In this off-beat musical – a satire that combines fantasy, social observation and songs – a working class man goes to put a deposit on a new house only to find he prefers spending to saving and is happy to spend his money on a few hours of happiness rather than a lifetime's conventionality.

An American returning home from Baghdad and seeing his girl in Britain on the way agrees to take a message to the secret service. Once in London he is picked up by the gang involved, who have by then killed the original Middle East agent. He escapes, but he and his girl friend are a marked couple as they retreat to Seaford on the south coast to act as bait in an MI5 plan to catch the thugs.

When a woman begins to investigate her husband's mysterious death in a plane accident she discovers the involvement of a woman known simply as Diana.