa it’s just as important to conceal as it is to reveal. When Mr. MacKenzie dismisses Magda’s suggestion and sends her back to shoes, and tells Lisa to go back to cocktail, Don hires her as his photoshoot assistant.

Just as the store is about to open, Lisa finds Angela in the ladies’ bathroom. Angela drops her sketchbook of designs, thinking she is about to get caught, instead Lisa compliments her talent. Meanwhile, Mr. MacKenzie sexually harasses Elias and asks him to come to his office later. Elias asks Lisa and Angela for help in dealing with Mr. MacKenzie. Elias goes to Mr. MacKenzie’s office where he asks him to try on one of the men’s swimsuits. Just as Mr. MacKenzie starts to undress Elias, Lisa walks in and tells him Don wants one of the hats back at the studio. This allows Elias to make a phone call to the swimsuit supplier and place an excessive order of colourful swimsuits.

Meanwhile, Magda and Mrs. Ambrose get into a disagreement over a customer’s order, after Magda suggests a younger look for her. Later, Magda walks in on Mrs. Ambrose searching the lockers, where it’s revealed that Angela hid her sketchbook behind a radiator.

When Fay comes home from work, George takes a call from Mr. Marlow. Mr. Marlow tells her that he and Rudi are thinking of going into business together. George then tells Fay that Rudi is working late but not at the office.

Meanwhile, Richard tells the newspaper staff that councils are fining women for wearing bikinis on the beach, with beach inspectors taking measurements. Richard wants to do a full-page spread and uses some of Lisa’s work for his article. He also asks Lisa to get bikinis for the photo shoot from Goodes. Later, Magda calls the real estate agent and asks to sign the lease for the boutique (or rather Stefan will sign it), meanwhile Fay dances alone in her house.

The next morning, Adam tells Elias that Mr. MacKenzie has asked him to model some of the men’s swimwear. Elias tells him to go back to the loading dock and be careful, but Adam decides to go up. Elias goes to Mr. Ryder and tells him that he found the Look Book on a train and they go to see Mr. MacKenzie as he is undressing Adam.

Meanwhile, Lisa and Angela borrow bikinis from Goodes. When Fay catches them with the bikinis, she tells them she won’t say anything to anyone if they take George with them, so she can be alone with Rudi. When Fay leaves work, she finds Mr. Marlow waiting for her. He wants to resume their affair, but Fay refuses and walks away. Meanwhile, Magda is having her jewellery appraised, trying to raise money for the boutique lease.

The next day, George picks up Petra, Lisa, and Angela to go to the beach. When Petra and Lisa meet with Richard and Clive, Richard has set up another bloke to act as a policeman during the shoot, dismissing her idea and blowing it up completely out of proportion. Meanwhile, as Magda looks at the boutique space, Stefan tells her not to sign the lease as it has been changed to exclude utilities and double the deposit.

When George, Lisa, Petra, Angela, Clive, and Richard go for drinks at The Bent, Angela calls Richard out on his hypocrisy for stealing Lisa’s idea, and Richard brings up the fact that Angela is not the Mansour she claims to be, but Lisa doesn’t care, calling her effortlessly sophisticated. Angela tells Lisa on the dance floor that she did lie to get the job, but Lisa says it’s a good thing as she’s amazing. They dance the night away, as George plays the bar’s piano. When Lisa comes home late, Dorothy calls her out on her partying behaviour.

The next day, Fay hears Christina crying in the change rooms and asks if she’s alright. She tells Fay that she’s sick of attracting men that just want fun when she wants to get married, and asks why all Hungarian men are such charming liars. Meanwhile, Elias follows Mr. MacKenzie into a public bathroom, passing by two police officers on the way there. Elias goes back to Goodes to tell Magda that Mr. MacKenzie’s has been arrested for cottaging with a delivery boy. Magda, Elias, and Don get to work on doing the catalogue photo shoot that they want to do. Mr. Ryder later walks in on the shoot and asks Magda to come back with him to his office.

When Mr. Ryder asks Magda what she was thinking in taking over the shoot, Magda tells him that Mr. MacKenzie is living in the past and Goodes needs to be steered into the future. Mr. Ryder tells her that Mr. MacKenzie is not returning to Goodes and offers her the position of Chief Buyer for a trial period.

Later, Fay sees Christina happy after a call in the phone booth. Christina tells her that her trucker boyfriend loves her after. Fay then finds a Janosi Transport business card in the booth and breaks down in tears.

The episode ends with Petra and Lisa in the photo shoot studio, with Petra giving her a copy of Richard’s article which doesn’t give Lisa a byline or credit for research. Lisa then strips down and poses for a photo by sitting on a chair covering up most of her naked body, with the picture going on to accompany the ‘Bikini Wars’ article on the front page of the university newspaper.

Overall, this was another solid episode showing progression in Angela and Lisa’s friendship, Angela and George developing as each other’s love interest, and the possibility of Rudi having an affair with another woman. This episode also sees Mr. MacKenzie finally gets his comeuppance for sexually harassing the male staff, and in turn, Magda being promoted to Chief Buyer.

Again, the episode’s anachronistic soundtrack brought it down a bit again, this time with multiple songs, with Venus not coming out until 1969 and David Bowie’s Modern Love accompanying the photo shoot montage, a song that wouldn’t be released for another two decades. I personally don’t understand the choice to not have the show’s soundtrack match its setting.