Freddie, a hard-drinking, working-class miner’s son, is studying Engineering at Coppersmith University in the 1980s. He soon catches the eye of Tiffany, a prim and proper right-wing Christian. To impress her, he joins the Young Conservatives, starting a chain of cataclysmic events taking in miner’s strikes, police hostages, tragic death and Mr Men costumes.

It’s Christmastime at a little toy shop in Didcot. Lewis loves carefree, childlike Jemima – almost as much as he loves hand-crafting traditional wooden toys. But Jemima’s father wants her to marry someone in good financial standing, and Lewis doesn’t fit the bill. Maybe, if he works hard enough, Lewis can make enough wooden reindeer by Christmas Day to turn it all around…

Angelina works at Major’s Fish and Chip Shop in Bilston.  Over the road, Dundee works at the finest patisserie.  They fall in love but their differing backgrounds and classes mean that there is intense opposition, particularly from Angelina’s adopted father, Mr Major.  But whose father is he really?  And can love cross class lines? Beryl thinks so, because “if you never look away, you can’t look twice”.

Captain Sampson is delighted to have his inspirational wife along with him as they sail around the world. But can first officer Richardson and his band of loyal crewmates hide her descent into alcoholism? And will the Captain ever be readmitted into the Navy? In a world where you can abseil down Spinakker Tower for only £37, anything is possible.

The Cambridge Amateur Musicals Society are rehearsing for their musical production of Three Sisters, but Samantha dreams of moving to New York and seeing her name in lights on Broadway.  Barnaby wants to help her, but if she gets her dream, he’ll lose his.

At the Johnson ‘nd Johnson Sugarbeet Factory in Newark, Michael Johnson is given the chance to run the factory by his father. With the help of Vicky Mortimer from the shop floor he goes to New York and buys the O’Hannerty’s factory – but at a cost of more than just £25million.

David Attenborough and Samantha have been saving penguins together for months, but David’s attitude is increasingly cynical.  BBC producers Robert and Robert are desperate to up the ratings and reignite David’s career – perhaps they can use his obvious attraction to Samantha to their advantage.  After all, birds do it, bees do it… it’s only natural.

Marlene and Billy Sue have moved from Arkansas to the Pink Pussycat Club in LA to try and make their fortune.  Leo and Marv have shore leave and are at the Pink Pussycat Club to forget the two girls who broke their hearts in Arkansas.  When they all meet, sparks fly and it seems that Leo has forgotten all about Marlene when he falls for embittered burlesque dancer, Susu McSu, and Billy Sue seems to be over Marv as she agrees to marry club owner Lonesome Petrovsky.  But Leo soon finds out that Marlene has a new man in her life, and he looks the spitting image of Leo, just a little bit smaller…

When Professor Morrison dies, his daughter Mary thinks she can finally marry his assistant Arthur. But the professor has stiuplated that if she marries she will be disinherited. Mary can’t live without money or her weekly twist parties and leaves Arthur, but is soon wooed by the wealthy Carmichael Fitzbastard who whisks her off to Paris to marry her. In love with both men, who will she choose? But thanks to her father’s experiments with candles and matches and basic quantum physics, it seems she won’t have to. After all a cat in a box is both dead and alive until the box is opened…

At the Number One Belgian Detective Agency, Pierre has left young lovers Marcel and Monique in charge.  But after four months, they still haven’t worked out who killed Art Garfunkel, Director of the Museum of Modern Art. In the absence of any evidence, the police arrest Brigitte, Marcel’s sister. After all, in Belgian law, unless there is any evidence to the contrary, it’s always the cleaner who dunnit. Marcel must save her from the guilllotine, but with Monique admitting to the murder, he must choose between his sister and his love. But what of Pierre?