Retired engine driver Sam Cobbett has been prised from his terraced house in Ironmonger Row by the crowbars of the demolition men. With Sam needing a new home, an obvious solution emerges in the shape of the spare room in his daughter’s new high-rise flat. Sam is, all things considered, a reasonable man. He fought in two world wars, and he’s seen a lot of life. It’s just that he has some rather strong ideas on how to live it, and they’re not usually shared by his social-climbing son-in-law, Albert – whom Sam takes much delight in embarrassing at every opportunity...