[2][3] The series focusses on the misadventures of Frank Stubbs, a down-at-heel ticket tout turned promoter, whose elaborate business ideas often lead to mediocre results and cause disappointment for himself and his unfortunate clients.
[4] Franks Stubbs (Spall) is a downtrodden ticket tout who tires of his job, and leaves his sleazy boss Dave Giddings (Reding) early on in the series, and establishes his own business as a promoter.
He often has grandiose ideas to improve his business opportunities and ultimately become a promoter for a higher range of clientele, which often lead to disappointment, regret and frustration due to his poorly organised publicity campaigns.
As journalist Thomas Sutcliffe described him in a contemporary review from the time "Frank Stubbs is one of life's losers but that doesn't stop him dreaming of getting off the pavements (where he used to tout tickets) and into a nice little office (from which he can run a virtually illusory promotions business).
The series was effectively a starring vehicle for Spall, produced in the vein of similar shows at the time like Minder and Lovejoy for example, whose principal characters seek to exploit and take advantage of others through unscrupulous business schemes in the pursuit for prosperity in their trade.