2/5 Alan Bennett's delightful "unseemly" story The Shielding of Mrs. Forbes send-ups up the vanities and hypocrisies of Middle England by taking the Mrs. Bucket motto of 'Keeping Up Appearances' to its extreme conclusion. Bennett writes about unconventional sexual arrangements among the apparently conventional. The snobbish and priggish Mrs. Forbes is appalled that her son Graham is "chucking himself away" by marrying the unprepossessing Betty. What she (apparently) doesn't know is that her son is gay, and by marrying Betty he is not only ensuring his financial future, but also - he thinks - helping himself and his mother keep up appearances. In this episode he spends the night before his marriage in circumstances that would certainly raise some eyebrows amongst his mother's guests at the wedding.

Producer Gordon House
Executive Producer: Sara Davies. Show less