Dorien: Well if she won't do anything about Bill, perhaps we should.
Sharon: We could always do what Thelma & Louise did.
Dorien: What, drive off a cliff?
— Dorien Green and Sharon Theodopolopodous brainstorming ways to take care of Bill for Tracey.
- Date First Aired: 08/11/1992
We open on Sharon reading the newspaper. Dorien comes in jabbering about a gorgeous man who's read her meter claiming he has Tom Cruise's eyes and a good ass. Tracey comes in and reveals that she's become a temporary secretary to a sales manager, much to Sharon's annoyance (as she needs someone to do the book-keeping).
It soon becomes clear that this sales manager (Bill) is not the most morally ethical person and he proceeds to flirt and sexually harass Tracey, something which Sharon and Dorien have picked up on. However, Tracey is unwilling to quit. Thus, Dorien and Sharon plan revenge.
Meanwhile, Bill tries to win over Tracey by serving her Montello and pizza and a trip to a fancy hotel but Tracey is having none of it and rejects his advances, although she's not going to do much more about it.
Soon after, Dorien and Sharon set up their plan to get revenge, following Bill by car and pursuing him to a restaurant, where they proceed to ruin his car with hay and manure. Meanwhile, Tracey sets up her own plan, getting her own back alongside the other secretaries that he wronged. As they celebrate, Tracey reveals that Dorien and Sharon got the wrong car.
Tropes In This Episode:
- Accidental Misnaming:
- Tracey calls Michael Buerk "Michael Prat".
- Bill misremembers Darryl as Derrick.
- Ass Shove: Tracey threatens to do this to Sharon with a bottle of bubbly.
- Bad Boss: Bill, who's a bully to Tracey and sexually harassed her.
- Big Eater: Tracey tells Darryl that Sharon's always been one.
- Captain Obvious: Tracey shows Sharon a blouse and asks her what she thinks, so Sharon tells her it's a blouse.
- Cardboard Box Home: Sharon fears that she'll be put into "cardboard city" when she thinks that Tracey has a new boyfriend.
- Celeb Crush: Dorien's infatuation with Patrick Swayze is what causes her to rent Dirty Dancing over and over.
- Complete-the-Quote Title: The title is the first half of the song "Sisters Are Doin' It for Themselves".
- Continuity Nod:
- Tracey taking over the café's bookkeeping is brought up again.
- Dorien's obsessive rewatching of Dirty Dancing was first seen in "Baby Come Back".
- Curse Cut Short: Tracey stops Sharon from saying "shit".Sharon: Who d'ya'think it was that filled his motor wi' steamin' shi-Tracey: That was you?!
- Deadpan Snarker: Tracey's response to Sharon asking if she's home.Sharon: Trace is that you?Tracey: Nah it's Santa Claus, I've 'ad it with comin' down chimneys.
- Embarrassing Nickname: Bill gives Sheila "Sheila Blige".
- Everyone Has Standards: Dorien may be the most sex-crazed woman in Chigwell, but even she doesn't think that what the sales manager is doing to Tracey is right.
- Groin Attack: Sharon tells Tracey to kick Bill in the goolies and leave her job.
- Handsome Lech: Bill, who uses his charming nature to sexually harass his secretaries.
- Hypocrite: Sharon outright calls Dorien this when she voices her disgust over the sales manager's action, considering her track record with men. She argues that she is a feminist who cares about these things.
- Money, Dear Boy: In-Universe. Tracey gives this as one of the reasons she can't leave her job, since they need the money.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Dorien and Sharon end up wrecking Ms. Dawson's car in their attempts to get revenge on Bill.
- Noodle Incident: Dorien once held a gardener captive in her potting shed.
- One-Shot Character: Bill Steel, Sheila, Valerie Dawson and Anne.
- Professionals Do It on Desks: When Tracey is talking about her (sexually harassing) boss, Sharon makes a comment about her knowing what he does on desks.
- Punny Name: Bill calls Sheila "Sheila Blige" which sounds like "She'll oblige" as a crack at how easy she is.
- Really Gets Around: Sheila to the point where she's earned the nickname "Sheila Blige".
- Road Apples: Sharon and Dorien fill Ms. Dawson's car with horse manure.
- Run for the Border: At the very end of the episode, Sharon considers running for Mexico after she and Dorien wreck Ms. Dawson's car.
- Saw "Star Wars" Twenty-Seven Times: Dorien has rewatched Dirty Dancing so many times that she wore out the rental tape once.
- Shout-Out:
- Dorien describes her meter man as having Tom Cruise's eyes, Will Carling's smile and Kevin Costner's butt.
- Dorien tells Sharon she loves truffles and Jilly Cooper novels.
- Sharon asks Tracey if Bill looks like Moira Stuart, so Tracey corrects her and says he looks more like Michael Buerk.
- Sharon remarks "Take a letter, Miss Stubbs", referencing the song "Take a Letter Maria" by R. B. Greaves.
- Tracey thanks Bill for hiring her instead of a Kylie Minogue lookalike.
- Sharon tells a fretting Tracey to stop the Mavis Riley impression.
- Tracey mentions she watches L.A. Law every week.
- Dorien calls Sharon "Perry Mason".
- Dorien and Sharon watch Thelma & Louise and get inspired by it.
- Sharon moans that Dorien didn't get a Patrick Swayze film, only because she was banned from renting Dirty Dancing after wearing out the tape.
- Speak in Unison: After Tracey remarks she doesn't need Sharon and Dorien's help.Sharon/Dorien: She does.
- Spoonerism: Tracey does so when correcting Sharon.Tracey: 'Is name's Bill Steel an' he's late thirties an' 'e looks like that newsreader wi' the twinkly eyes.Sharon: Moira Stuart?Tracey: Michael Prat, you berk. (Beat) I mean "Buerk, you prat".
- Status Quo Is God: Tracey is fired from her new job at the end of the episode.
- Take That!:
- Dorien asks if Bill has a Bobby Charlton hairdo.
- After hearing Dorien call herself a femenist, Sharon remarks that's like saying Norman Lamont's good at sums.
- Sharon remarks Tracey looks as miserable as Imelda Marcos' shoeshine girl.
- Sharon is glad she got kicked out of the Brownies.
- Titled After the Song: The title is a shortened version of the Eurythmics and Aretha Franklin song "Sisters Are Doin' It for Themselves".
- Three-Way Sex: Tracey and Anne offer it to Bill to make him look like a pervert in front of Ms. Dawson.
- Verbal Backspace: Dorien mentions the men she harasses, before correcting herself and saying men she flirts with.
