Contains spoilers for this episode and earlier episodes.
Tim turns thirty and arrives at work wearing a radio hat his mother has bought him. Dawn and Lee give him an inflatable novelty present, providing Brent and the others with another excuse for crude jokes. Brent has a different celebration in mind: the annual Wernham Hogg quiz, which he and Chris Finch have won repeatedly. Ricky's previous appearance on Blockbusters makes the new employee an unexpectedly threatening opponent.
Gareth runs the quiz, filling the opening questions with military subjects. Brent becomes increasingly defensive about his own answers and revisits an old argument about whether Mr Spock should count as Vulcan. Finch is no easier to please, especially when Brent gives an embarrassing wrong answer. Tim and Ricky hold their own against the established champions, and the contest reaches a tie-breaker. Ricky answers the Shakespeare question correctly, but Brent and Finch refuse to accept the defeat gracefully.
Finch proposes a different test: throwing an object over the building, with victory giving his team the quiz prize. Lee suggests Tim's shoes, turning the birthday celebration into another humiliation for Tim. Finch completes the throw and celebrates with Brent as though they have won fairly. Earlier, Lee's description of a cheap wedding and a future centred on children and part-time cleaning work also leaves Dawn uncomfortable. Tim's attempt to share her joke earns an angry response from Lee.