Shelley (Season 8)

James Shelley, an educated, sardonic, permanently unemployed "professional freelance layabout," has many battles with authority, the tax-man, his landlady, and his girlfriend Fran.

The Artful Lodger (Episode 1)
Air date: 1989-10-17
Runtime: 30 min
Overview: Shelley starts a job training in telesales but is still struggling to pay the rent. Meanwhile, when an old friend drops by after years of living abroad, it seems that he will be even more financially stretched than ever.
Shelley Washes Whiter (Episode 2)
Air date: 1989-10-24
Runtime: 30 min
Overview: Shelley's old friend Phil is now ensconced as his new lodger and is keen to assist in getting him a new job after getting him fired from his last one. Will a coaching session on interview techniques really help Shelley or will he just use his usual skills to remain unemployed?
A Happy Event (Episode 3)
Air date: 1989-10-31
Runtime: 30 min
Overview: Carol is convinced she's pregnant, and seeks Shelley's wisdom and advice as how to go forward. Graham also seems to be a changed man but how will the perception of parenthood change things.
Born Freeish (Episode 4)
Air date: 1989-11-07
Runtime: 30 min
Overview: When Shelley hears Carol and Graham's plans for early retirement he starts to realize he may have some serious thinking to do about his own financial future. After talking things over with Phil, he starts to see things more clearly.
Day of the Reptile (Episode 5)
Air date: 1989-11-14
Runtime: 30 min
Overview: Shelley'a flat is invaded by journalists from the Fleet Street gutter press, digging around for any dirt he has on a former university friend who is now an MP. Will Shelley sell his story and make a quick buck or does his unbreakable social conscience give him other ideas?
For Whom the Bell Tolls (Episode 6)
Air date: 1989-11-21
Runtime: 30 min
Overview: Shelley has spent a long and tiring day in his new job as a London tour guide, and is absolutely exhausted. The trouble is, when he gets back to his apartment, it seems that all and sundry are determined to stop him having some well-earned shut-eye.
The Gospel According to Shelley (Episode 7)
Air date: 1989-11-28
Runtime: 30 min
Overview: Shelley's new weekend job working behind the bar of a quiet pub is going as well as can be expected, until he gets a visit from Jeremy a member of the religious cult, the Christian Soldiers. Will the brainwashed Jeremy have his head turned by Shelley's intellectual outpourings or could Shelley be in for a devil of a time.
Wages of Virtue (Episode 8)
Air date: 1989-12-05
Runtime: 30 min
Overview: Shelley finds a wallet stuffed full of money dropped on the pavement and no indication as to whom the owner might be. Could fortune be smiling on him or will he find to his cost that honesty is the best policy?
It's Only a Game (Episode 9)
Air date: 1989-12-12
Runtime: 30 min
Overview: Shelley takes Phil to his first-ever soccer game, and attempts to educate him in the art of terrace etiquette. By chance, Carol and Graham are also in attendance but in the rather more salubrious surroundings of the club chairman's private box.
Killer Driller (Episode 10)
Air date: 1989-12-19
Runtime: 30 min
Overview: Shelley is working as a laborer on a new docklands development, but his team's work is hampered by a reluctant pop star staging a video shoot. Will Shelley be open to a bit of showbiz bribery and corruption?
Cold Turkey (Episode 11)
Air date: 1989-12-26
Runtime: 30 min
Overview: Shelley and Phil are making a good effort to try and have a merry Christmas but their hopes are dashed when a devastated Graham reveals that Carol has left him for another man. Can they rescue Graham's festive season with some seasonal cheer for a Carol-less Christmas?
A Problem Aired (Episode 12)
Air date: 1990-01-02
Runtime: 30 min
Overview: Shelley is left to contemplate the aging process - following slightly painful visits to his optician and dentist. But none of these are more painful than listening to Graham's depressing and lengthy outpourings over the his loss of beloved Carol!
Help! (Episode 13)
Air date: 1990-01-09
Runtime: 30 min
Overview: Shelley's visit to a service station becomes an ordeal when he's caught up in the middle of a robbery by baseball bat-wielding blaggers. But he's in for an even worse time when he's left handcuffed to the garage's dim-witted shop assistant, with seemingly no help at hand.