- Date First Aired: 13/11/1989
Sharon is trying to get a job after her dismissal from the supermarket in "Shift". Unfortunately, her desires are a bit too high for the job centre so she decides to continue her search whilst still perusing the dole money. Meanwhile, Tracey has gotten an issue with her antidepressants - she's gotten a new doctor after her previous doctor - Dr. Gran - was struck off for overprescribing. Said doctor refuses to give her the needed drugs, and tries to figure out long-term solutions to Tracey's issue, including getting out more.
During this, Sharon finds out that "Fat Stan" has turned her flat into a place to produce pirated stuff and prostitutes. He's able to convince Sharon to assist in his plans, getting her to flog off pirated t-shirts of The Rolling Stones. Additionally, Tracey is now skint, thanks to a lack of income from Darryl. Ranjith tries to convince her to move to a semi but she is insistent that they don't move. After Dorien flirts with him, she states that Tracey should get out more, pointing to a "Ladies' Night" when she can relax and have fun.
Tracey eventually goes to the party with Ranjith as a surprise date (Dorien having previously wanted her to take Luke with her). Whilst Dorien makes passes at Ranjith, Tracey ends up dancing with Dorien's husband, Marcus and starts to cry about her plight to him. When they return home, Marcus reveals that he likes her and makes a pass at her, much to her horror. She threatens to reveal this to Dorien unless he finds someone who might buy Darryl's business from him. Sharon gets some cash from the pirated t-shirt business. Eventually, the whole anger of her plight reaches breaking point and Tracey lets her anger all out, which actually works. However, Sharon's apparent plan to take dole money whilst getting money from pirated t-shirts almost goes wrong when she is arrested for fraud, although she is saved when she reveals that she's not getting the dole money after all, having signed off it.
Tropes In This Episode:
- Affectionate Nickname:
- Fat Stan calls Sharon "Shaz".
- Dorien calls Marcus "Dolly".
- Bait-and-Switch: At first it seems Sharon's turning Fat Stan's advances down, then she asks how long it'll take.
- Bigger Is Better in Bed: Sharon makes a comment about the size of Luke's bulge after seeing a photo of it.
- Blackmail: The only way Tracey won't tell Dorien about Marcus pouncing on her is if Marcus finds someone to buy Darryl's business.
- Blatant Lies: Dorien claims she only wants Tracey to take Luke to the dinner so she can dance with him, even though Tracey clearly knows that she's going to have it off with him.
- Call-Back: Sharon's entire plot of having to go on the dole was caused by the events of "Shift".
- Chekhov's Gunman: When Sharon is at the restaurant, she is seen talking to a Chinese woman with little awareness of The Rolling Stones who runs off because she didn't pay for her meal. She later shows up at the dole centre and is revealed to be a fraud officer, leading to the near arrest of Sharon.
- Dine and Dash: Sharon watches Cathy Lee do a runner at a Chinese restaurant.
- Dirty Old Man: Tracey calls Marcus one after he pounces on her.
- Dr. Feelgood: Tracey's previous doctor, Dr. Gran, was fired from his job for over-prescribing medication.
- Exact Words: How Sharon intends to obtain the dole money after having gotten money selling pirated t-shirts. To get the dole, you have to claim that you haven't worked for the previous six days, so she argues that she can still get the money as she's instead worked the previous six nights.
- Food Slap: Tracey splashes a vodka and tonic straight at Marcus after he tries to make a pass at her.
- Footsie Under the Table: Dorien does this to Ranjith even though her husband Marcus is right next her.
- Forbidden Fruit: Dorien, being Jewish and therefore not allowed to consume any pork products, considers bacon sandwiches to be one of these.Dorien: Mmm! It's like having an orgasm with your clothes on.
- The Ghost: Dr. Gran, Tracey's previous doctor.
- Insurance Fraud: Tracey threatens Sharon claiming that she'll take out a life insurance policy on her and then murder her when she starts getting sarcastic with her.
- My God, What Have I Done?: Marcus has this reaction after he pounces upon Tracey.
- Noodle Incident:
- Apparently, Sharon once hit a customer over the head with a 3lb Polish knackwurst, which cost her the previous job she had at the supermarket.
- Last year Tracey went to a hen party with Sharon that involved seventy-five checkout girls getting legless and a male stripper waving his crotch in her face.
- Nose Nuggets: Marcus claims to have seen Sharon picking her nose at a bus stop once.
- One-Shot Character: Fat Stan and Cathy Lee.
- One-Steve Limit: Although spelt differently, Cathy was the name of another One-Shot Character in "Just Visiting".
- One-Word Title: The name of the episode is "Cheat!".
- Sexless Marriage: The whole reason that Marcus made a pass at Tracey was because Dorien is (ironically) not interested in him on a sexual level.
- Shout-Out:
- Sharon has a desire to be Harrison Ford's love toy.
- Sharon sells bootleg T-shirts for The Rolling Stones.
- When Tracey asks Sharon if her T-shirts are pirate, Sharon cheekily retorts that they were personally printed by Captain Birdseye, the mascot of Birds Eye frozen foods.
- When Cathy Lee threatens Sharon with jail time, she tells her she'll go straight to jail, do not pass go and do not collect £200.
- Special Guest: Nickolas Grace as Marcus Green.
- Take That!:
- When Sharon starts making snarky jokes, the clerk at the dole office warns her that this isn't an audition for Bob Says Opportunity Knocks.
- Sharon makes a joke about Ben Johnson's steroid use.
- Tuckerization: Tracey's previous doctor was called Dr. Gran, who has the same surname of series co-creator Maurice Gran.
- Unseen No More: Marcus makes his first onscreen appearance in this episode and would make infrequent appearances for the rest of the BBC run.
