Cedric is working class man. His early years were spent living in an austere Catholic orphanage. He was later adopted and never knew his biological parents. After leaving home, he roamed aimlessly around the country, usually unemployed and homeless. Later he finds a job as a live-in in porter in an expensive block of apartments on the outskirts of London.

One of the wealthy residents offers him a week's holiday, along with two of the resident's friends, in exchange for driving them to his holiday cottage in the West Country. While there, Cedric unwittingly gets involved in drug dealing and all four of them end up in court, charged with serious offences.

The other live-in porter also gets involved in crime after years of going straight. He gets the sack after beating up the area manager, who oversees the premises where he works. He returns to London where he meets up, once again with well-known gangsters. Cedric has had a desperately sad and poverty-stricken life. Always the outsider, he constantly fantasizes about finding a home where he can live in peace, be accepted and feel like he belongs.