[1] The series centres on Len Green (Pete Postlethwaite), a former bank robber and getaway driver, who has retired from the criminal life and joined the undertakers run by his uncle (Frank Finlay).
The series was directed by David Yates, Sallie Aprahamian and Simon Curtis, and was written solely by William Ivory.
Now middle-aged, with a very expensive house, bought with the proceeds of the robberies, and an attractive wife, Gloria (Geraldine James) and five daughters, four of whom are grown up – Faith (Claire Rushbrook), Hope (Kaye Wragg), Chastity (Laura Rogers), Charity (Caroline Hayes) and Dolores (Billie Cook) (the only one who is still a child) – to whom he is devoted, he resolves to change his lifestyle and "go straight".
But having joined his Uncle Irwin (Frank Finlay) in the family firm of undertakers, he is faced with many temptations, in the form of the seven deadly sins, which test his resolve to stay out of trouble.
His wife, who can't accept that she will no longer have a steady income, steals a priceless necklace, which Len vows to return.