प्लॉट

When environmentalism concerns lead to Grace Brothers shutting off its heat for a day - Britain's coldest winter day - the staff improvise new ways to stay warm.

Due to the fuel economy crisis in the country, Grace Brothers has turned off the heating for the day. But, as Mrs. Slocombe says, "It's like an igloo in 'ere!" Management has ordered no heating devices behind the counter, but the staff can't bear it and sneak in items to keep their circulation going. However, if Captain Peacock finds out, it could lead to a chilly meeting in Mr. Rumbold's office.—Nadia Nassar

During the 1970s Oil crisis, Grace Brothers's fuel supply is running low, so the board orders the heating off once a week, starting that very icy winter day. While Rumbold sneakily hides an electric heater, blackmailed for silence by Mash, Peacock enforces the ban on heating devices on the floor, while everyone proves rather inventive to warm themselves with extra clothes and hidden devices like pads, blower or electric blanket. Of course accidents and chance bring all to light, but by the time even Rumbold agrees it's time to send everyone home, Mr. Grace has taken another measure.—KGF Vissers

Mr. Rumbold arrives at work early though the cleaning ladies have been there a little bit before him. They complain to him that it is absolutely frigid and that their mop buckets and chamois rags are freezing up on them. He explains that this is by design - there was a meeting to discuss a crisis of fuel shortage and he suggested the company turn off the heating one day per week to save fuel. Mr. Grace liked the idea and has chosen to implement it starting today. Admittedly, today is a bad day to have the heat off because it is the coldest day of the year, but the heat is already turned off so there isn't much that can be done about it.

The staff arrive one by one, bundled up to the ears (in Mr. Grainger's case literally as he has cotton wool stuck in his) and shocked to discover it's just as cold - if not colder - inside than it was outside. Mr. Rumbold explains the situation, making it sound like a patriotic political speech in order to get them on his side. But Captain Peacock calls the plan a "silly idea" and the rest agree with him, and Mrs. Slocombe asks for an electric fire behind the counter but is denied the request. Excess electronic devices, which drain power and fuel, are forbidden by the board on days when they are saving energy. Mr. Lucas asks Mr. Rumbold if they can continue to wear their winter gear instead, but is denied this request as well as it's against dress code. Mr. Rumbold, who already has his winter gear off, assures them that it's just the same for him as it is for them and they all will have to work together to make the best of things, leaving to return to his office while the staff are still complaining about the cold. Miss Slocombe insists customers won't undress for fittings and Miss Brahms laments wearing her good but thinner stockings. Captain Peacock admonishes her that young girls don't wear enough clothes layers as it is, drawing her ire.

Meanwhile, it transpires that Mr. Rumbold has sneaked an electric fire into his room and is keeping it in his office desk, opening the drawer and turning it on whenever anyone is unlikely to notice. Mr. Mash happens upon this discovery and threatens to tell. Mr. Rumbold buys a bottle of bootleg scotch from him to keep him quiet and he agrees not to tell the rest of the staff.

Captain Peacock, who had the foresight to put on extra layers under his uniform, is able to cope fairly well and as usual starts sucking up to Mr. Rumbold to gain favor and pretend to be on his side. But as the day wears on the rest of the staff are absolutely miserable, especially since there are very few customers and they have to stand around freezing most of the time. Miss Brahms has to go to the bathroom, but when she goes into the ladies' department's toilet she finds that the pipes and toilet bowl are frozen solid. The other bathrooms are still usable, but as the bathrooms on other floors are customers-only and out of bounds to the staff, Mrs. Slocombe asks Captain Peacock if the ladies can use the bathroom in the Men's department. Captain Peacock isn't sure of the protocol so he asks Mr. Grainger, as head of the Men's department, to make the decision. After a lengthy consultation between Mr. Grainger and his two juniors, which embarrasses Miss Brahms, they that they can afford to bend the rules for one day. But when Captain Peacock goes to tell Miss Brahms, she is so embarrassed by everyone being alerted to her distress that she almost refuses to go.

Mr. Lucas tries to keep warm by pacing round and Mr. Humphries sticks his hands in the cashmere sweater drawer to keep the circulation going in them. Mr. Mash sneaks around behind the counter and offers to sell them hot cocoa cups for ten pence each but they refuse to pay him. In frustration he lets slip that Mr. Rumbold has an electric fire in his room. He offers Captain Peacock a free cup, but Captain Peacock - after a severe struggle - refuses to break the rules so Mr. Mash leaves the floor. Mr. Lucas is furious at hearing that Mr. Rumbold is making them suffer while he has means of staying warm, so while Mr. Humphries pretends to send him to go to the fitting room, he sneaks downstairs to the electronics department and returns with some items the Men's department staff can improvise with to try to keep warm.

Captain Peacock discovers Miss Brahms has stuffed a pair of fuzzy earmuffs in her vest to keep her chest warm and that Mrs. Slocombe is wearing a pair of men's long johns, donated to her by Mr. Grainger. He tells them both are against regulations and Miss Slocombe goes to Mr. Rumbold's office to ask him for a ruling. Mr. Rumbold shuts off the fire and closes the drawer he has it in, so Mrs. Slocombe doesn't notice, but he misunderstands what she's asking (he thinks she was asking him to help her take them off) and tells her he'd prefer she kept the long johns on, much to her relief. But Miss Brahms has to take the earmuffs off. She gets a bottle of brandy during her coffee break and smuggles it into the Ladies department, and Mrs. Slocombe secrets some of it inside a dummy perfume sprayer so it can be used for a discreet "nip" of brandy for warming purposes, every now and then. However Captain Peacock finds the sprayer and sets it on the display with the other, real ones, thinking it's just been misplaced by a customer without realizing it's really brandy.

Mr. Grainger discovers what Mr. Lucas has done, but instead of reprimanding him and Mr. Humphries, he lets Mr. Humphries use the iron that Mr. Lucas brought down to warm the thermal pad he's been wearing under his shirt. He puts in a hot water bottle to replace it while Mr. Humphries irons the thermal pad, simultaneously using two hairdryers up his pants legs to keep himself warm. A customer comes and he has to step off the hairdryers and quickly hide the iron under a hat. He tries to subtly warn Mr. Lucas that he should get the iron from under the hat, but Mr. Lucas doesn't get the hint. Mr. Lucas himself has an electric blanket and is standing barefoot on it behind the counter. He has a toaster which he is using to toast oven mitts to wear on his hands whenever Captain Peacock isn't looking. When a customer arrives, though, Mr. Lucas suddenly forgets where he put his shoes and hurriedly places the oven mitts on his feet instead before he comes out from behind the counter.Captain Peacock nearly has apoplexy at this, but the customer shows interest in them and Mr. Lucas is able to convince him they are novelty slippers that just look like gloves, and ends up selling the customer not only the trousers he had been interested in but two pairs of said "slippers" as well, impressing Captain Peacock enough to get him to let it slide.

Mr. Humphries asks Mr. Lucas if he got the iron but Mr. Lucas reveals he has no knowledge of it and therefore missed the hint earlier. Mr. Humphries is afraid to go look and see what's become of it - he soon finds out, as Captain Peacock spots said iron hanging by its cord in the sock cabinet. He calls over Mr. Grainger, who of course knows where it came from and angrily calls Mr. Humphries and Mr. Lucas over to face justice for letting themselves be caught. Captain Peacock lifts the hat and finds the iron has indeed burned holes through the counter and the thermal pad, prompting Mr. Grainger to burst into tears as it was his favorite thermal pad. Captain Peacock searches the rest of the department and finds the electric blanket, hairdryers, and toaster as well.

The members of the Men's Department in tow, Captain Peacock barges into Mr. Rumbold's office with the "loot". As Captain Peacock didn't wait to ask to enter, Mr. Rumbold shuts the drawer on the fire quickly, only narrowly escaping detection. Captain Peacock explains what he found, and as Mr. Rumbold seems to be missing the significance of it, starts to detail from the beginning what went on. Mr. Lucas and Mr. Humphries drop hints about the fire, since they know about it - i.e. "It's hot in here" and fanning themselves - but Captain Peacock and Mr. Grainger don't notice. Mr. Rumbold, in a panic, tries to get them to leave as quickly as possible, but just as they are leaving, flames billow from his desk, as he didn't get the electric fire completely turned off before shutting the drawer on it. Mr. Lucas hurriedly grabs the fire extinguisher, putting it out and saving the store from burning down but also dousing Mr. Rumbold in the extinguisher mix as well.

Mr. Lucas is praised for saving the day, and Mr. Rumbold comes up with a less-than-convincing explanation that he was hiding the fire in the drawer to keep anyone from breaking the rules and using it, and must have flipped it on by accident when he stuck it in there. He determines that because of the extreme cold that he is closing their floor early and will explain matters to Mr. Grace later. The staff cheer and start to go home, when Mr. Grace himself appears on the floor to inform them he's had the heating turned on again. One of his other businesses is a coal warehouse, but all the workers had gone on strike. He simply sacked the lot of them and had the warehouse and its contents pulled down and converted to fuel, which should at least last the winter. Mr. Rumbold follows him back out, and Captain Peacock says that the staff can be forgiven their use of forbidden objects to stay warm since the ban is no longer in place.

Mrs. Slocombe confesses to the brandy concealed in a perfume sprayer in her department, and offers to let Captain Peacock have some. Captain Peacock agrees, but as he put the bottle back in the wrong place earlier when he found it sitting there, Mrs. Slocombe picks up the wrong one by mistake and he gets a mouthful of perfume, instead.