Harry (Jeremy Piven) dreams and finds himself in a graveyard where he sees Rose's gravestone and then his own next to hers. He awakens in a hospital and says he's still alive. A reporter accosts Gordon (Greg Austin) as he leaves home and asks him about Harry and the store. He says everything is in good hands. Harry rests at the country home and he loses at cards to his grand daughter, Tatiana (Abigail Eames). He misses the store and the others have to get along without him as best they can. Grove (Tom Goodman-Hill) and Crab (Ron Cook) take over the running and Mae (Katherine Kelly) has requests for the new fashion line which fall outside of the approved budget. She then says she wants her own machinists and carte blanche to hire whoever she wants and will design her own line. Obviously within budget.
Gordon turns up for dinner at the home with Grace (Amy Morgan) and troublemaker Violette (Hannah Tointon) also arrives on her own plane. She shows Harry the newspaper headlines where it states that Gordon is managing the store now and Harry is practically retired after being at the helm for 20 years. He's done no such thing and is upset, heading back to work. Not believing that Gordon didn't say anything to the press. He's going to have words with Wynnstay (Robert Pugh).
He has new ideas and announces to the press the opening of a new technology department, next to cosmetics and Kitty (Amy Beth Hayes) was't pleased with that and also the launch of Mae's new fashion line. He wants the Dolly sisters to model it but she's after an English rose, he doesn't listen to her though. Meryl (Lottie Tolhurst) is rude to a customer as Connie (Sacha Parkinson) refuses to train her and Meryl tells a customer the colour yellow won't suit her and the line isn't correct for her figure, implying she's old and fat. Connie must apologize and sends her to work in the storeroom. You'd think Meryl would have some common sense about how to be tactful and actually flatter to get a sale.
A black woman is shown getting ready and leaving for the store, she's there for an interview as a new machinist, as she arrives through the front door everyone stares. Clearly she's seen as an outcast and treated as such, even by Meryl who seems to have her own airs about her. Telling her she should use the service entrance at the side. She gets the same look when she arrives at the line for the interview. Grove asks for references, character references that is and Mae likes her dress. She copied it from a magazine, a Chanel design and changed some of the design. Mae hires her much to the chagrin and disgust of the other workers there. Tilly (Mimi Ndiweni) also has an idea of how they can make the dresses fit any sized women and once again the other workers don't like her getting ahead. The supervisor says if they can get their work done she'll take then for tea at Lyon's teahouse. Obviously that doesn't include Tilly, as she sends her for beads and they make a run for it when she's not there. She talks with Meryl after she hears the other girls referring to her as "Mr Grove's daughter" and that's the only reason she got the job, but she's in the right place now. Tilly and Meryl get to be on first name terms with each other.
Harry's mother, Lois (Kika Markham) tells him he should make it up with Gordon as he didn't tell the newspapers anything and Harry tells him he knows he wants to be his own man and not stand by his side, as that's the impression Gordon gives him after he tells him about marrying Grace and it's up to him who he marries. Clearly that's not sorted out. Harry also gets five pages of advertizing from Wynnstay and tells him he's not going to threaten him with a story like that again. The Dolly's are late for the show and when they do arrive they've been out all night and drinking. They manage to pull off the show with much gusto and some women are disgusted and leave when they see how long it takes to remove the clothes, even if they did behind the screens. Mae isn't happy at all and later tells Harry that they're her designs, she's grateful for what he's done but she'll make her own decisions, or she's out. He also brings in Alberta Hunter (Cynthia Erivo) to sing again over the wireless, surprised they listened to her singing over the radio or didn't they know she was also black.
Rosie (Emma Hamilton) invites Harry to an overnight party on a ship where they'll be playing baccarat and kisses him. Seems Harry was just waiting for that, here he's with Rosie, when it was actually Jenny (Zoe Richards) he wanted. He asks her about death and how he was almost there a few weeks ago after she remarks on resting when they're dead. He arrives home late and finds his mother has died. Adding more woes for him and taking him further into that downward spiral. Mae thanks Jimmy (Sacha Dhawan) for the flowers, telling him she's not Harry's plus one and she can look after herself. As they also kiss.
Grove wanted to ask for some time off but he sees how Harry hasn't recovered yet and doesn't ask. Miss Blenkinsop (Deborah Cornelius) and Miss Plunkett (Sadie Shimmin) ask Kitty about having children of her own and how she's not fulfilled as a woman until she does so. She takes it the wrong way and leaves saying she doesn't want children and that's what she asks Frank (Samuel West) later. They both decide they're "not that sort of couple" and she enjoys her work and wants to keep working, which he says just makes her ambitious. Miss Plunkett tells her about having a fiance who died in South Africa. She didn't find anyone else and she apologizes for saying what she did cos people just assume and it's no one's business.
Not much happening here as you can just guess, even if you don't know the real story. As Harry and Gordon are further alienated from each other over the store since Harry doesn't want to relinquish any part of it and that was what led to his downfall in part and being removed by the board. He's not willing to see the real picture and how he can't still do things his own way. Even after the story Jimmy tells him about coming to the store with his mother, thinking it was a palace and asking who lived here. She told him it was a store and it was Selfridge. She bought him a clockwork train set, which Harry tells him is still their best seller today. Always doing market research. Jimmy mentioning how Harry invited him to the store and not his club, cos they wouldn't let Jimmy in, unless he was accompanied by Harry. But it doesn't make any difference cos it's not about who accompanies him, rather his skin colour, just like with Tilly, discrimination knows no bounds, even if you've got money, you're still treated in that way, though it may be less subtle and not so apparent. Either that or they'll just stick by him cos he's got money. They each ask the other how they made it big. Even if Harry was discriminated against, it was cos he was an American and nothing else.
It appears Harry's dream about dying was more of a foreboding about Lois.
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