After a fight with Stella's new boyfriend, Ron finds himself in trouble with the law. Meanwhile, in 1942, Phoebe receives a telegram about Donald that impacts the future of Gary and Phoebe's relationship.

Gary and Phoebe take a trip to Liverpool to visit Phoebe's gran, while there he meets Ron's grandfather, who was famous for saving a child from a burning building. However, when the apparent "hero" is arrested, Gary returns to a shockingly different 1997.

In 1942 Gary argues with Phoebe over where to send their unborn child to school, and Margie, the mother of Reg's son Frankie, turns up at the Royal Oak having left her abusive husband. Back in 1997, Yvonne experiences a complication with her pregnancy.