The Trouble With Grandpa

A country wedding coincides with industrial disputes elsewhere and when a guest at the wedding hears that the bride’s grandfather has a reputation for dealing with problems in unconventional ways he tells him he is facing the threat of a strike by his staff in a building society. Grandfather Bertrand, known as Old Bertie, suggests ways by which the strike may be averted, but Mortimer Howard, the branch manager, is reluctant to carry them out. His staff, however, enjoy taking the action proposed and, with help from his granddaughter’s newly-wed husband, the episode is a success for all concerned. News of Bertie’s achievement gets around and further examples of his problem-solving, in partnership with his recently acquired relative, involve a variety of situations in which the common ingredient of his remedies is humour. The final example involving a wealthy newspaper owner leads to an uncomfortable moment for a TV interviewer.