The series is set in the fictional Trinity College of Bridgeford University, and stars Charles Dance, Claire Skinner, Antonia Bernath, Christian Cooke, Reggie Yates, and Isabella Calthorpe.

Richard left the institution suddenly some years earlier and had never explained why, and two weeks before Charlotte is due to join the college, he is found dead in mysterious circumstances.

Beneath the glossy, glamorous veneer lurks a much darker world, governed by strict codes of conduct and secret societies, most notably the mysterious Dandelion Club whose members are among the college's wealthiest and most privileged students who are used to getting their own way.

But she has a fight on her hands from those determined to preserve the old order, including the arrogant and sinister Dean, Dr Edmund Maltravers (Charles Dance), and the spoiled and manipulative President of the Dandelion Club, Dorian Gaudain (Christian Cooke), backed by his father, the interfering Lord Ravensby (Anthony Calf).

Besides Charlotte, the new group of students trying to find their way in the college include the streetwise and fiercely intelligent Theo Mackenzie (Reggie Yates), the poetry-loving hopeless romantic Maddy Talbot (Elen Rhys), Dorian's stunning but emotionally cold cousin Rosalind Gaudain (Isabella Calthorpe), and the lost stoners Angus (Mark Wood) and Raj (Arnab Chanda).