A boy feels restless during a hot summer in prewar Cornwall.

Secure in her suburban home, Virginia Fly dreams of a life of unbridled passion and romance. She feels her fantasies are about to become reality when she is asked to take part in a TV documentary about pre-marital love - a subject about which she is sadly ignorant...

Gerald is on the edge of a complete breakdown. During an afternoon with his father, he starts to come to terms with the wounding confusions and mistakes of his past—his lies, his girlfriend's suicide, his mother's obsessive love of his younger brother, and her death in a hospital when he arrived too late to communicate his real feelings for her.

The local country dancing team of old-age pensioners is forced to change its style when Jack, its leader, arrives with a new partner, one who is younger and prettier.

An apparently happy and privileged woman begins shoplifting.

The story of Aubrey Beardsley, an English illustrator and author, whose black ink drawings were influenced by Japanese woodcuts, and depicted the grotesque, the decadent, and the erotic. He was a leading figure in the aesthetic movement which also included Oscar Wilde and James McNeill Whistler.

Four television critics gather in a Wardour Street preview theatre to see a documentary and get the surprise of their lives.

A keen ballroom dancer becomes an alcoholic after discovering she's infertile.

A once-famous writer, now long out of fashion, is interviewed by a disconcerting young woman.

In 1945, just a year since the allied troops entered Paris, Simone arrives for her first day at M. Leon's tailoring workshop.

Wealthy Alexander Moore and working-class Jerry Crowe are childhood friends and, in 1914, find themselves in the same Army unit – Alex as an officer and Jerry as a private. They still remain close, however, until Jerry is court-martialed for desertion, and Alex is put in charge of the firing squad.

In 1919, the carnage of WWI has left the country desperately short of young men. Maud, who runs the farm for her crippled father, decides that it is time for her young sister Clara to be married, and a husband could provide a strong pair of hands around the place. Stan the pigman seems to fix most things, why not this?

At the moment, money is scarce and times are hard for everyone—even villains like Charlie and Denny are feeling the pinch. But their luck could change when a chance encounter with a film crew provides them with an eccentric method of getting their hands on a lot of loot.

When James pays one of his periodic visits to his mother, he finds her curiously resigned to the loneliness she's suffered for the years since her husband's death. Somehow, she has managed to keep all the family ties intact.

Gerald fancies himself as a bit of a gourmet and a trip to the gastronomic delights of France promises well. His wife Hilary isn't so sure; she isn't sure of a lot of things about Gerald just recently, but the menu at the extravagantly recommended La Petite Chanson provides an unexpected solution.

Academic scavenger Shorty believes he's tracked down some letters that reveal an unexpected side to Miss Jane Austen's nature.

Nancy is the sole inhabitant of the Isle of Annagh off the west coast of Scotland. Although World War III is raging all around she sees little of it until Michael, a young pilot officer, pays an involuntary visit and is in danger of dragging the hostilities along with him.

An anthropologist observed by one of his erstwhile victims — a sophisticated comedy.

Two women meet for lunch every two weeks to swap news. But this week is different.

At a railway public house, two strangers engage in a conversation and begin to open up about their life's. Richard is an alcoholic and former stockbroker is just been released from jail. Arthur works for the railway as a points operator.

Jake's a professional, a married man with a reputation to maintain—and a bank to rob.

Her husband Gary is behind on the central heating installation. Eunice, her best friend, has a crush on the lodger — an actor appearing in a violent play at the local rep. No wonder Tina is anxious about the housewarming.

At a concert, Marcia picked Terry out of the crowd. So he no longer feels alone. Until he learns about her secret life and dare not tell his friends.

Stan McVay has given up smoking, gone on a diet and feels like hell. He's also abandoned the Ulster spud and just learned that his teenage daughter is having an affair with a married man.

Three short stories by Irwin Shaw.

Eddie's 40th birthday party reunites friends not seen since the old days of ton-up bikes and early rock and roll. It could be a chance to relive those 'good times', if the others can only match Eddie's enthusiasm.

A henpecked American visiting Europe is able to throw off his ghastly wife and find love.

A famous writer finds that a long-suppressed secret is about to be revealed by his former mistress.