Retired soldier Major John Wyatt (Brian Wilde) is spurred into action after his sister Edwina's (Anne Ridler) home is burgled in broad daylight.

Ignoring correct police procedures, he forms his own Neighbourhood Watch group of incompetents and patrols the streets in his Range Rover known locally as the 'Dogmobile'.

Other regular characters include the glamorous man-eater Virginia (April Walker), an interfering Vicar (David Jackson), and a frustrated police sergeant, Springer (James Warrior).

Much of the series was devised to act as a vehicle for Wilde, who had left his role as Foggy Dewhurst in Last of the Summer Wine in 1985 over creative differences with Alan J. W. Bell.

Although it performed moderately in its time-slot, the BBC felt – who had hoped that, starring Wilde, it would have gained much of Last of the Summer Wine’s viewing figures – that the programme had not really caught on with viewers, and it was dropped after its initial series.