Green Wing Special

Mac returns to work after a month's leave. When Caroline meets him she implies that she is engaged to Guy. Mac and Guy are then drunk in a bar, where Mac tells Guy he is going to die in a couple of weeks and makes Guy promise he will not tell Caroline. However, Guy tells Martin, who then complains to him about his selfishness. However, Caroline walks in and overhears the argument. Meanwhile, Mac suggests to Sue that she finds someone else to love. Caroline confronts Mac about marrying her. Mac defends himself by saying it would be better for her to marry Guy because he will live longer. Guy later decides to do the right thing, and tells Mac to propose to Caroline because they love each other. Caroline and Mac therefore become engaged and later marry, where the majority of the core cast are in attendance. At the wedding, Sue is seen with a new boyfriend. The special ends with Caroline floating away into the sky holding a mass of helium balloons.[5]

After being rescued by Martin while they were teetering over the edge of a cliff in a stolen campervan, Alan and Joanna are on the run, believing the police are after them for the murder of Joanna's cousin.[2] They go to a garage to get the van checked for faults, but as they leave, Joanna accidentally runs over the mechanic by putting the van in the wrong gear and reversing into him. They then try to rob a corner shop and Joanna tells Alan to sit on the shopkeeper to restrain her, but this causes Alan to accidentally suffocate her. Back at the hospital, Boyce begins to miss Alan after discovering his replacement is worse than him. Boyce's plotline with Alan is concluded when Alan telephones him to say goodbye, almost confirming the strange love they have for each other, but instead telling him (in code) that he is "Flying west".[5]

Later, Alan and Joanna are stopped by a policeman on suspicion of stealing the campervan. Joanna gets her peanut-butter sandwich and smears it in the policeman's face. Alan and Joanna have an argument about the minute odds of the policeman having a peanut allergy and going into anaphylaxis, while in the background this is actually happening. They then carry the body of the policeman into the van. Soon, having run out of food and petrol, Alan changes the engine to run on alcohol and fermented excrement. The plan is of no use however, as the van explodes. They soon reach the beach and Joanna gives Alan three options: Give themselves up, swim the Channel to Spain or commit suicide. As Alan is not keen on the Spanish, they choose the third option and they are last seen walking naked into the sea, presumably to their deaths - although the alternate ending shows them hanging on to a buoy sometime later.[5]

Having fallen out of a window,[2] Karen walks into the office dressed smartly and feistier. However, she has lost a hand and her nose whistles when she has an orgasm. When the girls realise that Joanna is not there to control them they start going wild. They start off by doing mild things such as swapping desks and tipping up litter, then become wilder by interviewing people and asking people to pull their trousers down. Slowly, the scene turns into a "Lord of the Flies" situation. They soon begin to argue and Harriet Schulenburg (Olivia Colman) decides to become the new Joanna. Martin is captured by Naughty Rachel (Katie Lyons), Kim Alabaster (Sally Bretton) and Karen, chanting "Kill the doctor" at him. Martin calls for his mummy (Joanna), but when Harriet comes out into the office she proclaims she is the "new mummy in town", and he is dragged into the office. However, Martin somehow manages to escape by means unknown.[5]

An alternative ending was made for the special which was never broadcast, but was put as an extra on the DVD. In this version of the ending, when Mac sees Caroline floating away, he runs down the stairs and out of the castle to save her. Caroline begins to descend, and both Mac and Guy grab hold of one her legs to bring her down, but instead they are lifted into the air with her. While the three fly away Caroline exclaims "We're all going to die!", to which Mac quite sternly says "Caroline, there's something I've been meaning to tell you", opening the possibility that Mac is not going to die. Meanwhile, Alan and Joanna, after walking into the sea, are last seen hanging onto a buoy waiting to drown. They are still talking and waiting for the ocean to drown them.[15]

This ending was the favourite amongst the actors. Mangan said that the alternative ending was the best moment in the whole of Green Wing. However, the alternative ending was rejected and the writers favoured the ending that was eventually broadcast. It is believed that the alternative ending would have been broadcast if a third series was being made, as that ending was much more ambiguous, since Alan and Joanna are still seen alive and Mac tells Caroline that he still has something to say.[16]