Contains spoilers for this episode.
Blackadder expects a profitable evening when his wealthy Puritan aunt and uncle announce a visit to discuss his inheritance. A summons to court interrupts his preparations and reveals Melchett suffering from a hangover. Their exchange of insults becomes a drinking challenge for ten thousand florins, scheduled for the same night. Elizabeth refuses to move the contest, forcing Edmund to accommodate a stern family dinner and a noisy drinking party in separate rooms.
Percy helps entertain the Whiteadders while Baldrick is instructed to supply water whenever Edmund requests his strongest ale. Edmund moves between his guests, explaining away the drinking party's noise and trying to satisfy Lady Whiteadder's severe rules. The Queen arrives secretly, hoping to enjoy the party. Mistaking her for Percy's girlfriend Gwendolyn, Edmund shuts her in a cupboard. Baldrick then exposes the water trick, and Melchett's companions make Edmund drink the real strong ale.
A thoroughly drunk Blackadder returns to dinner wearing comic accessories and announces that he has deceived his relatives. Lady Whiteadder explains that drinking and gambling disqualify him from the inheritance. The gatherings collide when the revellers mistake the visiting relatives for entertainers and release the Queen. Elizabeth promises to execute everyone after enjoying a drink herself. By dawn, however, the whole company is sitting together in a drunken haze, unable to remember the financial business or the threatened punishment.