Pardon?

"Pardon?" is the first episode in the seventh season of the show As Time Goes By. It originally aired on 19 April 1998

## Plot

Sandy is watching Harry play rugby and soon the game finishes. Harry goes to Sandy and tell her they’ll meet in the bar, as Sandy goes to the bar her shoe falls off and she struggles to put it back on and Harry does not hear her yelling out to him.

Judy and Alistair are making out in Alistair’s apartment with rugby playing on the television in the background. They then go to take a shower together.

Lionel, presumably having watched a rugby match, is watching the after game analysis when Jean comes in from buying sausages and asks him who won the match. Lionel mishears Jean, thinking she asked whether or not he watched the rugby match, and answers that he did and it had just finished. They clear the matter and evidently England won against Italy. They also talk about Sandy going to watch Harry play rugby and Lionel makes police jokes. As Jean goes to the kitchen, she asks Lionel if he wants lasagna or cannelloni and Lionel answers, “Yes, that’s fine.” Lionel apparently did not hear lasagna and tries to hide that fact. It is apparent that Lionel is now somewhat hard of hearing.

Judy comes out of the shower and Alistair suggests that they eat in. Alistair tells Judy that he has ordered food to be delivered and they talk about Sandy and her relationship with Harry and Sandy’s long term relationship goals with Harry, a policeman. Enrico, the owner of the cafe that Alistair ordered from, gives a large bouquet of flowers to Judy and an elegant meal to the apartment.

Sandy comes home and Lionel offers and goes to make them tea. Lionel also mishears Sandy saying she gone to a rugby match as Sandy asking him if he watched the rugby match. Sandy goes to the living room and sees Jean looking for a piece of a jigsaw puzzle with an eye on it. Lionel comes in with a tray and three cups of a tea on it, Sandy attempts to move the jigsaw puzzle to the side of the table and ends up breaking it instead. Lionel sets the tray down and doesn’t hear Jean saying he should have just brought the mugs. Lionel tries to hide the fact that he didn’t hear Sandy when she came in initially saying that she went to a rugby match after he asks where she was. Sandy talks about her relationship with Harry and that all that they do is rugby, whether Sandy watches as Harry plays rugby or they watch rugby games together. Lionel goes to the kitchen to look for baked beans to go with sausages, but find that while there are baked beans, there are no sausages. When he comes back he barely hears Jean saying, “romance isn’t dead.”

Lionels comes out of a butcher shop, having bought sausages and sees a hearing aid shop and stops looking inside. A somewhat older man sees Lionel looking into the shop and encourages him to go inside, but Lionel immediately walks away with a small amount of fear in his eyes.

Judy, having told Alistair Lionel is going deaf, is reading a newspaper and Alistair is incredulous. Alistair asks if anyone has told to Lionel about it and Judy answers in the negative and suggests that Alistair should do it, much to Alistair’s annoyance.

Jean and Sandy are in the kitchen ironing clothes and cleaning dishes talking about Lionel’s hearing. Jean begins to attempt to get Sandy to talk to Lionel about it, but Sandy immediately picks up on it and turns it back on Jean definitively. When Lionel comes in, Sandy runs off and leaves Jean by herself. When Jean tries to talk to Lionel about his hearing, Lionel can’t hear and they sit down. Jean starts the conversation talking about her eyesight, saying that she will probably need a stronger prescription for her glasses and that there was no shame in going to an optometrist. As Jean is about to steer the conversation to Lionel’s hearing, the doorbell rings and Lionel goes to answer the door and suggests that they continue the conversation later once he has absorbed what has already been said.

Alistair and Judy come in and follow Lionel to the living room. When Judy asks if Jean was in the kitchen, Lionel is unable hear and does not respond. Alistair begins to talk to Lionel about his hearing, but Lionel misinterprets Alistair and moves the conversation to Jean’s eyesight. Lionel believes that Jean is overthinking a change in prescription is a symptom of something larger and Alistair makes an appointment for Jean with an optometrist.

Jean and Judy are in the kitchen taking about Alistair breaking the news to Lionel and Sandy comes in and Jean tells her what happened. Alistair and Lionel come into the kitchen to get Jean for a talk between Lionel and Jean and Alistair offers to buy Lionel a beer, when they are done talking, at the local pub. Jean and Lionel go into the living room and Jean is relieved as Lionel has graciously accepted and made an appointment with a doctor which he agrees has to be kept. As Lionel leaves to have that beer with Alistair, he tells Jean that she will be with one of top eye specialists and could not be in better hands. Jean’s face falls and sits down resignedly. Sandy and Judy comes in and Jean tells them what happened.

Lionel and Alistair are in the pub drinking beer when Lionel asks what Alistair came to the house to talk to Lionel about and Alistair reluctantly admits it was about Lionel going deaf.

Jean and Sandy are playing solitaire and talking about how Sandy’s relationship with Harry mostly consists of her going to see him play rugby. Judy comes in with a bottle of wine and three glasses and tells Jean and Sandy that Alistair just phoned and told Lionel that they believe he was going deaf and Lionel has just stormed out of the pub. Judy and Sandy insist that they stay. Lionel comes in angrily and talks about it is ridiculous that they thinking that he is going deaf. They begin to list instances of when he did not hear him earlier int he episode. Lionel tries to deflect by saying that they have soft voices and again towards Jean’s eyesight. Lionel in the end agrees to see an ear doctor.

Jean is in the kitchen talking to Judy on the phone about Lionel going to see the ear doctor. Lionel comes in and asks about her visit to the eye doctor and Jean tell him that it was just a minor alteration to her prescription. Lionel also says that his hearing is also fine and that there was a small problem that has been fixed. Lionel explains that there was a large build up of earwax which the ear doctor syringed. Lionel apologizes to Jean for being immature about his earring and says that he was given the wax as a souvenir by the ear doctor. As a joke Lionel throws a bag of sausages onto the countertop.