Further adventures of the Number 96 crew on the big screen. After a devastating experience at the hands of a group of bikies Vera Collins recovers at the home of socialite friend Claire Houghton where she meets distinguished politician Nicholas Brent. She is romanced by him and worries that her shady past may harm his career but abruptly calls off the affair after a shock meeting with his son Tony. Dorrie and Herb begin arrangements for the celebration of their Ruby wedding anniversary with Roma, Arnold, Norma and Dudley all crossing wires and duplicating tasks while attempting to help out and cut costs. However a shocking discovery by Flo threatens to halt the celebrations and brings a new man into Dorrie's life. Meanwhile Aldo struggles to work two jobs after accidentally losing the money he had secretly pocketed in the deli to avoid paying income tax on it, and Lucy is suitably unimpressed after Les ropes Alf into his latest money-spinner; a sauna in the building's basement. Simon Carr returns as Vera and Maggie's business partner, while they reminisce about their earlier feud over him it seems someone else has caught his eye: Don Finlayson. Having recovered from her breakdown Sonia Vansard returns to Number 96 with her new husband Duncan, though she seems continually nervous and flustered. She renews acquaintance with good friend Jack Sellars and befriends her new neighbour Diana Moore who Jack is also romancing, though after several bizarre incidents and forgetful episodes begins to question her sanity. Dorrie and Herb's wedding celebration, a sumptuous costume affair, is finally held, but Vera is shocked to discover a fearsome gate-crasher at the party.

In June 1976 a two-hour special was produced to celebrate the 1000th episode of Number 96. Entitled And They Said it Wouldn't Last, the special was presented by former stars of the show from the show's actual sets and remains probably the best overall resource of the series short of screening the actual episodes. Indeed the special contains much footage from the early black and white period of the show that no longer exists in any other form; after the full changeover of Australian television to colour production and broadcasting by Easter 1975, no one ever dreamed viewers would watch black and white television again, and few of the black and white episodes were saved. All episodes from the first few weeks - episodes 1 to 15 - remain, and episodes 31 to 35 were also kept. Unfortunately the rest of the 1972 episodes, all of the 1973 episodes, and all but one of the black and white episodes from 1974 - about two thirds of that year's episodes - are lost. Just one black and white 1974 episode, episode 450 from the opening week of that season, survived the purge. All of the episodes produced in full colour - starting with episode 585 first broadcast in August 1974 through until episode 1218 - remain. It is some consolation that highlight clips from a few of the lost episodes were saved as small clips in And They Said it Wouldn't Last.