Steven Ambrose has risen from a humble background to sitting all day in his flat in Crouch End trying to think up horrible ways for characters to die on BBC TV hospital drama "Misadventure". However, instead of writing he spends much of the day trying to distract himself from his own loneliness by complaining to the Council about trivial local issues. He is continually disturbed by the owners of the house next door to his block of flats who seem to have decided to build a nuclear shelter without proper planning permission. Steven goes round to confront them only to discover that the woman next door is the wife of someone who works at the same funeral business as his girlfriend Susan - she turns out to be a best friend. Steven soon finds himself invited round next door to a series of rather peculiar dinner parties. These lead to Steven and Susan becoming embroiled in a strange web of corporate takeovers and sexual rivalries. Steven's writing career starts to take some unusual turns too as a character he based on a council employee becomes increasingly difficult to write for.