Returning home from a shopping trip to a nearby town, bored suburban housewife Laura Jesson is thrown by happenstance into an acquaintance with virtuous doctor Alec Harvey. Their casual friendship soon develops during their weekly visits into something more emotionally fulfilling than either expected, and they must wrestle with the potential havoc their deepening relationship would have on their lives and the lives of those they love.

Lord Wingate, aquitted after appearing in court for fraud, starts up a 'finishing school' to teach girls how to extract money from rich men, in return for a percentage of their gains. He enlists the help of the Duchess of Burwood as a teacher and Hector as fitness instructor. A probation officer friend supplies the first batch of pupils fresh from Holloway prison via a clapped out old mini bus. Suspicious neighbours and police together with newspaper reports naming the prison girls now hobnobbing in high society results in a raid and new court appearance for Lord Wingate. The Judge sentences him but plots to start up his own 'school for sex'.

Old Mother Riley becomes manager of a hotel - stolen diamonds, murder and pie fights follow.