1950년대의 영국 런던. 전후 영국의 헌신적인 주부상을 대표할 만한 평범한 여자 베라 드레이크. 노동자 계급인 그녀의 가족은 풍족하지는 않지만 행복하게 살아가고 있다. 베라는 임신하고 어찌할 줄 모르는 어린 소녀들을 위해 간혹 낙태 수술을 해주곤 하는데, 그 소녀 중 한 명이 병원에 입원하면서 베라의 평온한 일상은 깨어진다.
Desperate to find her perfect man Justine goes to a technology fair with her nerdy classmate Chas. It's not really her thing but is eventually persuaded to try a virtual reality makeover machine and discovers that she can create her perfect man even if it is only an electronic facsimile. The power surge from a freakish accident causes a part of her psyche to be copied into her virtual perfect man.
Forty-five-year-old Adrian has been living with his mother Lucy and running their Wiltshire dairy farm all his adult life. When Lucy unexpectedly dies of a heart attack, a rogue's gallery of family members show up at the farm to argue over the execution of Ruth's will. The one object that everyone seems to want, and several people try to steal, is Ruth's valuable Modigliani painting. In the midst of all this confusion over Ruth's death, a mysterious visitor named Ilaria inserts herself onto the scene and has a surprising effect on those gathered.
Life for shy, romantic civil servant Leslie Bliss would be pure bliss if only he could get together with Julia, the new love of his life. Saffron and Gee appea rto be having a few problems on that score in the flat upstairs. Should all his hopes come to nothing, there's always his beloved Mastermind to fall back on.
Every cub reporter wants a front page 'splash' and the journalists from The Brit, a top-selling daily tabloid, are no exception. They're on the trail of a sensational story and their jobs depend on it.
During a visit to childhood friend Edith, retired housewife Hetty Wainthropp discovers that Edith's husband, Frank, has a son by a previous marriage. Hetty decides to turn amateur detective to trace him. When this gives her a taste for detection, Hetty decides to set up a private detective agency.
런던의 셰릴과 사이릴은 행복한 노동자 커플처럼 보인다. 그들의 창백한 이웃들과 함께 중간 계급으로 보이는 나이 탓인지 건망증이 심한 사이릴의 엄마, 그리고 허영심 많은 사이릴의 여동생과 그녀의 남편이 함께 살고 있다. 셰릴은 아이를 원하지만 사이릴은 그렇지가 않다. 자주 열쇠를 두고 밖에서 문을 잠그는 엄마와 놀기 좋아하는 여동생 발레리와 그녀의 남편을 돌보는 것만으로도 끔직하기 때문이다.
