[4] The story centers around the bedtime conversations of couples – or in one case a father and son – living in terraced houses in Ealing, London.

[1] An older married couple, Andrew and Alice Oldfield (played by Timothy West and Sheila Hancock), appear in all three series.

Their neighbours in the first series are a young couple (Claire Skinner and Stephen Tompkinson) with a new baby, and an aspiring actress (Emma Pierson) targeted by a reporter (Meera Syal) hoping to write an exposé on her boyfriend (David Gillespie).

Meanwhile, one neighbour (Kevin McNally) is given an ultimatum by his girlfriend (Doon Mackichan), while on the other side, widower Neil Henshall (Alun Armstrong) tries to find out what's troubling his son Ralph (Adam Paul Harvey).

Neil Stuke and Fay Ripley featured in all three editions as a young couple preparing for Christmas with their children.