Buy Mr. Selfridge

In 1908 Agnes Towler,a shop girl at Gamages store, is sacked after a flamboyant American customer insists she empty her entire stock of gloves on her counter but later receives an expensive pair of gloves from the man. He is Harry Selfridge,a former shop worker who has moved from Chicago to London with his mother Lois,wife Rose and their children. His aim is to open his own store in Oxford Street. When his original partner backs out journalist Frank Edwards introduces Harry to influential suffragette Lady Mae Loxton,through whom he obtains the required financial backing. In March 1909 he opens his unprecedently sumptuous new department store. He employs Agnes,making her senior accessories assistant,which annoys fellow shop girls Doris and Kitty,though Victor,a waiter at the store's restaurant,takes a shine to her. Also on the staff are chief accountant Mr Crabb,stoic chief of staff Mr Grove,head window dresser Henri Leclair,the formidable Miss Mardle,head of accessories and Miss Bunting,her nervous counter part in fashion. Frank also introduces Harry to Gaiety girl Ellen Love,who,as the opening is launched,is chosen to personify the Spirit of Selfridges.
Hide description ▲

Agnes gets her younger brother George work in the warehouse at the store but the siblings get a nasty shock when their brutish,drunken father Reg turns up and they reluctantly let him stay. Feeling alienated from her husband's business Rose goes to the National Gallery and strikers up a friendship with handsome young artist Roddy,though she is taken aback when he makes a pass at her. THe store is not doing as well as Harry had hoped and he needs a gimmick to attract trade. He therefore approaches the cross-Channel aviator Louis Bleriot and display Bleriot's plane at Selfridge's. This is a huge success with Ellen Page sitting in the cockpit modelling flying scarves - which sell out as a result. Lady Mae asks for a free suit for her young lover Tony,reminding Harry of his debt to her whilst Harry himself,though determined to give Rose more attention,is caught in a compromising situation in Ellen's dressing-room. After this he buys her a house in St. John's Wood.
Hide description ▲

Harry continues his affair with Ellen in her new home but Rose visits Lady Mae,who alerts her to her husband's infidelity,causing Rose to agree to pose for a painting by Roddy. Harry shocks his staff by suggesting that all beauty products should be put on display,rather than behind the counter,with perfumes at the fore to mask street smells. Display organizer Henri brings in his old flame,Valerie Maurel,an advertising agent for consultation and,although she hints at caution,Harry gets his way.However Henri also sees that Agnes has a talent and uses her designs and not Ellen's photographs in the display window. Agnes is experiencing domestic troubles though,due to Reg's drinking. Lady Mae forces Harry to cancel Tony's gambling debts as well as getting him to support the Suffragette movement by allowing them to meet weekly at the store.
Hide description ▲

Victor visits Agnes and they kiss. Harry also pays her a call and persuades her to go back to work,buying off Reg and threatening him not to return...
Hide description ▲

Miss Ravillous has Agnes promoted to ladies' fashion - where she and Henri end up kissing. Kitty receives humbugs from a mystery admirer and assumes it is Frank after he has flirted with her but is not too disappointed to discover it is George Towler whilst Doris asks Mr Grove to get Harry to give a reference to Miss Bunting,now destitute and unemployable. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle comes to sign books at the store and persuades Harry - who is anxious to keep in with him - to allow American psychic Rex Crenell to hold a seance on the premises. Staff reaction is mixed,Miss Mardle believing the late Mrs Grove is trying to communicate with them. However the séance ends abruptly when Rex claims to have felt a malevolent male spirit in the room. Harry is dismissive but Lois is concerned. Lady Mae,still continuing her affair with Victor,saves the day again when bankers led by Mr Musker arrive to discuss Harry's latest idea - issuing public shares to raise capital. She also launches his daughter Rosalie into society,making Harry a very proud father. Written by
Hide description ▲

Harry hosts a dinner for fellow American Frank Woolworth,who has opened a chain of discount stores in the United States and is extending his business to London. Seeing the need to compete with Woolworth Harry plans a lavish mid-season bargain sale. Kitty and Doris are interviewed by Grove for promotion to replace Agnes and Grove asks Harry to consider a reference for Miss Bunting. Harry refuses but Grove is touched by Doris's humanity and homeliness. Ellen Love comes to the store with Tony to invite the Selfridges to the opening night of his play,in which she will star. Victor asks Lady Mae for the capital to open his own restaurant and is crushed when she refuses. Agnes goes on a date with Henri,staying the night with him and next day touring the markets for ideas to promote the sale. On returning home she meets a disappointed Victor waiting for her. On Sunday the Selfridges go to church but Rosalie,feigning illness,stays at home. Returning early Rose is shocked to find her with Roddy,whom she has met through Lady Mae,and tells him to leave. Written by
Hide description ▲

News reaches the store that Miss Bunting has killed herself,causing a remorseful Harry to offer to pay for her funeral and Mr Grove to take an upset Doris out for tea,claiming he should have done more to help. Agnes and Henri also discuss the suicide and reach out for each other but they are interrupted by Miss Ravillus,who warns Agnes to be careful about the relationship and consider her career. When Valerie reappears at the store Agnes gives Henri her blessing to see her and gets on with the window display marking explorer Ernest Shackleton's lecture to be given at Selfridge's. Unemployed,Frank is refused a job by Harry and goes to see Ellen,about to open in Tony's play. Victor,aware that Lady Mae has used him,tells her what he thinks of her and,at the Shackleton exhibition,Harry is annoyed to see Rosalie with Roddy - and even more so when the young artist tells him that he and Rose were once in love. Written by
Hide description ▲

Harry wakes up in bed with a one night stand and returns home to an unwelcoming Rose. On arriving at work he is told by Lady Mae that the king wants a private shopping session after hours. Doris has her own good news. Grove has asked her to marry him but Miss Mardle is shocked and insulted when he suggests they continue their affair. Henri tells Agnes that he will be going to New York to work with Valerie. Harry is angry at losing such a valued employee and insists he goes immediately. Agnes is disappointed but finds consolation with Victor. The king's shopping trip is a success and he invites the Selfridges as his guests to see Ellen's new play. However the play,whilst approved by a gloating Frank,is a cruel satire directed against Mae - lampooning her predilection for young men - and the Selfridges,picking on Harry's greed and Rose's dalliance with Roddy. Back home Rosalie is appalled and rows with her mother over Roddy but this actually leads to a truce and rapprochement between Mr and Mrs Selfridge. Written by
Hide description ▲

Five years have elapsed since the store opened. Harry's son Gordon is at boarding school but obtains his father's permission to leave and work in the store whilst all his female relatives have returned to America. However Rose comes back for the fifth anniversary. On the boat over she has met emancipated feminist Delphine Day, a writer and night-club owner, who advises her to use her own potential. Lady Mae's husband Lord Loxley arrives in London, suspicious of his wife's friendship with Harry and not above using blackmail to get onto a military committee. New head of fashion Mr Thackeray is not popular. Trained in Paris he sees himself as superior to other staff members and is jealous of Agnes, who has also returned from Paris. Now head of display she impresses Harry with her ideas but is dismayed to find that Victor, now manager of the restaurant where he employs his young cousin Franco as a waiter has a close working relationship with a friend Gabriella. Henri Leclair also returns from America . Delphine gives a hugely successful reading of her book at the store, followed by a party at her club where Kitty rebuffs Frank Edward's attentions. That night the news breaks that Franz Ferdinand has been murdered in Sarajevo.
Hide description ▲

Harry is confronted by a delegation of trade unionists led by Arnold Huxton, demanding better workers' rights. Union membership is forbidden at the store as the staff have their own council for debates but Ed and Dave, who work in the loading bay with Gordon, are interested and arrange to attend a talk given by Huxton. Gordon overhears and sneaks into the meeting but when the Selfridge staff learn how comparatively well-served they are the unionists are angry and a fight ensues. Rose, seeing Victor at the club, follows him home to where he is living in poverty though he declines her offer of his old job back. Harry is annoyed that she made the offer behind his back. To repay the staff for their loyalty he arranges a tango party at Delphine's, inviting Lady Mae, though her obnoxious husband also tags along and is angry when Harry refuses to discuss business with him. Despite the threat of war, which particularly unnerves Grove, the party is a success, Kitty dazzling Frank, though Agnes, of whom Thackeray is still jealous, tells Victor they have no future. The Loxley's crumbling marriage is tested when Mae learns that her husband has leased out their country estate. She counters by mocking him over the fact that Harry rebuffed his request to discuss business so he hits her, knocking her to the floor.
Hide description ▲

The store is preparing for the Empire Exhibition but Agnes is struggling with her display and Thackeray is not pleased when Harry reinstates Henri, who has offered to help her. Nor is Rose happy to find Gordon has some saucy photos but in the resultant confrontation he makes her see that she should give Harry another chance. Consequently she declines her husband's suggestion that she should return to America if there is a war and they agree to support each other. Kitty gives Frank another chance as they take a picnic to Green park whilst Grove reencounters Miss Mardle, who, thanks to a legacy, is now a woman of property, making him regret his not marrying her. Lady Mae learns that Loxley has huge gambling debts and threatens to expose this should he ever lay a finger on her and, following the success of Agnes and Henri's impressive display, Loxley offers to invite Winston Churchill to open the exhibition. However Harry must inform the staff that Churchill cannot come as Britain is now at war with Germany, following the latter's invasion of Belgium. Ignorant of the carnage to come the people sing 'Rule Britannia' at Delphine's club.
Hide description ▲

Male staff are anxious to enlist in the army, gaining the nickname the Selfridge Brigade. Agnes is upset to learn that brother George has joined up but cannot prevent him whilst Victor is about to sign up but his uncle Gio is dying and asks him to stay and look after the family. Rose, Lady Mae and Delphine hold a charity sale to raise funds for Belgian refugees, taking place in the store's Palm Court restaurant. This leads to a confrontation between Thackeray, angry that a donation tin is put on his counter, and Henri but Harry has now appointed Henri his deputy and Thackeray must back down. Meanwhile Miss Mardle strikes up a friendship with one of the refugees, chocolate maker Jean Neuhaus. Frank obtains his own newspaper column and asks Kitty if she can provide information to discredit Loxley and his dubious role in the military procurement committee. Lady Mae has the same aim in mind after her maid tells her that she has heard Loxley talking to a man with whom he can strike a dishonest deal.
Hide description ▲

At Neuhaus's suggestion Miss Mardle takes in Belgian refugees, including handsome young violinist Florian Dupont. Agnes is asked out by Victor, now running the family restaurant following Uncle Gio's death and Gabriella's return to Italy. Gordon feels guilty that his friends are fighting in the war whilst Harry will not allow him to sign up and women are recruited to take over delivery work at the store, Rose becoming their champion when she demands better conditions for them. Delphine arranges a meeting for Harry with members of the military procurement board - including Loxley - with a view to giving Harry a say in the running of military matters. The men play cards, Harry winning a substantial sum from Loxley, though Lady Mae is curious as to how her husband amassed a large wad of money. He gives her some notes to buy a new outfit at the store but she is offended by Thackeray's sexist comments and makes no purchases. Thackeray again comes off worse after another spat with Henri but he is intrigued to overhear him speak to a private detective and follows him to a house, where he learns that Henri is in pursuit of a German lady.
Hide description ▲

As the war progresses German goods are withdrawn from the store and Harry is approached by Bill Summertime, whom he met at the cards session, and who is part of British Intelligence. He asks if Harry, as an American neutral, will visit Germany as a spy. Henri bumps into Agnes, whilst she is waiting for Victor. Things are strained between them but she tells Henri that Victor is a good man. A party including Henri and Agnes and Miss Mardle and Florian attend the music hall and see popular singer Richard Chapman. Not only is he ideal to headline Harry's patriotic concert but he and Lady Mae find themselves getting close as she confides her unhappy marriage in him. Victor tells Agnes that he has a bank loan to run the family restaurant and wants her to leave the store to work with him whilst after yet another argument between the two men Thackeray accuses Henri of being an enemy spy and he is arrested. As news of casualties among former Selfridge workers arrives at the store Harry confronts Loxley as being a profiteer before leaving for Germany, asking Delphine not to tell Rose of his decision.
Hide description ▲

Henri is arrested but tells Agnes that the only reason he went to Germany was to find his old lover Valerie. Agnes tells Grove she believes Henri has been set up by the jealous Thackeray, who is forced to admit it. Henri is released but, after being accused of theft in New York, goes on the run. Rose is concerned that she cannot get in touch with Harry and learns from Delphine that he is in Germany, spying on their manufacturers. An envious Grove warns Miss Mardle that she and Florian could become victims of gossip but she does not care - unlike Grove Florian has declared unconditional love for her. Loxley is in trouble when boots manufactured for his contract with the military board are found to be shoddy and he is accused of being a war profiteer. However Loxley tells Edwards that the real culprit is Harry, whose visit to Germany makes him appear even more suspect and Edwards, desperate for a scoop, is willing to print this, to Kitty's disgust. Meanwhile Lady Mae decides to leave her husband and comes to tell Rose the truth but she is not a welcome visitor. and is rebuffed by Rose.
Hide description ▲

Harry returns to London with information for Summertime but is angry that he will not support him in the face of accusations of treachery and talks to the staff to reassure them that Edwards' newspaper story about him was a lie. Edwards is genuinely contrite and agrees to print a letter from Harry telling the truth but the editor refuses. Following the bad publicity business is poor until Delphine brings American film producer Mack Sennett and his actress lover Mabel Normand to the store. They throw a lavish party where Mabel gets young Gordon very drunk. Harry visits Henri, who is facing deportation, but manages to trace Valerie through Bill Summertime and she vouches for his innocence, securing his release. Having sold her jewels to pay for their accommodation Lady Mae tells Pimble that, since her husband is reluctant to grant her a divorce, she must destroy him whilst again her efforts to reconcile with the Selfridges are rebuffed. Mack Sennett asks Harry to return to the States as his business partner but Harry turns him down. Feeling now very positive he extols the virtues of Delphine to Rose, who is not sure how to take it.
Hide description ▲

Josie Mardle tells Florian she believes she is too old for him and that she has arranged an audition with the Halle Orchestra in Manchester...
Hide description ▲

It is now 1919 and the Great War is over. After losing his beloved wife, Harry and his children look forward to a happy family event - his daughter Rosalie is to be married. Among the staff, there is a romantic surprise in store for Agnes.
Hide description ▲

Harry agrees to support Nancy Webb and asks Mr Crabb to organize funds to finance her project but Mr Crabb is unable to comply, telling Harry that there is no money. Nor is Serge happy to find Harry has blocked his plan for an aerodrome and Harry is irate to learn that his son-in-law's new business associate is Lord Loxley. Thackeray goes head to head with Harry over the handling of an exhibition by French couturier Madame Lanvin and is sacked for his pains but Henri and Agnes come to the rescue,as, rather unexpectedly, does Harry's daughter Rosalie, who demonstrates a considerable fashion flair. Victor continues to face problems with his club, where, Henri, haunted by memories of the war, is a regular patron, whilst Josie Mardle and Doris Grove become friends as Grove persuades Josie to return to work at the store.
Hide description ▲

Harry applies for a bank loan to fund Nancy Webb's project but at the land auction is forced to bid well beyond his budget due to Loxley's interference. Lois meanwhile is perturbed to find that Marie is running up huge hotel bills on Harry's account and decides to find out more about her. Agnes is concerned by Henri's distant attitude and learns from Victor that Henri is traumatised by his war experiences. This leads to a row whilst they are designing a window display in which Harry has to intervene. Connie, one of many women engaged at the store to replace the men fighting in the war and now laid off, is angry and Kitty secures her a job in her department. Kitty herself is attacked by drunken, disgruntled ex-soldiers unable to find work, the same men Frank had interviewed for his article on their perceived rejection on returning from the war.
Hide description ▲

Kitty is taken to hospital, where Frank is horrified to discover that her attackers were the soldiers he met, who bought drink with the money he gave them. The police are called but Frank, fearing he will be incriminated, asks Kitty to drop the charges, much to her disgust. Serge learns that Loxley was only using him to get at Harry and has no intention of funding his airport. Violette makes a play for Victor, to the annoyance of Gordon, visiting the club with his companion Grace Calthorpe. Victor also tells the blackmailing policeman Purkiss he will no longer pay him protection money. After a heart to heart with Agnes Henri decides that it is best for them to leaver Selfridges and London. A saddened Harry confides in Nancy Webb and ends up kissing her.
Hide description ▲

With Henri gone Harry invites applications for a new deputy but ultimately appoints Gordon. As Kitty returns to work a sly journalist tricks Connie into giving him a story which ultimately vilifies Kitty for taking jobs away from the men and shows her attackers as victims. Kity is the subject of hate mail and Frank's writing contract terminated whilst Loxley, previously accused of profiteering, jumps on the band-wagon with a charitable trust for ex-soldiers, indirectly hitting at Harry. Harry responds by unveiling the plans for his project with Kitty Webb - though she may be keeping something back from him. Lois persuades Marie to move into the Selfridge house whilst Miss Mardle agrees to keep a secret for Doris Grove and Purkiss gets revenge on Victor by raiding his club, arresting both him and Violete.
Hide description ▲

Harry becomes more involved with Nancy, inviting her to family dinner and having to sell some of his shares to raise funding for their housing project; a move which also diminishes his majority shareholding. Nancy, meanwhile, has other plans for Harry's money. Sergei leaves for Paris to secure funds for his aviation dreams, taking Rosalie. Victor, under continuing extortion, joins forces with another businessman with a gambling interest in his nightclub. Kitty's attackers are out on bail thanks to Loxley and after an ineffectual attempt from Frank to tackle him, Kitty takes things in her own hands. Miss Mardle tries to help Doris Grove come to terms with her sweetheart who is also father of one of Mr Grove's children, resulting in tragic consequences.
Hide description ▲

Miss Mardle organizes Doris Grove's funeral, barring Billy, the delivery boy and true father of Doris's son Ernest. Sensing that she is troubled Mr Crabb persuades Miss Mardle to tell Grove the truth about the child's paternity, adding that Doris was run over returning home from taking Ernest to see his father. The news is not well received. George is disturbed to find that Ryan is dealing drugs from Victor's club and quits. His fears are justified when a patron almost dies of an over-dose. Nancy starts to feel guilty about her plan to defraud Harry when he tells her that he has sold large numbers of his shares to finance her project - some of which were bought by Loxley, who now has enough of them to sit on the board of share-holders. Harry is angry, especially with Serge, who sold some of his holdings to Loxley to finance a new business venture but there is good news when Rosalie announces that she is pregnant.
Hide description ▲

As the Treaty of Versailles is signed Harry decides to mark it with a celebratory event entitled Britain at Play. Frank, his press agent, devises a competition, the prize being a trip in an aeroplane with French aviator Jacques De Sibours, who takes a shine to Violette - though she is still pining for Victor, who, suffering from Regan's rough clientele at the club, proposes to make it a high class gambling establishment. Gordon is caught in a compromising situation with Grace by Mr Crabb, but, for all his assurances, she knows Gordon will not marry her due to their social divide. Nancy on the other hand does indeed agree to wed Harry when he proposes and George, who has been helping Miss Mardle look after Ernest, persuades Mr Grove to take his son back to live with him.
Hide description ▲

Miss Mardle persuades Mr Grove not only to let Billy see his son but to hire George as head of security whilst Violette reluctantly dates Jacques and Gordon determines to tell his father he wants to marry Grace. Princess Marie is delighted when her jewels arrive from Russia, repaying Harry for his kindness. She is suspicious of Nancy and the supposed architect Gerrard, actually Nancy's brother Gus, who reacts badly when Nancy admits that she loves Harry and will go through with the marriage. After the success of Britain At Play Harry proposes a mammoth sale with prices slashed but rival store owners are appalled and organize protests. Loxley, furious to discover that Lady Mae is remarrying, calls an emergency meeting of the board to depose Harry but Harry uses his right to postpone it for a fortnight.
Hide description ▲

At the delayed board meeting Loxley proposes a vote of No Confidence in Harry but this is defeated after Loxley launches a personal tirade against the store owner. As the day approaches to begin work on the housing estate Nancy tells Gus that the money will be used to build houses and not misappropriated but Princess Marie has alerted Harry to the supposed architect being a fraud and Gus is arrested. Nancy escapes but brings the money to Harry though the engagement is inevitably off and Harry, like Violette, counts himself unlucky in love. Meanwhile Gordon comes to an important decision as do Miss Mardle and Mr Grove.
Hide description ▲

1928: Grove, missing Josie and with a house full of unruly offspring, celebrates a birthday and twenty years at the store whilst Lady Mae, now divorced and with no money, returns to London. Given her past patronage Harry is keen to help but she has enterprising ideas of her own. In other respects things are not going well for Harry. His plan to unveil a huge statue to womanhood, the Queen of Time, is publicly opposed by reactionary press baron Lord Wynnstay and he loses money on a boxing match sponsored by cocky young entrepreneur Jimmy Dillon. His children Gordon and the divorced Rosalie find themselves rebuffing comments from the gutter press and the statue's unveiling is a disaster, ending Harry up in hospital.
Hide description ▲

Harry returns to work in a confrontational mood after Wynnstay's press has suggested that he should hand the store's management over to Gordon. Lady Mae impresses with her plans for a new fashion line and unwittingly courts bigotry by employing talented black seamstress Tilly Brockless, incurring the prejudice of her less accomplished white colleagues, though she finds a friend in Grove's eldest daughter Meryl who feels out of her depth working at the store. Harry opens a new, technology department to sell electrical home appliances whilst Mae's first fashion show is a success. though she is annoyed by the drunken antics of guest models, Harry's friends the singing Dolly Sisters and she is happy to respond to Jimmy Dillon's attentions. For Harry however there is more bad news as he faces up to another family bereavement.
Hide description ▲

Following his mother's funeral Harry incurs his children's displeasure through his affair with Rosie Dolly, whose gambling habit he finances, as well as a stock flotation suggested by Dillon, though it pays out dividends at the expense of family loyalty. Cosmetics queen Elizabeth Arden comes to supervise a display and strikes a chord with Kitty when it transpires that both put career above child bearing. However Kitty is surprised when Miss Arden tells her that her marriage is in decline and offers her a job in America. Tilly continues to face bigotry whilst an injury which makes him housebound gives Roger Grove time to bond with his family - before a visit to a doctor results in terrible news.
Hide description ▲

In Biarritz Harry celebrates the acquisition of more stores for his chain, regaling journalists with a lavish party, whose guests include the Dolly sisters - still squandering his money at the gaming tables - Lady Mae with beau Jimmy Dillon, and Frank Edwards, unhappy about his wife's proposition and ready to succumb to the wiles of gossip columnist Felicity Jenner. Mae detects the rift between Gordon and Harry, whom she urges to reconcile with his son though he does not heed her advice whilst in London Violette organizes a successful exhibition featuring author A. A. Milne and Josie returns at Mr Crabb's request to encourage Grove to tell his children - including Meryl, now back on the shop floor - the truth about his terminal illness. Harry pays over the odds for the Dolly sisters' movie break before discovering that Felicity has written a piece playing on his family's disharmony.
Hide description ▲

The Dolly sisters make their film in the store, featuring Meryl, but cause Harry nothing but trouble, delaying filming and bringing retribution from D'Ancona for their vast gambling debts, as well as criticism from the Civic Building Society, shareholders in the store, for Harry's overspending. Rosie's infidelity is the last straw. Harry also crosses swords with Wynnstay, over his papers' coverage of Rosalie's divorce and other family discord and threatens to withdraw his advertising. Josie offers the Grove family comfort and finally accepts Roger's proposal but there is no such happy ending for Frank and Kitty as Felicity's spiteful revelation of what happened in France affects Kitty's decision to go to America.
Hide description ▲

When Wynnstay's paper prints an article blaming the attack on the store on Harry's gambling debts Harry cancels his advertising in the paper and cuts off the Dolly sisters' credit. However he is broke and is forced to sell off his provincial stores to pay D'Ancona - stores run by Gordon, who is sympathetic and reconciled with his father. Lady Mae organizes a photo shoot for her fashion brochure where Jimmy is annoyed at her closeness to Victor whilst the Edwards' marriage also seems beyond repair. As Tilly faces further discrimination the only truly happy people would seem to be Miss Mardle and Mr Grove, though the latter shocks Harry when he tells him of his condition.
Hide description ▲

Jimmy's jealousy of Victor's interest in Mae leads to a fight in which Victor is killed though the police suspect D'Ancona's gang and George and Connie are surprised to fund that Victor's main beneficiary is their baby. Encouraged by his mother Clara to act naturally Jimmy joins with Harry to buy the arrogant Whiteley brothers' Bayswater store . Frank prepares to join Kitty in leaving for America, depriving Harry of a spokesperson when Wynnstay threatens to sue for breach of contract, though Gordon steps into the breach and proves his worth. An irate Wynnstay then makes it his business to find the link between Harry and Victor. The Groves return from their honeymoon though Roger's attempts, at Meryl's request, to improve life for Tilly only end up making things worse for her.
Hide description ▲

Harry and Jimmy push through the purchase of Whitelys, against the advice of Mr Crabb, who learns that the Whitely boys owed huge sums to their suppliers, who are now refusing further delivery. Meryl discovers Tilly's secret and, backed by Lady Mae, persuades her father to reinstate her at the expense of her persecutors. Roger has plans to make Whitelys' more profitable but tragedy strikes the family. leaving Josie feeling vulnerable and inept. Disregarding the general air of grief at the store Wynnstay sends muck-raking reporter Tooby to clarify the clarify the circumstances of Victor's death, prompting Lady Mae to question Jimmy.
Hide description ▲

As Harry plans to celebrate twenty years of his London store with a special parade Jimmy struggles to beat the suppliers' embargo on Whitelys' but comes up with a solution by using Selfridges' excess stock. This saves the day but gets Harry in trouble with the Civic. Newly widowed Josie finds it hard to cheer up the orphaned Grove children but is strengthened by a return to work, suggested by Meryl, who has an admirer of her own. Wynnstay continues to hound Jimmy, who makes an admission to Harry which causes a rift between them and leads to an incident which will mar the celebrations.
Hide description ▲

Jimmy's final act leaves Harry in a state of shock as Wynnstay's press implies the pair were involved in financial irregularities as well as exposing Lady Mae's affair with Jimmy. A beleaguered Gordon forces his father to confront his accusers and lift the embargo, to the Civic's satisfaction, thanks to Jimmy's will, ensuring that the store's anniversary is a success - though Harry's profligacy demands he surrenders the reins to Gordon. Whilst Lady Mare returns to France Josie is installed as assistant manager, Tilly gets her just rewards, George Towler and his wife celebrate a happy event and Meryl finds romance with display manager Freddy. And for all his apparent defeat the name of Selfridges store remains a century after its opening.
Hide description ▲