desperation Pauline, with the help of Mickey, takes Ross hostage in the Jobcentre and demands her job back. However, they are not noticed, partly due to the epidemic and partly due to the fact that no one realises Ross is missing. Ross eventually tricks Mickey and escapes, returning later to have Pauline arrested. As an interesting side note, moments before she is arrested, Pauline is about to take a bite from a sandwich which she had just bought from Eunice Evans' stall. When she sees Ross with a police officer, she drops the sandwich in surprise. Presumably, had she eaten the sandwich she would have been poisoned. In Series 3, Pauline is serving time at HM Clitclink Prison alongside Eunice Evans, nicknamed "The Royston Poisoner," whom she bullies and extorts pens from for temporary possession of 'The Exocet', an item featured later in Lance's joke shop. She is given early release when she strikes a deal with Ross to discover how Mickey's family has been cheating the employment system. However, she feels guilty for her involvement and she and Mickey sleep together and become engaged, cementing their love for each other. Mickey was dressed as a woman at the time and he asks Pauline if that was the reason she had sex with him, but she tells him it was not. Pauline then has sex with Ross to make sure he does not tell Mickey about their deal (although it is also implied she has actually been attracted to him all this time—these two liaisons and subsequent marriage suggest Pauline is bisexual), but he decides to tell him anyway. He claims that he is doing this because "you made me hate my job!" Pauline runs to get to Mickey before Ross exposes her, and is nearly hit by the speeding Legz Akimbo van (driven by Geoff) before being saved by Lance, who sacrifices his life to save hers. She and Mickey get married, and even Ross applauds the happy couple. In the 2017 specials, Pauline appears to have regained her position in the job centre, and a familiar scene is played out with Mickey, Ross and other job seekers. Eventually, it is revealed that the setting is a care home and Pauline has dementia; Mickey and Ross are helping Pauline to regain her memories. They succeed, however Pauline is soon murdered accidentally by Geoff in a mistaken identity murder, although