Amongst the desperation and fear growing in a crime-ridden estate in northern England, one man becomes involved in. saving what little decency and community life exists. It's the winter of 1974: power cuts and coal strikes cripple...

Shirley is a 42-year-old bored Liverpudlian housewife who takes a holiday trip to Greece and meets a local man who bolsters her self-confidence. She evolves and transforms to the point that her husband doesn't even recognize her.