At the committee's annual barbeque, Charles Bronte's impassioned plea for a new community spirit is forgotten. As the wine flows, old rivalries and jealousies come to a head in the course of a disastrous longest day.
At another stormy committee meeting, Dr, Balfour-Harvey complains the the gardens are teeming with Spanish waiters from the Landseer Hotel, while lady Clarke complains about Consuela and Pitmans' surly au pair.
Esther, daughter of Charles and Jackie Bronte, invites Geoffrey Ademola to stay. He's West African and, according to Esther, hates white middle class liberals like her parents more than any other class or creed.
Sci-fi writer Ken Green is thrown out by his wife Sue and goes to live with Emma Antrobus in her sister Alexandra's flat. But Ken and Alexandra get on rather too well for Emma's liking.
Dr. Balfour-Harvey falls in love with Emily, Charles Bronte's mother, and is forced to admit a guilty secret to Cyril Antrobus. Meanwhile squatters move in next door to the Brontes'. Charles extends a warm welcome, until they start lighting fires.
Miss Hart is very disturbed when her ex-husband, whom she hasn’t seen for 23 years, turns up out of the blue. He is seeking some kind of forgiveness for how their marriage ended she just wants him to go away.
Working class George Smith, whose house also backs onto the Carlisle Crescent, gardens buys a greyhound. Not only does his wife resent him buying the greyhound rather than the new washing machine they really need but the residents of The Crezz are not impressed about him using the gardens to train “Harvey Street Boy” either.
Terry is distraught when Denny runs off with the new gardener. He is further aggravated by the well-meaning interference of his neighbours, including Dr. Balfour-Harvey, who advises him that it's time to settle down with a nice girl.
It's a bad day for Charles when Michael, his thirteen year old son, is expelled from school and the homeless Ken Green starts to dig up the communal gardens. A pitched battle ensues when the infuriated residents of Harvey Street take reciprocal action.
The police are called in to apprehend a flasher in the gardens. His victims include Bridget Macarthy and Consuela.
Danny and Terry are naturally inquisitive about the three imposing middle aged ladies who have moved into the house next door, and are further intrigued when two clergymen arrive with a lorry-load of bunk beds.
Colin Pitman is in trouble - he leaves his house every morning and drives off as if going to work, only to stop out of sight and sit listening to the radio until the pubs open.