Edina Monsoon (Saunders) is the middle-aged owner of a failing PR firm in London’s Holland Parkneighbourhood. Her best friend is Patsy Stone (Lumley), an ageing former fashion model who holds a sinecureposition at a top British magazine. The two women use their considerable financial resources to indulge in cigarettes, alcohol (most notably Bollinger Champagne) and recreational drugs and to chase the latest fads in an attempt to maintain their youth and recapture their glory days as Modsin swinging London. The partnership is driven mainly by Patsy, who is both co-dependent and an enabler to Edina.

Their lifestyle inevitably leads to various personal crises, which are invariably resolved by Edina’s daughter, Saffron Monsoon (Sawalha), whose constant involvement in their exploits has left her increasingly bitter and cynical. Edina’s unnamed mother (Whitfield) visits the Monsoon home frequently to keep Saffron company, help with chores and, quite often, taking Edina’s possessions to sell at off car boot sales. The relationship between Edina and mother is strained, as they disagree on virtually everything and are rarely alone together, a relationship with which they are both keen to antagonise each other. Meanwhile, Edina’s affairs are handled, usually very badly, by Bubble (Horrocks), an incompetent, immature and neurotic personal assistant, whose antics frequently lead to further complications for Edina’s business and personal life.