Described by Bleasdale as "one caring, liberal madman's odyssey through the appalling farce of life in Britain today",[1] its protagonists are Michael Murray (played by Robert Lindsay), the hard-left Labour leader of a city council in the North of England, and Jim Nelson (played by Michael Palin), the headmaster of a special school.

The series was controversial partly because Murray appeared to be based on Derek Hatton, former Deputy Leader of Liverpool City Council.

After the first episode was aired, Channel 4 declined to provide preview tapes of the remaining instalments to Merseyside Police, who were concerned the programme could affect Hatton's court case regarding corruption.

[2] The story is set in an unspecified city in the North of England, though it was shot in and around Manchester, during a period in which local left-wing councils are vying for increased autonomy from the Thatcher government.

He intimidates the elderly headmaster, Mr Weller, and dispatches him to a rural, lower-status special needs school run by the popular headteacher Jim Nelson.

Murray meets with three members of the Militant Tendency—far-left politician Lou Barnes, academic Mervyn Sloane and 'fixer' Peter Grenville, who persuade him to call a general strike to protest against the government's policies.

Due to the incompetence of Murray's supporters, Nelson's school is not picketed and remains open, making it a focus for journalists, including tabloid writer 'Bubbles' McGuire, eager to discredit the strike.

However, his neighbours remain sympathetic and he is assured by a local farmer, Mr Burns, that the majority of traditional socialists in the area will defend him against the militants.

Conflicted between his ambition and his conscience, Murray encounters a wealthy woman named Barbara Douglas, who appears to admire him despite his crude manners.

At the same time, he receives a taunting letter purporting to be from Eileen Critchley, the victim of his unspecified childhood crime, which drives him into hysterics.

Murray's elder brother and chauffeur, Franky, grows tired of his arrogance and kicks him out of the car, leaving him stranded by the side of the road.

Meanwhile, Nelson's pacifist composure is beginning to crack: when menaced by a drunken skinhead, he suddenly chases the man down in his car before being stopped by his wife.

Returning home, Nelson appears at his local Labour branch, to defend himself against charges made by the conspirators of working against the party.