Within her bed sitting room at 35, Mafeking Terrace, Monica Webster battles with her inner self - until she receives a welcome visitor.
Monica faces the toughest battle between love and vanity as her relationship is constantly interrogated.
An old London house, 35 Mafeking Terrace, has been converted into bed-sits. This lodging house hosts a variety of people including student Jan who is working in a restaurant during the holidays and her secretive fellow tenant Tony.
Tony is in trouble and the only person he can talk to about it is Jan, but she has other plans for him.
Two people who are widely separated by both personality and by character are brought together by just one factor.
After Sally has sat and listened to Muriel tell her story, it is now Sally's turn to relate her own story.
One of the tenants of 35, Mafeking Terrace, an eccentric old man called Mr Busby is accused of stealing from Miss Peebles.
Miss Peebles begins to lose patience with the tenant upstairs, the eccentric Mr Busby.
Just as he is getting to know the new tenant Mrs Fox, lodger Ted is questioned by the police regarding an alleged assault on a 13 year old boy.
The past comes to haunt the new friends. For Mrs Fox, it is a snobbish former friend who is openly disdainful about the flat. For Ted, it is another visit from a bullying policeman who has uncovered his recent past.
Jo, an unsuccessful actress, causes problems for her placid room-mate and irascible neighbour with her self-centred behaviour.
Jo tries to make amends for her previous behaviour.
A single mother and the feckless attitude of her husband add to boarding house landlady Dorothy's problems.
The other tenants rally to help a lone parent, and landlady Dorothy finds solutions to her own problems.
Sarah decides to host an intimate New Year's Eve dinner party for her divorced friend Lynn and the mysteriously evasive Robert but the evening doesn't quite turn out the way she'd hoped it would.
Newly separated from her husband, Angela moves into the boarding-house and keeps crossing paths with gregarious Lionel, who moved in on the same day.
Lionel's self-confidence helps Angela regain hers, but he may be hiding truths about himself.
Can the romance survive between Gertrud and Tim, two newlyweds, when confined to one small room?
London can be very hard, especially to dreamers like Gertrud and Tim.
A barmaid from Northern Ireland takes the attic room and begins a relationship with a Barbadian. Meanwhile, Clive needs money for new scheme.
Bernard moves in with Ginnie, but this causes tensions in their relationship made worse when Dorothy wants to raise their rent.
Mr Cotgrove lives very much alone on the first floor. He's 50 and a teacher at a comprehensive school.
Over dinner, Mr Cotgrove tells Miss Hicks why he is living in a bedsitter in Barons Court.
New tenant Peter wants his landlady to keep his presence a secret from a demanding former lover, but it doesn't take her too long to track him down. Is he telling the truth about his past and why is he being hunted by her?
Peter's attempts at evading his former lover are in vain. She arrives intent on a confrontation and stripping him of his respectable veneer.
Reg is a retired army war veteran who has trouble understanding the behaviour and the morals of the younger generation. He is living the life of a derelict until a tenant, Helen, who is a nurse, helps him get his life together.
Reg is being driven to despair by the behaviour of the young man in the room next door. When his young neighbour hosts a particularly noisy party, Reg decides to give him a piece of his mind.
Susan, a 17-year-old secretarial student returns home to her bedsit at 35 Mafeking Terrace. After an uncomfortable conversation with landlord, Mr Lawson, she is visited by her agitated mother who questions her choices.
Susan returns to her room and begins to prepare a meal when she is interrupted by an uninvited visitor - her father. She lies to him and he reacts angrily. Landlady Mrs Lawson interrupts as he forces himself on his daughter.
Returning late, charming, self-confessed 'pseudo-liberal intellectual' divorced Ron drunkenly wakes up Dorothy. The following morning, she questions her relationship with Clive, and a hungover Ron is reminded of an important appointment.
Dorothy confides to Ron that Clive's inability to commit to their relationship is getting on top of her. Ron thinks he might be able to help and invites Clive in for a drink.
Australian writer Peter tries to settle in to life in London by making friends with two women who also live in the building, but is annoyed that his friend Alan is less sociable.
Peter sells a radio script and finds he has much in common with fellow tenant, Bea. However, Alan is still unable to share his friend's happiness, and the reason becomes apparent.
Well-spoken Alison brings a rare touch of glamour and intellect to Mafeking Terrace, and Clive finds he has much in common with her. But Dorothy is concerned that he may be getting too attentive.
Alison becomes ill with 'flu and finds Clive a willing nurse, causing Dorothy to let slip their address to Alison's estranged husband.
Solitary Paul prefers to keep relationships at a distance, including his girlfriend Lynda, a student in Glasgow. But his gregarious neighbour Wendy insists on getting to know him better.
Lynda arrives from Glasgow and Paul must confront the reasons behind his shyness.
Timid Anthea is encouraged to let her hair down by her outgoing neighbor Fran and her boyfriend Trevor.
As Anthea's self-confidence grows, her new friends are pushed away.
Clive lets a room to Denny without checking with Dorothy, and the new lodger's attitude arouses her suspicions.
On discovering the identity of the new tenant, Clive is starstruck. But finding an unpleasant side to his idol he tries to teach him a lesson.
Nellie finds herself without a home following the sudden death of her husband and takes one of the rooms. She is the only tenant who enjoys the company of lively neighbour Sandra.
Nellie's son is taken aback by his mother's new-found employment, social life and independence. But an unexpected financial wind-fall could change several relationships.
Sheila tries to keep her teenage sister Beverley under control in her first time in London, but their mutual interest in scholarly neighbour Ben only increases tension.
Sheila has packed a suitcase and tells landlord Clive that she is off home for a long weekend, but sister Beverley has no idea why she left so suddenly without telling her or Ben. Later, Beverley receives a letter from Sheila telling her where she is and what her plans are, but there are surprises in store for both Beverley and Ben.
By chance Frances meets married ex lover Richard and is keen to resume the affair. But is everything as it seems.
Frances has to deal with some distressing revelations and comes to a decision on her future.
Clingy lovesick Arthur is attracted to his pretty young neighbour Rowena.
Arthur is hoping that there might be a future for him with Rowena, but she already has her future worked out. What is her connection to the mysterious man in the car outside the house?
Struggling fruit and veg businessman Henry asks his neighbour Jean to help deal with his correspondence, but Jean suspects there may be another reason why Henry is constantly making excuses for his poor eyesight.
Henry finally admits to Jean that he never learned to read. When Jean starts to teach him how to read they begin to open up their inner feelings to each other. Jean gives Henry some advice on how to repair his broken marriage.
Wife Kate is furious because husband David hasn't come home in time for dinner. He eventually turns up drunk, accompanied by an equally drunk Mike, a former RAF buddy.
Mike makes an unwelcome return just as Kate is preparing a cosy dinner for two. She is furious and wants him out, but David is more conciliatory and wants him to stay. Why is Mike back and what is he after?
Harry is a retired music hall star who shares a room with his wife Pearl. His peaceful retirement is interrupted by a radio producer who is interested in documenting Harry's entertainment career for a radio show. Meanwhile Dorothy is annoyed that Clive is using rent money for some mysterious business arrangement.
Clive explains to Dorothy how he made a profit of over £600 at an auction house. An argument ensues and as a result it seems that their relationship is in danger of falling apart. Whilst recording his memories of his bygone career with the radio producer, Harry reminisces about his former music hall comedy partnership of 'Leslie and Lane'.
Ruth Harris leaves her husband and takes up residence; existing ground floor tenant Mrs Beale is none too happy to undertake landlady's duties.
Landlady Mrs Singer appears, and is told by Mrs Beale that tenant Linda Todd is a prostitute.
Carol and Ian West have set up home together in one of the rooms in Mafeking Terrace with their new baby, but Carol's disapproving mother (Pat Ashton) cannot stop constantly imposing her own opinions on the conditions that the couple find themselves in. Meanwhile Carol and Ian can't stop bickering over every trivial little incident.
Mrs Beale continues repeating her poisonous remarks about Linda Ross's loose morals with neighbour Brian Kettle, but he finds out from more than one source that Linda really is leaving to get married. When new landlord Mr Singer pays Mrs Beale a visit she turns her malicious tongue on separated tenant Mrs Harris, implying that having single female tenants could give the place a bad name.
Young tenant Lesley is feeling lonely and confides to her friend that she might start looking for a boyfriend. She decides to answer an advert in a lonely hearts column, but her intended date not only turns up very late, and drunk, but he isn't exactly what she was hoping for.
When Ian has an evening out with their neighbour, Carol's father thinks he's found a way to break up her marriage.
Ruth has blown a fuse, Carol and Ian are struggling to survive as a family of three on one wage.
Rose returns to her lodgings after a failed attempt at marriage and on the way in tells Mrs Beale in no uncertain terms she's back for good. Mrs Beale has an uncharacteristically pleasant conversation with artistic tenant Geoff but things turn sour when he berates her for listening to his private conversations on his cassette recorder whilst he is out of the room. An apologetic Mrs Beale tries to explain that she thought she was listening to a play on a radio. Meanwhile Rose's 'intended' Lawrence turns up to try and persuade her to change her mind and come back with ...
With Linda Todd back in her room Mrs Beale wastes no time stirring up trouble with landlady Mrs Singer. There are some harsh words between Geoff and his girlfriend Marcia when she turns up after receiving a letter from him ending their relationship, and she wants some answers. Mrs Singer pays Linda a visit to ask whether she plans to stay or go. She tells her that her 'intended' was already married and no longer has any reason to leave.
Carol seems to be leading a life of domestic drudgery while others are having a good time. Lesley has a date with Ian's workmate Tony, who just happens to be Ian's excuse for his being late home from work, but Carol already knows he wasn't working as Tony is next door with Lesley. However all is well because Ian has a pleasant surprise for Carol's birthday. Brian and Ruth go for a night out at the greyhound races, followed by a cosy meal for two in his flat.
Poor Arthur really is in the wars and an ambulance must be called. Linda shows what a caring woman she really is.
Ruth invites snobby friends the Wisharts to dinner and neighbour Brian to make up the numbers; he drinks too much and upsets Ruth by insulting them. Meanwhile Ian takes Carol and the baby to a pub in his three wheeler.
An inspection of the West's less than ideal living conditions by a child health visitor prompts Carol to suggest that she and Ian separate.
Ian contacts the health visitor Vera Pusey and asks her to return to their room to try and clear up some issues he has with her report, seeing that he wasn't there on her first visit. All is fine to start with before Ian starts to lose his temper with her apparent attitude towards their plight. Things calm down and after she leaves Ian and Carol consider what steps they can take to improve on their current living situation. Someone turns up to view a vacant room but she is not the friendly well travelled potential tenant she portrays herself as.
Mrs Singer is having trouble trying to evict the non-paying sub-let squatters living illegally in the basement, but not without a heated argument about its legality. Brian Kettle steps in to calm things down and give Mrs Singer some moral support. She confides in Brian that she and her husband are thinking of selling off the basement as separate premises to try and alleviate financial problems. Meantime Lesley and friend Meryl consider becoming door to door cosmetics sales girls to make extra money. Brian offers to redecorate the now empty basement to save Mrs Singer ...
Mrs Beale wakes to the sound of the Electric Light Orchestra (on the radio) and the Wests (upstairs) going out. Then a policeman calls to say her cat has been found dead.
Lesley and Meryl raise the money needed to buy into their cosmetics business but soon find out that the products they've been supplied are worthless and won't sell. Ruth pays her estranged husband a visit only to find he's moved a new girlfriend in, prompting Ruth to seek legal advice about getting a divorce. Brian's plans to redecorate the basement flat gets the approval of landlord Mr Singer.
Ruth finds a sympathetic listener in Brian. Linda realises Lesley & Meryl have been taken for a ride
The tenants are intrigued when Kathys brother moves in. There is an air of mystery about him.
Lesley gets a visit from Dave Marsden, an admirer from the laundrette, and together with Meryl all three get acquainted. Dave asks Lesley for a date, which she accepts. Ian and Carol invite her parents for a conciliatory lunch that turns out better than expected.
Mrs Beale as ever sticks her nose into the other tenants' business when she reproaches Brian Kettle for having his daughter residing as an extra tenant, threatening to report him. Linda is delighted with artist Eric Prentiss's portrait of her. Over dinner Brian and Ruth persuade Jennifer that it would be in her best interest to return home and complete her education. Landlady Kathy Singer has a long heart to heart with her brother Eric, and Jennifer finally decides to go home with her mother.
Ian is questioned by the police about a minor accident his car was reported for, but his wife Carol discovers he's covering for someone else as the car was actually being driven by New Zealander tenant Geoff. Ian pretended he was driving because Geoff has overstayed his visa and if the police found out about him he feared he'd be deported. Lesley organises a party in her room and invites a few of her neighbours for drinks.
Lesley is getting serious with her boyfriend Dave, even asking if he would like to meet her parents, but Dave initially doesn't seem as keen. Ian and Carol decide to treat themselves to a night out and fellow tenant Geoff babysits. When Lesley wonders why Dave isn't with her for the evening Meryl suspects she may be in for a disappointment.
Mrs Beale complains to landlady Mrs Singer about her brother Eric running a photography business from his room. When Ruth's husband Don comes to discuss their divorce she demands that he sells the marital home so she can get her own place with her share of the proceeds. The visit turns sour when Ruth makes it clear she is not happy with his current girlfriend moving into the house, and Don in return makes disparaging remarks about her own love life. Kathy tries to get her brother Eric his old job back, but he is having none of it and decides to quit the house.
It's bad news for the West family finances as Ian has been made redundant. Lesley is bored with her life now that boyfriend Dave is out of the picture and wants something better for herself, but she doesn't know where to start. Carol West's mother is visiting and trying to run Carol's life for her, as well as Ian's when imposing a potential employer on him without his knowledge.
The newly refurbished basement is going on the market. The estate agent suggest to Mrs Singer that she should think about putting the rest of the house up for sale as it is the type of place a property developer would be interested in. Mrs Beale is in trouble following a visit from her local DHSS office as it seems has been less than truthful regarding late husband's pension book. She thinks Linda Todd reported her and out of spite calls Mrs Singer to accuse her of keeping a man in her room.
Eddie returns from Devon, but no one keeps secrets from inquisitive Mrs. Beale for long…
Ruth undertakes to give Sylvia private tuition – but doesn’t bargain for what happens during the first lesson.
Landlord Mr Singer catches ex-con Eddie Graham squatting in one of the rooms and wants him out, but Brian Kettle acts as peacemaker to give Eddie more time to find a new place to live. Eddie has been in Devon trying out country life and is trying to persuade Linda to go with him to live on a farm there. Ruth gives Linda some advice, which angers Eddie's friend Brian.
Ian is not very comfortable with wearing a suit and tie for his job interview but Carol insists on it as he needs to look smart to be successful. Poor Meryl has her own problems to deal with, she has left home because her wastrel father has arrived home from sea - his gambling is interfering with her relationship with her mother and they're both making her life a misery
Ruth has a tough time with her father when he turns up from Spain.
Kiwi Geoff has returned from his holiday in Greece and has brought back a mysterious package for a local Greek au pair, but the girl who turns up isn't quite what he was hoping for. Meantime Brian is planning a holiday break in the North Yorkshire moors for himself and Ruth. He wants them both to do a bit of mountain climbing but Ruth is having none of it .
Its rent day again, and it seems everyone is making Sacrifices.
Carol is keeping a secret from Ian. Lesley Losey has a surprise visitor.
Geoff Hasn't seen the last of Sophia. Meanwhile Ruth and Mr Kettle come to blows. Could this be the end of something beautiful.
Lesley has a dangerous idea to help Carol. Will her and Ian be leaving Mafeking Terrace? Ian has an idea for a new start for them both.
Some new tenants arrive to take on Linda's room. They seem more than a little out of place.
Mr and Mrs Passmore seem to be in trouble, raising questions about what really happened before they fled Africa.
New resident Jim really is facing his demons alone on the top floow, its amazing what the kindness of strangers can do.
It's surprises all round, Don has a surprise for Ruth, Ian has a surprise for Carol and will Jim give in to temptation?
Mrs Beale has a nasty shock, while upstairs the new couple don't seem to be settling in.
Ruth receives a knock at the door and it's not an invited guest.
Jim is placed in temptation will he resist? Ruth has another unwanted visitor.
James meets his match when he tries to borrow some money, and Lesley goes out with one of her bosses.
Mrs Beale takes on a new job making curtains, but is this a good idea?
Ruth and Brian try to stay friends, but it may be too late.
Carol returns from hospital full of bright ideas for the future. Mr Passmore is up to his usual tricks looking for change.
Carol gets her scissors out, and becomeas a new person after a visit from an old friend.
Northerner Lesley is annoyed when a new tenant makes a sarcastic remark about her flat vowels and liking for whippets. Meanwhile Carole and Ian have an unpleasant experience with a second-hand toaster.
Lesley Losey confesses to her colourful friend Meryl that she has amorous feelings for her but Meryl rebuffs her advances saying that her Christian upbringing precludes same-sex relationships. Brian Kettle finds out that the old adage about a watched pot never boils is not always true.
Fay is down in the dumps about living in a bedsit .However, James is upbeat about a job interview and reassures that things will be better. Meanwhile Ian thinks he has picked up a bargain when he buys a pair of jeans in a market.
James Passmore is killed in a car crash after borrowing Jim's license to hire the car. Fay realises that the death was not accidental. Carole is distracted and allows the milk to boil over.
Carole and Ian have a falling out over who's turn it is to wash the dishes.A young man with an unusual affliction causes Ruth to have a sleepless but enjoyable night.
Meryl finally gives in to Lesley Losey's amorous advances and the pair have a passionate night. In the morning however Meryl is racked by guilt for going against the Christian teachings that she was raised on and her and Lesley have a very big argument. Carole makes some beans on toast and spends half an hour trying to unblock her sink.
Mrs. Beale's missing clothes are found hidden in the Passmore's now empty room, along with a giro cheque addressed to her. Lesley is annoyed with Meryl keep mentioning Gina the lorry driver, who they met at her club.
Investigating James's death police discover he had been dressing up as Mrs Beale to claim benefits in her name. Police realize the benefit fraud was only half the story as Mrs Beale says strange men keep asking for her at the door.
Jim is keeping a poorly pigeon that flew into his room, the pigeon had been helping itself to whisky that he had poured away, as Jim opens the door it flies down into a shocked Brian just out the bath who slips and falls down the stairs.
Brian tumbles into the arms of Mrs. Singer who joyously declares she is pregnant and wants to be with him, he has to admit he is a covert Special Branch agent watching the Singers as part of an Eastern Block money laundering gang.
Brian having been drugged by Singer wakes up to find a note from Kathy.She explains that she is scared of Gavin and had to leave with him, but Brian must find some deteriorating explosives Gavin had left in Mrs Beale's cupboard.
Brian knocks furiously at Mrs Beales but she tells him to go away. Lesley passing by knows of a way into Mrs Beale's cupboard through Brian's room. She strips down to get through the tiny gap and emerges sweating with a smoldering hat box.
In the hallway, Jim, (ex army ordinance) says the only way to stop it rapidly decomposing is to cut off the air with something congealed and lumpy. Just then Ian appears with a pot of Carol's stew he is quietly taking to the bin.