Starring Dylan Moran as Bernard Black, Bill Bailey as Manny Bianco, and Tamsin Greig as Fran Katzenjammer, the series is set in the eponymous London bookshop and follows the lives of its owner, his assistant, and their friend.

Bernard's persona of a grouchy and misanthropic shopkeeper is a central theme; he has a hatred of the outside world and all the people who inhabit it, except for his best friend, Fran, who initially runs a trendy bric-a-brac shop, Nifty Gifty, next door to the bookshop.

Bernard displays little interest or knowledge in retail (or, indeed, anything outside drinking, smoking and reading) and actively avoids having to interact with anyone, even inside his shop.

The series revolves around the three main characters of Bernard Ludwig Black (Dylan Moran), Manny Bianco (Bill Bailey) and Fran Katzenjammer (Tamsin Greig), who all appear in every episode.

Other characters appear briefly in single episodes, while the show also featured several guest stars such as Keith Allen, Rob Brydon, Annette Crosbie, Lucy Davis, Olivia Colman and Peter Serafinowicz.

Both Lucy Davis (The Office, Shaun of the Dead) and Olivia Colman (Peep Show, Hot Fuzz) appeared in Season 3's episode "Elephants and Hens".

It featured Manny (surname Zimmerman in reference to Bob Dylan) as a professional depression-o-gram, and the Fran character as Valerie, a philosophy lecturer.

After his accountant flees from the police, Bernard, the slovenly owner of Black Books, is faced with the prospect of doing his own taxes, resorting to pairing his socks, getting drunk with door-to-door evangelists, and trying to seriously injure himself to avoid it.

After being burgled, Black Books gets a new alarm and security door fitted, but Manny fails to listen to the unlock code, distracted by a Subbuteo player in the installer's hair.

This results in Manny being trapped alone inside with only a bottle of absinthe and dead bees for company and Bernard locked outside with just enough money for popcorn and a cinema ticket.

Meanwhile, Fran has taken the phone off the hook to listen to silky-voiced Howell Granger read the shipping forecast on the radio, leaving Bernard to wander the streets of London penniless, cold and wet.

As a result, Fran and Bernard bribe Manny to hide inside the piano, armed with only spoons, in an attempt to make themselves look good.

A heat wave sweeps London, causing Bernard to seek a "summer girlfriend", Fran to suffer from insomnia, and Manny to panic about his "Dave's syndrome", a condition that supposedly triggers at 88°F (31°C).

Gus agrees to get Fran a job working for a man named Nugent in exchange for the bookstore hosting a reading of his nephew Danny's new book.

Manny is out of place amongst creepy micromanager Evan and his staff, but resists Fran's self-serving attempts to drag him back to Bernard so that she has somewhere to hang out.

Fran leaves for the weekend to go to her friend Becky's hen party while Bernard and Manny, inspired by their latest children's-book event, decide to write and illustrate a book for children.

Bernard is infuriated by their quirks and songs, and it is revealed that Manny's letters home have greatly embellished his actual accomplishments in life.

After a small win on the Grand National, Bernard becomes addicted to gambling, leaving Fran and Manny in a bitter competition to sell as many books as possible.

Soon horses are not enough and Bernard joins an illegal poker game against a group of ruthless, successful gamblers, including Dave 'Mouse Ear' Smith.

Manny organises a book launch party at the shop with charismatic but smug travel writer Jason, and everyone starts falling for him and his stories of far-away adventure.