PC Penhale mentions arresting a farmer who had some mix-up with his TV license. In the UK the BBC is funded with tax money. If you owned a TV capable of receiving the BBC you were liable for a viewer's license (£159 pounds a year in 2022). Watching TV without a license was a criminal offense. Special vans capable of detecting operating TV sets patrolled the country looking for unlicensed sets.
Mr. Cleary's gout. Gout is an arthritic inflamation caused by uric acid crystals building up in a joint, classically the big toe; the crystals are sharp and kind of tear up the tissue in the joint. Strong anti-inflamatories (NSAIDS) like indomethacin are standard treatment. Uric acid is a waste product from the breakdown of purine nucleotides, meaning foods like yeast, liver, kidney, and other organ meats are very bad for gout sufferers.